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Hi cybergal,

I assume you are referring to looking at doing day trips from the Drake Bay side into Corcovado.

The guides who are recommended from time to time on this forum tend to be those are based on the PJ side and mostly do multi-day hikes – by all means contact one for their thoughts but they probably would be unlikely to be able to guide you for a day trip - so it is probably easiest to organise the guide and trip through your Drake Bay lodge.

If they are working for a lodge they will be extremely competent at spotting animals. As for particularly guide recommendations – hopefully someone will have specific feedback on some of the guides working for the DB lodges for you.

There are also organised tours from DB but these typically have 6-12 people or so and a guide. I totally agree with your concerns about getting a large group – its noisier, you cover less ground and potentially don’t get as much out of the experience in a larger group imo. So if you don’t mind paying a fair bit more for a private tour it’s well worth it in my opinion. Although you might share a boat into the park, you’ll go off on your own on the trails with your guide. The boats are relatively small - these are just for transportation to the park, the animal spotting is done on the network of trails around each station.

You have the choice of a day trip to either San Pedrillo or Sirena ranger stations. Sirena is much deeper into the park and a longer boat ride, but animals tend to be much more abundant. You also have the chance of seeing Squirrel monkeys around Sirena which aren’t in the area around San Pedrillo, better chance of a tapir too but its difficult in the daytime.

Hope that’s useful and as I say, hopefully someone will have more specific recommendations for you about guides operating out of Drake Bay.

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Fred at Ojala in drake bay arranged for a fellow named Vincent to take us around corcovado, we got there via boat, it was awesome!

i will try to find some more info for you .

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So if you don’t mind paying a fair bit more for a private tour it’s well worth it in my opinion

Thanks. Yes, I did that in Madagascar and it was more than worth it. I got really close to some fairly rare lemurs and the wonderful Indri Indri and it was largely because it was just me and a guide, rather than a huge crowd (it also helps to hear what the guide is saying if someone with verbal diarreah isn't bending your ear).

What's a reasonable rate for a day with a guide (one person) from the Drake Bay side?

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If you are planning on just walking around the trails near DB, I would not hire a guide. If you are going via a boat to either the San Pedrillo or Sirena Ranger Stations, then the lodge you book the tour with provides the boat and the guide. When I was there with my buddy at Jinetes de Osa, the boat was just another 2 clients, and then the guide as we hiked canopy, it was perfect, they had spotting scopes too. That was $65PP I think...check the lodge website, it was also 2006.

On the Carate side, my wife and I hired a guide for the day, leaving at 4AM and hiking 9KM to Sirena and back, that was $60. We were the only people on the trail until about 12, when some hikers coming from Sirena came along. IN DB, there could be many groups/boats there at the ranger station, so you never know. The key is to overnight at the ranger station as the canopy is most active at twilight.

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check the lodge website

I have, but it's very general and gives no details about the Corcovado hikes/trips, e.g. length, group size etc. I'll drop them an email - they seemed very helpful when I contacted them last.

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Just to reemphasise Solo's last point - it is possible to arrange to boat in from drake bay to stay at Sirena overnight, before boating out the following day. If you don't mind roughing it a little it is a fantastic experience and as Solo says it gives you the chance to get on the trails during the most productive time of day for animal viewing. It may of course not fit your tastes or itinerary, but your lodge would be able to arrange this option for you. If not, i'm sure you'll get a great experience of Corcovado on a day trip and see an abundance of wildlife.

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on our corcovado day trip we saw a tapir close up , it was amazing.

lots of orb spiders as well!

Tucans, monkeys, parrots...

if u get a guide and a good group he will point everything out...

wear clothes that dont make to much noise.

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If you don't mind roughing it a little

Not at all. In Madagascar I stayed in an old biological research station. There was no AC (or fans), no hot water and only electricity for 4 hours a day. But lemurs came right to the edge of the camp (to drink from the well), the little lodges were garnished with lizards and chameleons and even a fossa wandered through and then slumped down to have a nap while we watched. Awesome.

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Sounds just like Sirena... you really feel immersed in the rainforest. Have an amazing time on the Osa, however you decide to approach the park!