Biophilia

Natural Reserve & Environmental Education Center

Our goal is to empower and educate visitors from around the globe about the importance of conservation & sustainability.

Daily tours every 2 hours

Transportation included

Biophilia is a private natural reserve and environmental education center, located just 5 minutes from Quepos, in the Green Community of Palmas Pacífica.

Our certified guides & professional staff want to share with you their knowledge about the importance of conservation and sustainability on 3 specific examples: butterflies, medicinal plants & observation of wildlife in their natural habitat.

We have created 3 unique tours for you to choose from or combine: Butterfly Garden & Research Lab, Medicinal Plants Garden, and Educational Jungle Walks (available by Day or Night).

These tours will bring you closer to the amazing creatures of Costa Rica. You will also learn about their impressive life cycle and how we can protect their environment.

English-Language Video

Butterfly Exhibition & Research Center

Come join us in our butterfly garden & research lab, where you will see these amazing creatures around you in our garden, showing their beautiful colors and peculiar body parts. 

Our butterfly exhibition is home to over 20 different species of butterflies, which you will be able to observe on this guided tour.

Duration of the tour: 2 hours 
Schedule: 8am / 10am / 2pm

Includes

Recommendations

Rates

NOT associated with Manual Antonio Park but still good

Rated 5.0 out of 5
September 18, 2023

This tour was very interesting for multiple reasons , Dagoberto is very nice and loves to talk about plants helpful for diabetes! ; he also loves Stevia plants. Learned about butterflies in a very peaceful garden setting, I was very happy when Dagoberto helped a butterfly, adding an extra star just for this. Thank you Dagoberto!

** Please note despite the name Manual Antonio Park , this tour is NOT associated with the park , and is a 20 minute taxi ride out of town. Suggest organising a taxi driver to take you there and collect you on way back as not sure what cell signal is like there!

Holly T

Best tour I’ve ever been on

Rated 5.0 out of 5
September 17, 2023

My friend and I went on an amazing tour with Beatriz. She was extremely knowledgeable and passionate and catered the tour to our interests specifically my interest in the culinary and medical uses of plants. It poured during our time at biophila but Beatriz remained very personable and upbeat. We had an amazing time! We would highly recommend this tour!

Sabrina and Emily

Very informative!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
May 27, 2023

I was really impressed by the level of detail our guide went into about the plants and butterflies. I left with lots of notes and info the research further. Thanks Beatriz and Biophilia!

Leora

Great

Rated 5.0 out of 5
May 27, 2023

Very informative

Krisha

Very educational

Rated 5.0 out of 5
June 19, 2022

Dagoberto, was our guide and we had a wonderful experience. He was very educated and patient. This is a great tour for all ages. If you need a day to relax and still get out this tour is for you.

Susan

More than we expected

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 29, 2022

A must on your list in Manuel Antonio. Our guide, Beatriz, was incredible. We learned so much. We took the butterfly and medicinal plants tour and time flew so quickly. We were truly inspired by the work done by José and his team.

Guillaume

Inspirational

Rated 5.0 out of 5
November 6, 2021

It was such a wonderful experience learning about both the butterflies and medicinal plants as well. Jose and Beatriz are clearly very passionate about what they do and have inspired me to add to my garden as well.

Gail Bryan

Amazing butterfly tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
July 16, 2021

The buterfy tour was amazing and we definatly recommend it. The guide Mile was very attentive and had a lot of knowledge to share. It was a really positive experience.

Joel and Davina

So much to know and love about butterflies!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
July 2, 2021

The butterfly exhibit was an absolutely wonderful experience to be apart of! The research they’re doing is fascinating and it was so wonderful to learn so much about such beautiful creatures.

Jenee

Amazing work by scientists and eco-conservationists

Rated 5.0 out of 5
April 29, 2021

The guide, Mile, was very passionate and knowledgeable and was very patient in teaching us about the different species of butterflies and their natural habitats, and life-cycles. We learned a lot about butterflies and their role in the ecosystem. We also met with the head scientist Jose who told us about the amazing research and outreach efforts. Truly, a wonderful global initiative at Biophilia.

Dev Ray

el viaje asombroso

Rated 5.0 out of 5
April 13, 2021

es un lugar espectacular, se encuantra en un área boscosa, entre árboles, y cerca de la playa.

el lugar es espectacular, los conocimientos de los encargados es amplio, te explican a fondo los detalles, desde el inicio y hasta la muerte de las mariposas, su alimentación, reproducción, en fin es un excelente lugar !!!!!!!!

Danny Vindas

Medicinal Plants Garden

For plant lovers we offer an educational journey through our collection of medicinal plants. We have more than 120 medicinal plant species in our garden.

The use of medicinal plants has a long history in Costa Rica, and we would like to share it with you!

Duration of the tour:  2 hours
Schedule: 8am / 10am / 2pm

Includes

Recommendations

Rates

Wonderful, Highly Informative and FUN!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 29, 2023

Beatriz is an amazing guide. She is profoundly knowledgeable about each plant, best uses, and how to identify them in “the wild”. This tour is an absolute MUST for anyone planning to reside or have an extended stay in Costa Rica. This tour is an incredible resource for learning about the plants medicine we are surrounded by here in Costa Rica. For anyone interested in the flora of Costa Rica this tour is the best $49 you will spend here 👍🏽

Devi Ward Erickson

Medicinal plant tour- Amazing

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 7, 2023

I loved this tour with our extremely knowledgeable guide, Beatriz. She has learned about medicinal plants through her grandmother and personal studies and is super enthusiastic about the use of plants for health and healing. She was very friendly and shared wonderful information about many of the plants. Definitely one of the best tours in Manuel Antonio!

Rita

A IT WAS AWESOME CHAT

Rated 5.0 out of 5
November 28, 2023

It was amazing. Recomend

K.T

We loved it!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 9, 2021

Our tour with Beatriz was fabulous! She was extremely knowledgeable about medicinal plants and her passion for her work was apparent. We could have spent all day with her, we were so fascinated. We learned so much and can’t wait to apply what we learned in our own garden!

Rachel and Debbie Briks

Best eco tour in Costa Rica

Rated 5.0 out of 5
October 17, 2021

If you’re looking a personal, knowledgeable, and in depth tour this is the spot.

Seth

Incredible

Rated 5.0 out of 5
July 2, 2021

Had the most wonderful time with Beatriz, who lead our rainforest tour as well as the medicinal plants tour. She is very intelligent and knowledgeable about even the minute details of everything in the rainforest. 100/100 recommend, you will leave feeling dazzled and inspired.

Juliette

Highly recommend!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
July 1, 2021

Beatriz was amazing and so knowledgeable about all the plants. We even got a chance to see the butterfly exhibit. Can’t recommend this tour enough. I learned so much and definitely want to come back!

Jenee

Amazing tour!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 26, 2021

I loved this tour and learning about the plants. Joshua was a really great guide and very knowledgeable! They are also building and incredible butterfly garden which they were gracious enough to let us go through! And we recieved and email with all the info of the plants. Thank you!

LeAnn

Airbnb Reviews

Katie And José
Katie And José
enero de 2021
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My daughter and I very much enjoyed this experience. Milenlli was super knowledgeable, kind, and patient. There was a great variety of medicinal plants to learn about. The whole property is an interesting project that seems to me in the beginning stages.
Jordan
Jordan
diciembre de 2020
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This tour was better than expected. Milenlli and Josh did an excellent job explaining many medical plants, their uses, and about how they grow.
Greg
Greg
diciembre de 2020
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Our guide, Beatriz, was amazing. She was so knowledgeable and obviously an expert. She relayed the information in a fun way with stories, examples & engaging questions. Her passion for the topic was evident and contagious. The tour gave us insight into local traditional & scientific medicinal plant use and their origins. It was a great couple of hours doing something different from the beach or generic nature, yet still a part of the tropical country. They provided umbrellas for shade, cold beverages, and the time was the right amount of time.
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Educational Jungle Night Walk

The most beautiful concert, led by the orchestra of nature, begins when the sun goes down.

Walking on safe trails, this guided tour will take you on a magical experience through the nocturnal forest in search of the night-active fauna characteristic for the area, and learn about the flora that sustains the forest life.

Duration of the tour: 2 hours
Schedules: 5:30pm – 7:30pm 

Includes

Recommendations

Rates

Frogs, scorpions, and the beauty of the jungle at night!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
March 20, 2024

We visited Costa Rica in March 2024 and had so many excellent adventures, but absolutely the most memorable has to be the guided night hike at Biophilia Park! Our great guide helped us stay safe in the forest and helped everyone in the group get great views of some cool frogs, a snake, a glowing-in-UV-light scorpion, and many other cool critters. It’s surreal being in such a wild place at night — not to be missed!

Kim Farrell

Awesome tour!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
March 20, 2024

The night tour was a lot of fun. It was a completely different experience getting to hike the park at night and see the nocturnal activity. Our guide, Estevan, was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and was able to spot just about all the wildlife we came across. Highly recommend!

Tyler

Great experience

Rated 5.0 out of 5
March 10, 2024

We loved this experience. The group was small, so we could all participate and hear the explanations. The guide was very helpful and explained everything in English and Spanish.

We could see many animals and take pictures: scorpions, spiders, snakes, lizards, frogs and a marta.

Really recommend.

Nora

Jungle night tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
February 28, 2024

We had a memorable jungle night tour with Diego! he provided an overview of the ecology of Costa Rica, spotted many nocturnal creatures, and provided fascinating facts about each, such as about the golden orb weaver, which we looked for more information following the tour…

Yosef

Creepy fun

Rated 5.0 out of 5
February 21, 2024

My wife and I took this tour to get a good look at the animals that you wouldn’t typically see. Our guide was fantastic, very knowledgeable and able to spot things that we couldn’t see if we were looking right at it. We had a wonderful time and would certainly do it again!

John DAlessandro

Jungle comes alive

Rated 5.0 out of 5
February 14, 2024

Worth every penny, even if you are terrified by spiders. Our guide Esteban was very diligent in finding tons of wildlife, from poisonous banana spiders, to sleeping hummingbirds, to a mother Cayman and her chirping little ones. We saw more than I can possibly describe here. Wear long pants and bug spray. We did and didn’t regret it. Highly recommend this tour and the provider.

Guy Prefontaine

Breathtaking Experience!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
February 14, 2024

We are so grateful we got to experience this tour. From the moment we arrived, Chris, our tour guide was so welcoming and accommodating. His knowledge of both Flora and Fauna was exceptional. Beautiful frogs, snakes, spiders, birds, bats were all appreciated and admired with great enthusiasm. The other aspect I really noticed was strong ethics towards not disturbing the natural ecosystems and wildlife themselves – This is so important and I was very happy to see this ethos was upheld 🙏 Thank you sincerely Chris for making our last night in Costa Rica the absolute best we could imagine!

Natasha Lewis-Millar

Thank you!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 19, 2024

We had an amazing evening with Chris as our tour-guide. He was incredibly knowledgeable and very accommodating. He made sure every guest had a chance to see the wildlife that was being observed, and made sure everyone was able to take a photo! On this tour, we saw 4 species of frog, 2 spiders, a snake, a stick-bug, a sleeping hummingbird, and a Mexican Hairy Dwarf porcupine, and a few other animals that I do not remember the name of! When we return to Costa Rica, we would love to take this tour with Chris again!

Connor Wynne

Wonderful Experience

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 18, 2024

Frank our guide led us on an amazing night tour of the jungle. In near torrential rain we set off in hope and within minutes Frank spotted our first red eyed frog.

Frank’s knowledge, enthusiasm and engagement with the group made us forget the weather and really enjoy a unique experience being in the jungle at night. Well done Frank – Fantastic!!

Jeff

Awesome experience with Frank!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 25, 2023

We joined a tour with our five year old and Frank went out of his way to ensure that everyone had a great experience. We got to see so many beautiful animals – and Frank documented them all to share with us.

Debra

Wonderful experience

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 24, 2023

We had a great time learning about the ecosystems and animals at night with Frank. He was patient and kind to a young child who started off scared. Red-eyed tree frogs, other frogs, two snakes and kinkajous were highlights for us. His ability to find tiny cryptic animals was amazing.

Jessica

Awesome, entertaining, and informative

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 16, 2023

We had Beatriz as a guide and she was great. She is so full of knowledge and has a great sense of humor. She spent 2 hours with us and it was well worth it! We saw many animals, plants insects, frogs etc. And learned lots about all of them.

Mark Schaefer

Excellent tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 14, 2023

Undoubtedly a great experience thoughout the 2 hours. Estevan was a brilliant guide and so enthusiastic. He spotted so many things and shared his passion with us. We saw caimans, squirrel monkeys, capuchins, lizards, spiders, frogs, sloths, a paca, fer de lance, sleeping hummingbird. Every few metres we were stopping to see something new. So good and well worth it.

Nigel Jackson

Jungle Night Walk at Biophilla Park

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 13, 2023

My buddy Michael and I went on this jungle night tour with Diego, who was awesome! He was exceptionally knowledgeable on the local ecosystem. Diego spotted and educated us on the insects, spiders, frogs, snakes and animals of the Costa Rican night jungle. It was an easy walk and the highlights were the red eyed tree frog, leaf cutter ants (amazing lives they lead), an anteater, and even a a Fur de Lance viper (a little scary that one!). Diego carried a spotting scope for viewing and for pictures as well, so a close up experience with the little creatures. So worth the time! If you haven’t tried a night tour we highly recommend it!

Edward Strickland

Beatriz was amazing

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 1, 2023

Beatriz was our guide and she was super knowledgeable, friendly, animated etc. we saw sloths, lizards, snakes, monkeys, birds and more. We really enjoyed it!

Jesse

Wonderful

Rated 5.0 out of 5
November 29, 2023

We had a great night with Esteban! We saw many species of spiders, frogs and even saw a rare owl!

Molly

Great tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
November 28, 2023

Estaban was so lovely. Informative. Helped with photos and finding animals. It was so nice to spend time and see animals at night.

The only issue is the walk ways are very basic

Abi

INCROYABLE !

Rated 5.0 out of 5
October 6, 2023

Quel magnifique moment avec Esteban, notre guide passionné. Grâce à lui nous avons passé 2 heures fascinantes et très instructives au cœur de la jungle et de ses animaux… Insectes, araignées serpent, opossum, grenouilles et scorpion phosphorescent. Un grand merci ! Sylvie et Phillipe.

Sylvie Rochas

Night tour Esteban

Rated 5.0 out of 5
September 15, 2023

We did the night tour with Esteban and had an amazing time. He was very knowledgeable and passionate and was able to pass that along to us.

We saw many interesting animals including one of the most venomous spiders in the world, the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica and a cute monkey dozing in a tree.

Julia and Nic

Conservation of nature is human conservation.

Rated 5.0 out of 5
September 10, 2023

Conservation of nature preserves human history. It is a human duty to take care and protect all kinds of animals found in nature. If we do not protect them, they will gradually become greedy. Each animal is dependent on the other. The existence of some animal has ended due to human behavior. It is very important to know and learn about these and other types of animals and our goal is to research them in depth.

Om prakash Thapa

Airbnb Reviews

Terri
Terri
febrero de 2021
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Beatrice was our guide, and she was a complete joy to have. Her incredible knowledge and understanding of the immense amount of biodiversity here were amazing. I learned things the entire time. Truly glad I did this.
Jérôme
Jérôme
febrero de 2021
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It was a wonderful Tour with Héctor, he knows so many things and is a very funny guy. Would recommend 10/10
Laura
Laura
diciembre de 2020
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Had an amazing time & loved seeing and learning about the night things
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Testimonials

Natural Reserve & Environmental Education Center

Have a Question?

Feel free to reach out and we’re happy to answer any questions you may have.