Biophilia

Biological Reserve & Environmental Education Center

Damas Mangrove Boat Tours

This tour is NOT done inside Manuel Antonio National Park.

TOUR TIME DEPENDS ON TIDE

Person $65

5+ years 

Deposit $25

Kids $0

0-4 years free

Plus 13% Tax

Have a question?

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

Overview

Damas Mangrove Boat Tours – In the mangrove, everything flows harmoniously. The most extraordinary biodiversity of plants & wildlife lives here in the Damas Island Mangroves. This excursion will take you through the Damas canals, where there is no shortage of wildlife and amazing plant life with its unique ability to survive in saltwater. This tour can be done either by boat or kayak and is fun & educational. Includes a typical homemade meal.

For kayak tours go here!

Come and see the extraordinary variety of wildlife in this natural habitat.

What we may spot, with a bit of luck –

Birds: Tiger Herons, Green Herons, King Fishers, and Mangrove Hawks.
Mammals: White Faced Monkeys, Anteaters, Raccoons, and Squirrels.
Reptiles: Boa Constrictors, Iguanas, Lizards.
Crustaceans: Tiger Crabs, Land Crabs, and Snails.

Below you will be able to find the tides for the rest of this month:

24 Feb: 12.30 pm
25 Feb: 01.00 pm
26 Feb: 01.30 pm
27 Feb: 01.45 pm
28 Feb: 02.00 pm
29 Feb: 06.00 am

01 March: 06.00 am
02 March: 06:15 am
03 March: 06:30 am
04 March: 07:00 am
05 March: 07:30 am
06 March: 08:00 am
07 March: 10:00 am
08 March: 10:15 am
09 March: 11:00 am
10 March: 12:00 pm
11 March: 12:15 pm
12 March: 01:00 pm
13 March: 01:45 pm
14 March: 02:00 pm
15 March: 06:00 am
16 March: 06:30 am
17 March: 06:30 am
18 March: 07:00 am
19 March: 07:00 am
20 March: 08:30 am
21 March: 09:30 am
22 March: 10:30 am
23 March: 11:15 am
24 March: 11:45 am
25 March: 12:15 pm
26 March: 01:00 pm
27 March: 01:30 pm
28 March: 02:00 pm
29 March: 02:00 pm
30 March: 06:00 am
31 March: 06:00 am

01 April: 06:30 am
02 April: 07:00 am
03 April: 07:30 am
04 April: 07:45 am
05 April: 09:00 am
06 April: 09:45 am
07 April: 10:30 am
08 April: 11:30 am
09 April: 12:15 pm
10 April: 01:00 pm
11 April: 01:15 pm
12 April: 01:30 pm
13 April: 06:00 am
14 April: 06:30 am
15 April: 07:00 am
16 April: 07:00 am
17 April: 07:15 am
18 April: 08:15 am
19 April: 09:15 am
20 April: 10:00 am
21 April: 10:30 am
22 April: 11:15 am
23 April: 11:45 am
24 April: 12:15 pm
25 April: 12:45 pm
26 April: 01:30 pm
27 April: 01:45 pm
28 April: 06:00 am
29 April: 06:30 am
30 April: 06:30 am

Price for private tour of $110 per person (12 people minimum)

Includes

Recommendations

Reviews

Amazing Tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
March 12, 2024

Highly recommend the William family tour. Laura was so knowledgeable about the whole ecosystem in the mangrove. Seeing it by boat was so relaxing and fun at the same time.

Tour was topped off with a beautiful cooked meal by Laura’s Aunt Mary.

Definitely recommend this for all ages.

Ellen Versteeg

Best Relaxing Peek into Costa Rica's special wilderness

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 27, 2024

Amazing journey through the mangroves with a very knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. loudra was always looking for ways to make our adventure complete. She was on the lookout for wildlife the entire time. We have some surprise visitors to our boat – two white face monkeys. It was amazing. The lunch was homemade by a local family that ran our tour and was delicious and plentiful. I highly recommend.

Mark

Awesome Tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 29, 2023

We did the boat ride with Laura as our guide, and we loved it! We learned so much about the mangrove forest, and we saw iguanas, monkeys, and lots of birds that we hadn’t seen here before. Laura is an excellent guide. The boat takes you all the way to where the ocean meets the mangrove canals. Afterwards we had one of the best meals we ate anywhere in Costa Rica, made by Laura’s aunt Mary! Highly recommend this tour!

Amy

Learning Made Fun

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 16, 2023

My wife, adult son and I did the boat tour. Laura and the boat driver were both fantastic. We did 10 tours throughout Costa Rica; they were great, but this tour was in the top 2. Hearing Laura’s explanations was easy, the questions were invited, and the laughs were frequent. This is one of our favourite memories. We saw numerous birds, iquanas, a snake, a family of white-faced monkeys and luckily 5 crocodiles (that was exceptional even by Laura’s standards). We also learned about the different mangrove types and saw the vegetation up close. A generous amount of time was dedicated to the tour, and at the end Maria treated us to a wonderful traditional meal served outside at the family home. William picked us up at our hotel and then returned us at the end. He is a very entertaining host. The entire family is welcoming. The family’s passion for the environment and to education made a lasting impression. We thank you for an amazing experience.

Peter Fassnacht

Get up close to nature

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 8, 2023

William and his family made us so welcome. His older son took us on the kayak tour and told us all about the importance of the mangrove forest to the climate. We were fortunate to see loads of Cappuchin monkeys, a snake, iguana, kingfisher, heron. It’s so peaceful on the water. On our return we were given a very tasty home cooked meal. The family hosting the trip were so lovely and made us so welcome

Deborah

Very good experience!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 7, 2023

Wir haben über die Homepage die Damas Mangroven Bootstour gebucht. Am Anfang waren wir etwas skeptisch und hofften, dass es keine Massetour wird. Das war sie ganz und gar nicht! Wir waren eine sehr kleine Gruppe auf dem Boot, waren wirklich lange und weit in den Mangroven unterwegs. Unser Guide hat ganz viel über Flora und Fauna und das Mangrovensystem an sich erklärt. Es war wirklich fantastisch und fern ab vom Massentourismus. Wir waren weit und breit alleine. Anschließend gab es bei der Familie vom Guide noch ein typisch Costa Rica Lunch. Vielen Dank für die tolle Tour, unsere Erwartungen wurden übertroffen!!!

Nadine

A great tutorial!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
October 25, 2023

William taught us so much and helped us have a greater appreciation of planet earth. He did it with a friendly and informative manner. It was a soothing ride out to the ocean where William taught us the names of many birds. We learned so much about how every living organism is part of a greater hole. His English is excellent And we thoroughly enjoyed our excursion. The captain of the boat was diligent in looking for animals. He’s great I spotted an ant eater in the trees! We return to a delicious home-cooked meal on his family veranda. Great day!

Mike tyler

Excellent experience!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
August 27, 2023

William and Gustavo were great! The tour was a lot of fun and very informative – and the homemade lunch at the end was excellent! Highly recommended.

Judy

soothing to the soul

Rated 5.0 out of 5
August 22, 2023

It was a relaxing tour, and very educational. Saw many birds along the way, and we got lucky we saw white face monkeys. I highly recommend this tour. And at the end of the trip, delicious homemade lunch is waiting for you.

linda

William and team is the BEST host!!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
August 16, 2023

Highly recommend this tour. Great way to see and experience authentic way of living and through beautiful and peaceful mangroves. Ended the tour with a homemade delicious meal in William’s countryside home. Multiple close up encounters with monkeys as they actually jumped on our boat looking for food!

Vy

Amazing!!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
July 16, 2023

Super bel avant midi. Tour de bateau relax avec une guide extra !

La petite entreprise familiale était chaleureuse et donnait des informations intéressantes. Le lunch traditionnel était plus qu’excellent! Je recommande pour un am bien rempli.

Chloé Steben

Highly Recommend William Mangrove Tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
April 8, 2023

Wonderful informative tour. Saw and learned about many birds, animals, and plants of the mangrove ecosystem. Family run by people passionate and very knowledgeable. Delicious meal at the end at their home was just icing on the cake!

Edi C

Relaxing boat tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
April 5, 2023

Enjoyed a relaxing boat tour of the mangroves and out to the estuary to Damas Island. After we were treated to a homemade typical Tico meal at William’s home and cooked by his family. Thank you this was such a lovely retreat from the heat and touristy spots.

sharon cameron

Piacevole sorpresa!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 21, 2023

Veramente premurosi e ben organizzati! Trasporto puntuale e confortevole, barca in buone condizioni.

Guida molto disponibile e competente.

Mariella Ribaudo

William Mangrove Tours

Rated 5.0 out of 5
January 11, 2023

My wife and I (from Alaska) did the boat tour and it was an amazing experience. I’d give it 10 stars if I could. Our guide was really knowledgeable and spoke good English. William and his family even opened up their home and fed us an amazing Costa Rican meal. They are passionate about theirs and other cultures and are genuinely good people.

Steve Andersen

Incredible tour with terrific guide

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 30, 2022

Our boat tour with Laura was a highlight of our trip to Costa Rica! Our family of four loved being on the water in this special place, and learning about the mangroves. One of our sons loves snakes, and Laura was able to find three amazing species for us, and drove the boat very close to get incredible photos.

Kristi G

Brilliant Tour

Rated 5.0 out of 5
April 20, 2022

We had a lovely afternoon yesterday learning about the Mangrove’s. We took the boat and we are so glad we did as it was nicer to go a bit further ahead than what you can when on the kayaks. Our tour guide was so friendly and taught us lots about the wildlife and importance of the mangroves. Unfortunately it rained during our boat trip which meant the monkeys weren’t around, despite this we

Still had a great time. The meal was fantastic and it was nice to chat to other people on the tour as well.

Helen

Amazing boat ride through the mangrove

Rated 5.0 out of 5
March 13, 2022

The boat ride was peaceful with lot of information shared about the mangrove. The guide was very knowledgeable on the ecosystem. We saw herons, Iguanas, crabs etc, did not see monkeys unfortunately. The host was very welcoming. The homemade authentic Costa Rican food served at the end of the tour was super delicious! The local organic coffee and juice was too good! Overall, we spent a good few hours at the mangrove.

Mallikarjun Chakraborty

Excellent Mangrove Tours

Rated 5.0 out of 5
February 19, 2022

Our Mangrove Tour was an authentic, wonderful experience. After booking, we were sent very clear directions about where to meet (we drove), but William can pick you up as well. You arrive at his home, on the edge of the mangrove waterway. I found it a little challenging to figure out my timing weeks in advance (as we had another tour that AM), as the site said, “Tour time depends on the tide” and then had a tide chart. But it didn’t say when they left in relation to the high tide. In case you’re wondering, they leave about 45 min prior to high tide, give or take.

My mother and I were the only two on our tour. We just got lucky, the day before he had a group of 10. Either way, it would be just fine, as the boat is spacious. William is a marvelous storyteller. He will share details of his family (rice farmers), the ecosystem, his personal story, and his relationship with the Mangrove. It adds such color to the experience. We saw a large troupe of monkeys (25+) that were cracking clams on trees to open. It was so entertaining. The boat tour was 1+ hour, peaceful, relaxing, informative.

We finished with a spectacular lunch that his wife made us. It was my favorite meal of the 8 days we were in CR. (Authentic classic food). Just perfectly cooked, lots of food, and delicious refreshing drink. Bathrooms easily accessible. Everything very clean. William joined us for lunch and his company was welcomed. He shared organic coffee from a private farm in another region. It’s for purchase there too – this is the place to buy is vs a store.

Overall, extremely memorable, personalized, fun trip. I would highly recommend.

Elsa Duty

Loved it!!

Rated 5.0 out of 5
December 18, 2021

Laura is amazing!! Super friendly and knowledgeable! We were the only 2 people on the tour so it was amazing to ask her questions & hear her stories! Maria made us a delicious lunch & I would highly recommend this tour!!

Thank you!

Shannon

Amazing and needed experience

Rated 5.0 out of 5
June 15, 2021

William offered us an incredible tour through the manglars and we shared an incredible experience with him and his wife with a local lunch.

We shared experiences and interesting information about the area and the Costa Rica culture.

It’s a must!

Tere

Best thing we did in Costa Rica

Rated 5.0 out of 5
May 2, 2021

My husband and two friends from Ohio took this tour this morning. It was far beyond our expectations. William was just fabulous. His knowledge and enthusiasm made this a fascinating time. We learned so much about the mangroves and the entire eco system. The boat ride was beautiful and peaceful. Then we shared a delicious Costa Rican breakfast. Don’t miss this. Honestly, you have to add this to your to do list if you are in the area. I would give it 10 stars.

Kathy Strickland