By boat or plane. You need to arrive to La Pavona boat area where you can board boats to travel through the jungle and arrive to Tortuguero. There are different boat companies and individual operators with different characteristics, boats, conditions, prices and service qualities. The boat ride is usually 60 min, there are private/express boats and shared local boats with prices from $7 to $11. There is parking in Pavona to leave your car.

Pavona-Tortuguero

7:30 AM – 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM  1:00 PM 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM 

Tortuguero-Pavona

5:00 AM – 7:00 AM – 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Prices

Adults and children +3 years old  from $8 – $11/ Kids -3 Free

Yes, there is a safe, supervised and surveillance system in Pavona Parking. The most common length is 48 hrs (2 nights), it cost $23.99 through online payment. There is a restaurant and waiting area for your boat service. Restrooms, bar and supermarket is also available.  

The ride is usually 50-60 minutes during rainy season (July-December). Dry season goes from January to May, but the highest rain deficit is on Abril and May, causing the river to get really low and resulting longer boat trip up to 2 hrs. Boat gets stock on the sand and cannot speed. This year the “Fenomeno del Nino” is causing a non-usual high rain deficit during July, so this weeks we are expecting rain to come and ease the trip from Pavona to Tortuguero and Viceversa. November 10th, 2023 update. River with great water level. 

The private boat ride is usually 40 minutes from Pavona to the Tortuguero Village in rainy season. During dry season private boats take a large advantage over shared boats due to the amount of people they carry and size of the boats. Private boats and smaller and lighter, they take only from 1-5 people with luggage and they can last around 60 minutes during dry conditions. If you are going to a Hotel out of the Tortuguero Village, private boats leave Pavona to your lodge dock express. 

June, 28th, 2023. 12:39 PM. The turtle season is officially starting on July 1st, 2023 with tours departing each day at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. The tours last around 2 hours and many people from around the world come to the tropical paradise to observe this amazing process. Get your tickets and guide with enough time ahead because the permitted amount of people per guide is 10 and this holidays there are many visitors from all around the world.

You can ride the local shared boat or private express from Pavona, Moin or Caño Blanco to your hotel in Tortuguero. Our boats operate to Tortuguero main village hotels for $9.87. We serve all hotels in Tortuguero and out of the village including Mawamba, Pachira, Anhinga, Laguna, Baula, Manatus, All Rankins, Chinitas, Tortuga Lodge are some of the hotels that are away from the village. Make sure that when you book you select your hotel destination to take you to the right and final destination properly. 

Arenal: 3 hrs / Cahuita & Puerto Viejo: 4 hrs / San Jose: 3 hrs / Guapiles: 1 hr / Cariari: 1 hr. In the following link you can watch the trip from  Guapiles

This way work from and to Tortuguero from these Caribbean Destinations. Ask for availability first, from Puerto Viejo or Cahuita you can be picked up in your hotel (8:00 AM)  and travel to Moin where the Boat Area to Tortuguero Channels is located. You board the boat (10:30 AM) and travel along the cost to arrive at Tortuguero around 1:00 PM. The Boat to Moin depart at 7:00 AM from Tortuguero Main Boat area and arrives to Moin at 10:00 AM. There you can take the ground transportation to arrive to Cahuita or Puerto Viejo. 

Tortuguero is a really small village with many things to do. 

Most common 

1. Park Wildlife Safari: You can do it in Canoe, Kayak or Boat. Canoe is silent, can access small narrow passages, canoe visit different creeks than motorized tours. Canoe tours usually is shared with other visitors. Kayaks for those who like the adventure and physically active. Same places canoe. Boat tours, do not paddle, comfortable seated, not noisy at all, covers more distance and visit different creeks in the park. Each one of them have special characteristics that make them unique. 
2. Hike: Diurnal in the park, short trails ‘El Jaguar” easy to walk with many different species of mammals, insects amphibians, reptiles and much more, finishes in the beach, close to the village. Nocturnal, amazing tour to observe the huge amount of animals of the tropics such as the red ayes frogs. Tortuguero Hill Hike, offer the opportunity to visit an extinct volcano in a tropical humid forest. Visit the local native village on the base know as San Francisco. Use the perimetrical boat running Tortuguero-Caño Palma and do not miss this amazing dark color mirror like creek. 
3. Turtle Nesting: Vist at night the beach with a certified guide to observe the nesting process. Schedules 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM from July 1st to October 31st. yeah year. 
4. Fishing: Local fishing fresh water and salt water, snooks, snappers, wahoo, mackerel and tarpon on the north area of Tortuguero in the sea.