We found this place…affordable, not fancy. They can book tours for you. We haven’t been there yet, but it looks great so fingers crossed.

Hey Jay!

You’re absolutely right! Corcovado experiences, especially overnight experiences, can be pricey. What a lot of travelers (innocently) don’t realize is how expensive it is for the local tour operators to arrange the experiences. Unlike your average guided tour in Costa Rica, where a tour guide may pay an entrance fee (and nothing more) on behalf of the traveler to provide the service–leaving lots of room for him or her to add their profit on top–there are a ton of mandatory fees that Corcovado guides are required to pay. Some of these park-related fees, including entrance fees, accommodation fees, and meal fees, are regulated by the government, so the guides can’t lower them. Below is a rough breakdown of the cost of a 2-day/1-night Corcovado experience, assuming the tour is taken to/from Bahia Drake (for example purposes):

Boat transportation from Bahia Drake to the Sirena Sector entrance: $50 + tax
Corcovado National Park entrance fee for Day #1: $15 + tax
Lunch on Day #1: $25 + tax
Dinner on Day #1: $25 + tax
Overnight accommodations on Day #1: $30 + tax
Corcovado National Park entrance fee for Day #2: $15 + tax
Breakfast on Day #2: $20 + tax
Lunch on Day #2: $25 + tax
Boat transportation from the Sirena Sector entrance to Bahia Drake: $50 + tax
TOTAL: $255 + tax

I’ve had lots of discussions with Corcovado tour guides about this, and most say that it’s tough for them to make a living from touring Corcovado (compared to touring other attractions and sites). The dilemma is, if they raise their prices to increase their profits, the already expensive overnight Corcovado experience will become even more costly for travelers, and several won’t want to pay for it. They cannot lower their prices, though, in an attempt to draw in more travelers and make overnight Corcovado experiences more affordable to all, because the expenses to run the park tours make that virtually impossible. As a result, most guides price the overnight tour around the $300 range, so they can make at least $50 for the day’s work. Three-day/two-night experiences are roughly $200 more because the expenses alone for the extra day are around $150. The guides then add on the extra $50 for the added day’s work.

Of course, prices can vary across tour operators for overnight Corcovado tours, but there isn’t much wiggle room for them to vary greatly for this particular type of Costa Rica experience. In my opinion, although expensive, the prices you’ve discovered from talking to the various tour companies you’ve researched are typical and fair. If it helps you any, my preferred Corcovado tour companies are Pacheco Tours, Osa Outdoor Adventures, Top Trails, and Surcos Trails.

Wishing you an awesome time in Corcovado! 🙂

Pura vida!

P.S., Thank you, Alison, for sharing your experience with Jay! I hope your time over on the Osa Peninsula is equally as wonderful. 🙂