Best Place to See Frogs in Costa Rica: Veragua Rainforest

[Danny Solano Alvarez]

Walking through the Costa Rica rainforest in rainy season is the time to hear frogs: calling, croaking, barking, whistling, tinkling, trilling and making all manner of loud sounds.

Why are they so noisy? The quick answer is to attract a mate, and to defend a territory – especially in breeding season. In an evergreen rainforest, newly formed ponds, puddles and pools erupt into a cacophony of several species of frogs all calling and competing at the same time for mates.

The tropics hold many such natural wonders. Costa Rica is home to 133 species of frogs and toads, which are found on all of the planet’s continents except Antarctica. The greatest numbers of species are found in the regions with warm, humid tropical forest.

One of the most frog-diverse places in all of Costa Rica is Veragua Rainforest Eco-Adventure, with 54 recorded species. In the Caribbean mountains by the La Amistad International Park, Veragua hosts a unique Frog Habitat. Its fun interactive exhibits, created by resident biologists, will teach you a lot about the rainforest frogs and toads in Costa Rica.

In the fascinating nocturnal frog exhibit, day is artificially turned into night so you can see these nighttime frogs and toads going about their normal lives. You will be given a small flashlight to help you spot the intriguing amphibians. When visitors are gone, night becomes day to allow the frogs to sleep.

In the open-air diurnal frog area, you will see native frogs that are most active during the day, such as the colorful strawberry poison-dart frog. This special group of frogs is so-named from the practice of indigenous hunters in South and Central America to coat the tips of their blow darts or arrows with the toxic secretions from the Dendrobates frogs’ skin.

Learn more about frogs in Costa Rica, along with birds, reptiles, insects and butterflies at Veragua Rainforest Eco-Adventure. The rainforest adventure park is a top attraction in the Caribbean region of Costa Rica, and an important national scientific research center. On a cruise to Costa Rica, Veragua Rainforest is one of the best shore excursions from the Caribbean port of Limón Costa Rica. For passengers who only have a few hours to experience Costa Rica’s wonders, Veragua Rainforest is located an hour away from the port of Limon and offers half-day and full-day shore excursions with minimal travel time.

article by Shannon Farley