Where to stay near Manuel Antonio National Park: the 3 areas to know in 2026
« On the downside, the crowds are everywhere, so get away from them by following the more isolated trails! », writes our second member, and that is the wall both reviews on this page run into. It has a mechanism: a cap of 600 visitors a day, entries in fifteen-minute slots between 7am and 3pm, a ticket sold online only, and a park closed every Tuesday. Here, sleeping near the entrance does not shorten a drive: it buys you the first slot.
Our first member, for her part, stops at the bill: « the price is a disgrace: more than 20 dollars just to go to the beach ». The posted rate is $18.08* per non-resident adult, and $5.65* per child aged 2 to 12. Three areas share the nights: Playa Espadilla, 500 metres from the gate, the hillside road between 3.8 and 4.3 kilometres, and Quepos at 6.5.
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The two ways to stay near Manuel Antonio National Park
The park cannot be visited on a whim: you need a ticket bought online, a fifteen-minute slot, and a day that is not a Tuesday. The rest comes down to the minutes between your room and the gate.
| What changes | At Playa Espadilla | On the hillside or in Quepos |
|---|---|---|
| To the gate | 500 metres, one minute | From 3.8 to 6.5 kilometres |
| The 7am slot | On foot | Seven to thirteen minutes of road |
| The scores in our records | 8.9 and 8.4 | 9.4 and 9.3 on the hillside, 7.7 in Quepos |
| The number of addresses | Two, at the foot of the beach | Two on the heights, one in town |
| The volume of reviews | More than 2,500 on a single page | More than 900 and more than 960 |
| The evening | The restaurants on the beach | The view, or the town market |
| Transport | The local coastal bus | The long-distance buses, in Quepos |
| For whom | Anyone wanting to enter on the first slot | Anyone coming for the coast as much as the park |
How long to the entrance, area by area?
The distances follow the road and start from Playa Espadilla, the beach at the entrance: the point the place's record carries sits inside the park, 4.1 kilometres and eight minutes from there.
| From | Time | How |
|---|---|---|
| Playa Espadilla, at the park gate | 500 m, 1 min | on foot The park opens at 7am, Wednesday to Monday, and closes on Tuesdays. |
| The hillside, between the road and the Pacific | 3.8 to 4.3 km, 7 to 10 min | car or taxi The same road links the hillside to the beach and to Quepos. |
| Quepos, the port and the buses | 6.5 km, 13 min | car or local bus Parrita is 30 kilometres away, Dominical 49.3. |
At a glance: our picks by traveller type
Pick the profile that fits you and go straight to the recommended area.
Map of the areas near Manuel Antonio National Park
See how the areas sit relative to one another before choosing your base. Click a name to jump to its description.
Playa Espadilla, at the park gate 500 metres from the entrance, at the end of the road
Anyone wanting the 7am slot without a car
This is the lower end of the village, where the road stops against the sand and where the park gate opens at 7am. Our first address is 500 metres and one minute away, and its own page states two hundred metres west of the park: the first slot can be taken on foot, before all 600 visitors of the day have gone in. In exchange, this is also the busiest part of the village, the one our second member found crowded.
The well-maintained trails lead to both beaches and the jungle
Where to stay in this area
Hotel Playa Espadilla & Gardens Mid-range
8.9 on more than 840 reviews and a location rated 9.6: its page states two hundred metres west of the park, and the road makes it 500.
El Faro Containers Beach Hotel Mid-range
8.4 on more than 2,500 reviews, the thickest volume on these pages, and a location rated 9.6 as well: converted containers near the beach.
Pros
- The first slot is reached on foot
- Two locations rated 9.6
- Playa Espadilla Norte, outside the park and ticket-free
Cons
- The busiest part of the village
- The mosquitoes our member complains about
The hillside, between the road and the Pacific Between 3.8 and 4.3 kilometres, up on the heights
Anyone wanting the view and the guide's best scores
The road climbing back towards Quepos clings to the hillside, and that is where the two best-rated addresses on these pages stand: 9.4 and 9.3, with cleanliness and comfort at 9.6 for both. Count 3.8 kilometres and seven minutes from the gate for the first, 4.3 and ten minutes for the second: the 7am slot therefore needs a car or a taxi, not a pair of flip-flops.
Where to stay in this area
Hotel Plaza Yara Mid-range
9.4 on more than 900 reviews, cleanliness 9.6, comfort 9.6 and facilities 9.5: the best score in this guide, 3.8 kilometres from the gate.
Parador Nature Resort and Spa Luxury
9.3 on more than 960 reviews, with cleanliness, comfort and staff all three at 9.6: a resort set on its own point, 4.3 kilometres away.
Pros
- The two best scores here, 9.4 and 9.3
- Cleanliness and comfort at 9.6 in both houses
- The Pacific from the room
Cons
- Seven to ten minutes of road before the gate
- A steep hill, hardly made for walking
Quepos, the port and the buses 6.5 kilometres away, 7,810 inhabitants
Anyone arriving by bus, or wanting a town
Our first member places the park « starting from the town of Quepos », and she is right: the town, its fishing port and its marina are where the buses and the roads arrive, 6.5 kilometres and thirteen minutes from the gate. Seven thousand eight hundred and ten inhabitants, shops, a market, and a hotel score that drops to 7.7 where the hillside holds 9.4. The price of that saving is counted in minutes: twenty-six there and back, every day.
Manuel Antonio National Park is a must-see park in Costa Rica, starting from the town of Quepos
Where to stay in this area
Best Western Hotel & Casino Kamuk Budget
7.7 on more than 330 reviews, cleanliness 8.4: the chain address in the centre of Quepos, thirteen minutes from the park gate.
Pros
- The buses and the roads arrive here
- A town, a market, shops
- The plainest outlay of the three areas
Cons
- Twenty-six minutes of road a day
- A single address kept here
Our tips for booking the right place
- Six hundred entries a day, in fifteen-minute batches: The park admits only 600 visitors a day, tickets are sold online only through the national protected-areas service, and entries happen in fifteen-minute slots between 7am and 3pm, six days out of seven, Tuesday excepted. You can book up to six tickets at once. That mechanism explains both our members' sentences: the crowd the second describes gathers in the middle-of-the-day slots, and the ticket the first finds expensive is also what caps attendance. Practical consequence: book the 7am slot and sleep close enough to walk to it.
- What entry costs, and what our member paid: The posted rate is $18.08* per non-resident adult over 12 and $5.65* per child aged 2 to 12, free below. Our first member remembers « more than 20 dollars just to go to the beach », and her irritation makes sense: the park is one of the few places in Costa Rica where the beach has a price. Worth noting for the budget: Playa Espadilla Norte, the beach the road stops at, lies outside the park and is freely accessible, while Playa Espadilla Sur, on the other side of the estuary, is inside and needs the ticket.
- The animals both our members saw, and the one they did not: The second member is the fuller of the two: « The reserve is home to lots of animals, and I saw monkeys, coatis, and reptiles. There are plenty of birds, too. » The first was less lucky, and her disappointment is instructive: « To my great dismay, I only saw coatis, which are South American raccoons, raiding the trash cans. » Two visits, two outcomes, and the same lesson: the animals are not a scheduled attraction. The morning slot remains when they move most, before the heat and before the crowd.
- Repellent, and the trails the crowd does not take: Two pieces of advice, one per member, and they are worth more than a brochure. « I got eaten alive by mosquitoes, so definitely bring some repellent », writes the first. « On the downside, the crowds are everywhere, so get away from them by following the more isolated trails! », adds the second, who also notes that « the well-maintained trails lead to both beaches and the jungle » and that he found it « really easy to get to and get around ». The park is small, flat and well signposted: stepping aside takes no effort there, only the wish to leave the main path.
- Arriving without a ticket: they are sold online only, and the cap is 600 people a day.
- Planning the visit on a Tuesday: the park is closed that day.
- Aiming for the middle of the day: that is when the crowd our member describes gathers.
- Setting off without repellent: our first member « got eaten alive by mosquitoes ».
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