Costa Rica National Park Tickets: How to Book on SINAC, Fees and Rules

Costa Rica national park tickets are sold through SINAC (Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación, or the National System of Conservation Areas), and some of the most popular parks, like Manuel Antonio and Poás Volcano, only sell tickets online ahead of time.

Thomas and I have lived in Costa Rica since 2016 and have visited a lot of these parks over the years. We’ve also learned the hard way that you can’t always just show up and buy a ticket at the gate.

Below, we’ll walk you through setting up a SINAC account and buying your tickets step by step (with screenshots), which parks you need to book ahead for, what they cost and our tips for visiting.

How to Buy Costa Rica National Park Tickets on SINAC

SINAC’s website is the only official place to buy national park tickets, so skip any look-alike sites that add extra fees. In my opinion, it’s one of the worst websites ever, which is wild for the country’s official national park site. It’s outdated, it’s slow and it goes down a lot. As you can tell, it really bothers me.

If it won’t load, try again a bit later. Sometimes I’ve had to wait an entire day until it was back up. SINAC’s own advice is to use an incognito window and clear your cache. Here’s how the whole process works.

1. Create a Free SINAC Account

Go to the SINAC online reservations site and click “Create an account” (Crear una cuenta). First, switch the language to English with the button in the top right corner. It makes setting everything up a lot easier.

Then fill in a username (anything you want), your first name, last name and email address twice. Tick “I’m not a robot,” accept the terms and conditions and submit. Unfortunately, there’s no option to sign in with Google, which would be nice.

SINAC then emails you your password. If it doesn’t show up within a day (check your spam folder too), email reservaciones.sinac@sinac.go.cr and ask them to resend it.

2. Log In to Your Account

Head back to the SINAC home page and log in with your username or email and the password they sent you. You’ll probably see a few pop-up notices once you’re in. They’re only in Spanish, even if you switched to English, so just accept them and keep going.

3. Check Availability for Your Park

Want to see if there are spots left before you buy? On the home page (or under “Buy” in the menu once you’re logged in), choose your park and date, tick “I’m not a robot” and click Availability.

4. Choose Your Park

Go to the menu and open Online Reservations. Scroll down until you find the park you want and click Make Reservation. This part can be really slow, so be patient with it.

5. Pick Your Date and Entry Time

Use the calendar view to pick your date, then choose your entry time. Most parks sell tickets in time slots, and you do have to arrive during the slot you booked. Then choose your ticket type. As a visitor, you’ll want non-resident tickets (extranjero no residente) for adults and kids.

6. Add Your Visitor Details and Pay

Enter each visitor’s full name, passport number, nationality and age. Your ticket is tied to your passport, so double check the numbers. Then pay with a Visa or Mastercard.

7. Save Your Confirmation

After you pay, SINAC emails you a confirmation with a QR code. You can show it on your phone or bring a printed copy, plus your passport. I’d also take a screenshot of it, since a lot of parks have little to no cell signal.

Good to Know Before You Buy

• No refunds: Tickets aren’t refundable, even if it’s cloudy or rainy that day. If the park closes for an emergency, you can email SINAC to reschedule.
• Ticket limits: Manuel Antonio allows up to 6 tickets per purchase and one purchase per account per day. Chirripó allows 4, and most other parks allow 10.
• Changes: Ticket names can’t be changed, and you can’t switch a ticket to a different park.
• Guided tours: If you book a guided tour, the tour company often buys your entrance ticket for you, so check before you buy your own. See our favorite tours.

Which Costa Rica National Parks Need Tickets Ahead of Time?

Right now, these parks sell tickets through SINAC’s online system. Some of them, like Manuel Antonio, Poás and Los Quetzales, won’t sell you a ticket at the entrance at all, so if I were planning a trip, I’d just buy every park ticket online ahead of time.

Fees below are approximate for foreign adults and can change, so always check the final price on SINAC before you pay.

Manuel Antonio is the one to really plan for. It’s the most visited park in the country, it has a daily visitor limit and it’s closed on Tuesdays, so book super early, especially from December to April.

Visiting Tortuguero? Most people do the morning canoe tour through the park’s canals. You still need a national park ticket for the canoe tour, but that same ticket also gets you into the hiking trail. We suggest doing the canoe tour (it usually leaves around 6 am), grabbing breakfast after and then walking the trail.

For Tenorio and Río Celeste, go in dry season if you can. After really heavy rains, the river turns brown and the trails get muddy. Trust us, we’ve done it, and it’s not worth it.

Parks You Book a Different Way

Not every national park runs through SINAC’s website. Here are the ones that work differently.

Corcovado National Park

You can only visit Corcovado with a certified guide, and your guide will tell you how to handle the park tickets. So you’ll need to book through a guide instead of buying tickets yourself. Most tours leave from Drake Bay or Puerto Jiménez.

• From Drake Bay: full-day tour to San Pedrillo Station or a 2-day overnight tour to Sirena Station
• From Puerto Jiménez: full-day hike from La Leona Station or a 3-day trek with a night in the park

We’ve only done the full-day tour, and it was super great. The guides we’ve had there were really excellent. Overnight tours are also a really fun option if you want more time in the jungle.

Turrialba Volcano National Park

You can only hike Turrialba Volcano with an authorized guide, so you can’t book it directly on the national park website. It’s not cheap, but going with a guide is the only way in. Our Turrialba guide explains how to book. We hiked it in 2025, and it was really intense, but it was so awesome. I highly recommend it.

Barra Honda National Park

Barra Honda is a really cool park because you can go caving, but the cave tour isn’t booked through SINAC. You need to call the park ahead of time to make a reservation. It’s super cool. You literally climb down a ladder into the cave. Thomas recently got afraid of heights, so he was kind of freaking out!

Paying at the Entrance

Costa Rica’s national parks have gone completely cash free. At parks where you don’t need to book ahead, like Arenal, you can still show up and buy a ticket at the entrance, but you’ll need to pay by card.

The one exception we know of is Cahuita. Its Kelly Creek entrance in Cahuita town is run on donations, and I think it still takes cash, though some visitors say cards work there too. The Puerto Vargas entrance charges a set fee, so bring both cash and a card.

Book these before your park days

Planning your park days? These are worth sorting out before you go.

Our Tips for Visiting Costa Rica’s National Parks

• Go as early as possible. In my opinion, this is the biggest tip for every park. Wildlife is more active, it’s cooler and there are fewer people. For volcanoes like Poás and Irazú, mornings are usually clearest before the clouds roll in, so book the earliest slot you can.
• Bring your passport and QR code. Have your confirmation on your phone (plus a screenshot) or printed out.
• Hire a guide where it counts. It’s not always necessary. It’s required in Corcovado and Turrialba, and we suggest one in parks with lots of wildlife, like Manuel Antonio, where a guide with a scope spots so much more. In parks without a ton of wildlife, you don’t really need one.
• Pack the basics. Bring plenty of water, since most parks don’t have a place to fill up. Bring bug spray too, although the bugs usually aren’t too bad until sunset. Wear sunscreen and sun protection even on cloudy days, because the sun here is really strong. Add a rain jacket in rainy season and some electrolytes. Some parks don’t allow single-use plastic or outside food, so check the rules for yours.
• Take it easy. Some of the volcanoes are at really high elevation, and on any hike here you’re probably not used to the heat and humidity. We notice it ourselves after we’ve been away visiting family, and friends and family who visit us get tired much quicker than they expect.
• Don’t feed the animals. This goes double for the monkeys and raccoons at Manuel Antonio.
• Check the weather. Our weather guide covers what to expect each month.

Private Reserves Sell Tickets Separately

Not every nature spot is a national park. Popular places like the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Curú and Cabo Blanco have their own ticketing, and private spots like the Arenal hanging bridges sell tickets on their own websites. You won’t find those on SINAC.

Costa Rica National Park Tickets FAQ