Selvatura
Quick Facts
- Location : Santa Elena
- Area : 26,000 acres
- Telephone : 2645-5929/2645-7676/2645-5757
- Hours : 7 a.m.-5 p.m. daily
- Entrance Fee : Canopy tours; $45 adults, $40 students, $30 children. Hanging bridges for self-guided tours $30 adults, $25 students, $20 children
Selvatura features a full day of adventures deep in the cloud forest along the Caribbean slopes of the continental divide. Fly between the treetops on zip lines, walk among the forest canopy on hanging bridges or visit Selvatura's butterfly garden, humming bird garden, serpentarium and insect exhibit for a deeper understanding of one of the world's most unique habitats.
read more closeCanopy Tour
Guests plunge into the canopies of the wet, vibrantly green cloud forest surrounding the 13 cables, 18 platforms and 25-foot Tarzan swing that make up Selvatura's two-hour zip line tour. The tour begins in the middle of the forest with guests zipping through the canopy and landing on platforms built around massive tree trunks hundreds of feet in the air. As the tour progresses, the lines get longer and higher until guests are soaring out over valleys above the rainforest canopy. Tickets are $45 for adults, $40 students, $30 children.
Hanging Bridges
Explore the different layers of the rainforest on Selvatura's treetop loop; a trail meandering 1.5 miles through the cloud forest over eight different suspension bridges ranging from 150 to more than 500 feet long; some reaching heights of 180 feet above the forest floor. Standing on the bridges, guests have the opportunity to look inside the canopies of some cloud forest's tallest trees – a unique habitat for thousands of species plants and home to monkeys, coatis, snakes and frogs. Selvatura's trail is also one of the best places in Monteverde to spot three-wattled bellbirds and the resplendent quetzal: a brilliant turquoise bird with a red breast and a mohawk. Tickets for self-guided tours are $30 for adults, $25 students, $20 children.
Butterfly Garden
Enter one of Costa Rica's largest butterfly exhibit The greenhouse covers more than 8,100 square feet and houses anywhere from 12 to 15 different species of butterflies at one time including blue morphos (Costa Rica's celebrity butterfly), owl, zebra, halloween, monarch, Mexican blue butterflies and more. Visit the spawning posts where butterflies regularly emerge from their cocoons and take flight into the exhibit or check out the second-story in the center of the greenhouse and get a bird's eye perspective of the butterflies fluttering around the exhibit. Tickets are $ 15 per person.
Hummingbird Garden
The hummingbird garden is a relaxing place to gather your bearings after a trek through the hanging bridges or a ride on the zip-lines. More than 14 different species can be spotted hovering around the feeders, perching in the trees and darting past unwary guests. Tickets are $5 per person.
Insect Exhibit
Selvatura claims to have the third largest private insect collection in the world. Belonging to famed Entomologist Dr. Richard Whitten, the collection includes thousands of species of butterflies, moths and beetles. Richard, who has been working on his collection since he was 5 years old, preserves his insects in glass cases, many of them artistically designed by Richard's wife Margaret. Tickets are $15 per person.
Serpentarium
Fourteen different species of snakes lurk inside Selvatura's reptile and amphibian exhibit. Fer-de-Lance, pit vipers and boa constrictors slither over branches and nestle up close to the glass as guests walk among the glass enclosures. The exhibit also features three species of lizards and seven different species of frogs including Costa Rica's fabled poison dart frogs. Tickets are $15 per person.