Monteverde Butterfly Gardens: Insectarium and Gardens Tour

74 Ratings

Monteverde

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Discover Costa Rica’s bugs and butterflies with passionate guides. Explore unique gardens, see caterpillars transform, and enjoy unlimited visits during your stay.

Duration: 2 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Monteverde Butterfly Garden (Jardin de Mariposas) - Here at the Monteverde Butterfly Gardens, we have been teaching people about Costa Rica’s insects and arachnids for over 30 years. We have made it our mission to change the way people think about these small, misunderstood creatures. This may seem like a daunting task, but our bugs and tour…

What's Included

Professional guide
Photo opportunities

What's Not Included

Transportation to/from attractions

Additional Information

Our tours are a little over an hour in length, and include the following: An introduction to Costa Rica bugs, and an orientation to the Gardens An up-close experience with a variety of insects and arachnids A look at our rearing chamber, where caterpillars are becoming butterflies A stroll through our 3 unique gardens, full of spectacular butterflies….

Location

Monteverde Butterfly Gardens

Cerro Plano, 20 minute walk or short cab ride from downtown Santa Elena

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.6

(74 Ratings)

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1 star

Eigonosensay

Feb 18, 2025

Magical Monteverde - I can't say enough positive things about Monteverde as a travel destination. It was easy to put up with the wind and uphill walks to experience the magic of the cloud forest. We shuttled with the wonderful Marco of Alvarado of Genuine Costa Rica from Playa Hermosa. We spent 4 nights at the fabulous Cabanas La Pradera about 1.5 km out of Santa Elena. It was easy to get the red taxi to all of our destinations. We spent day 1 on a guided tour arranged by our Cabina hosts to Monteverde Cloud Forest. Day 2 we went Salva Toura for an awe-some 2 hour canopy walk. After a lovely lunch at their restaurant went went to their sloth sanctuary and butterfly garden with a very knowledgeable guide. They also have a snake/lizard sanctuary on site and ziplinig. Salva Toura is costly but worth. The final day we explored Santa Elena and went to the orchid garden again with a very knowledgeable guide. The area is not over crowded with tourists. I've been to Costa Rica 3 times and Monteverde is a magical destination that is always on my itinerary.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Jeremiasz_m

Feb 3, 2025

Very good - Guide was great and I learned a lot about butterflies on that tour. Group was small. The whole tour could be longer, but overall I was pleased.

Review provided by Viator

Timjstark

Jan 23, 2025

Last minute-great tour! - A last minute addition to our final day & it was well worth it! The entry fee entitles you to a professional, informative, and humorous hour long tour that you will not forget!

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Hannahrv2123ez

Jan 17, 2025

Danielle was an amazing guide! - Danielle was an excellent guide. She was so funny, passionate, and kind. They were technically closed when we went by, but they let us in since we had travelled from La Fortuna that morning. Such a nice and amazing staff with lots of cool insects and butterflies to see. Highly recommend for anyone visiting the cloud forest!

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Chrisct4653au

Jan 15, 2025

Great experience at Monteverde Butterfly Garden - Very informative tour. Learned about the life cycles of butterflies and other insects, including tarantulas and how they interact to their advantage. Walked thru two other enclosed butterfly enclosures and one larger outdoor/screened in one. Saw butterflies mating. Were landing on our clothes. Our guide Gabe gave a very educational tour laced w/ humor. Someone who had an obvious passion for his work. Would highly recommend. And is very reasonably priced.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Krisb77

Jan 4, 2025

Definitely worth going on this tour - Wonderful experience learning about many insects of Costa Rica. There are 3 indoor butterfly habitats and 1 outside garden habitat with a variety of insects, including butterflies. We saw more butterflies in this tour than in Selvatura because their habitat is much larger & more difficult to get pictures of the butterflies. If you visit Taco Taco, there is a $2 off coupon with the receipt. I was really happy with this experience. The tours are guided so they teach and point out the hidden insects, like stick bugs.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Lances81

Dec 9, 2024

Beautiful Butterflies - This was a pleasant suprise! Our guide Daniela was fantastic and extremely knowledgeable about insects and butterflies! A great experience for a rainy day.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Washingtoniannative

Jan 11, 2025

Great Presentation by Intern - The intern who led our tour was very passionate about the subject matter and gave a five star presentation. I took one star off because we didn't actually see that many butterflies but it may have been the time of year because a friend told me she saw lots of butterflies when she visited over the summer season.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Mikeba5901fg

Dec 25, 2024

Good experience and child friendly. - The facility is tucked out of the way and set on a hillside with good views down the valley. All the staff were very nice, and our guide was very knowledgeable. It is not a long tour with four zones to walk through after the main information piece at the beginning. Here they will explain the timeline of insects and a look at the main groups and some live examples on show. The butterfly houses were spacious with many butterflies flying around and plants growing with caterpillars crawling over them. Once the tours is done you are free to go back through the zones, but this time without a guide. We saw coatis in the grounds also.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Darrell

Nov 21, 2024

Misleading cancellation policy - The website states to cancel before 24 hours in advance and that is what I tried to do but there was no option for a refund. I emailed the location but they did not reply and chose to take the money instead. I still have not received any reply.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

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up to 15 guests

1 Adult