We hired an off duty security guard at our hotel in Jaco Beach (Hard Rock Resort) to drive us to Manuel Antonio and back. The driver's fee was a reasonable $80 for the entire day from 9 AM to just past 5 PM.

The trip took about 90 minutes. It would have been quicker but the bridges over the several small rivers are just one lane wide.

To get into the park, we walked across the Espadilla Sur beach and climbed up a small incline just next to the Río Camaronera lagoon. At high tide, you'll have to either wade through waist deep water or pay for one of the small boats to take you.

At the end of a short trail through the trees, there is a small ranger station with a cashier window. The entrance fee is $10 per person for foreigners, just a few dollars for Costa Rica's locals and free for children under 12 years of age. The park is open from 7 AM to 4 PM. After 4 PM the high tide fills up the Camaronera river's lagoon at the park's entrance/exit which allows crocodiles to enter the area.

During our visit to Manuel Antonio National Park, I captured a few short video clips using my Canon S5 IS digital camera. I edited these clips together into a short movie. The video is encoded in the WMV (Windows Media Video) format, runs about 2 minutes long and has a file size of 32 megabytes. To download the video to your hard drive, right click and choose "Save Target As" or "Save Link As". The video features iguanas, white faced capuchin monkeys, and a three toed sloth.