WHEN PASSING OVER THE TARCOLES RIVER BRIDGE – THE CROCODILES ARE A MUST SEE
The Taracoles River Crocodiles are a well-kept secret that throngs of Jaco Visitors flock to see every year.
All traffic traversing the new Caldera highway from San Jose en route to Jaco passes through a town called Tarcoles and over the famous Tarcoles Crocodile bridge. This bridge is easily locatable by simply keeping a keen eye out for the “Tarcoles” street signs located just prior to the bridge on either side, and generally speaking it’s fairly hard to miss anyway as there are usually hordes of people lining the edges of either side of the bridge and a bevy of parked cars are usually parked in the vicinity.
The Tarcoles crocodile bridge is located approximately 60 minutes drive from San Jose Costa Rica, or approximately 30 minutes outside of Jaco Beach, depending on which direction you are traveling. Make sure you stop and take some photos of the swarming crocs, teeming in the waters and blanketing both sides of the riverbed.
The Tarcoles Crocodiles are a great local draw and worth a few minutes of your time especially considering you are going to have to pass right over the top of them on your way to Jaco anyway. If you are taking a taxi from San Jose to Jaco beach, don’t worry, most locals are proud of the famous local crocs so your driver will not mind pulling over and letting you pop out and snap a few photos, so don’ hesitate to ask. Bear in mind that if you are the more adventurous type and simply snapping photos of aggressive crocodiles from a safe distance atop a bridge strikes you as a bit tame, once you arrive in Jaco one of the many tourist activities in Jaco Beach to choose from is an “up close and personal” Tarcoles crocodile river tour excursion with the legendary Crocodile Man himself.
Crocodile Tour Tarcoles River
- Location: Tarcoles River 25 min, drive north of Jaco Beach
- Length of the Tour: 3 hours
- Pick Up Time: 8:30am, 10:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm
- Min. People: 4
- Includes: Transportation round trip, bilingual guide, and insured vehicles.
- Recommendations: Camera, light clothes
- Rates: $50
