They're slow, they're everywhere, and they're almost impossible to spot on your own. Here's where to look, town by town, and the local guides and operators who know where they live, compared and ranked.
By Lior, wildlife photographer and guide from Guanacaste
Reserve with a 25% deposit on secure WeTravel checkout · Refundable up to 60 days before trips, 48 h before day tours
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We don’t run tours. Licensed local guides and operators list them, we rank them openly, and you reserve through Lyferr’s secure checkout on WeTravel.
How it worksWhere to look
Most people miss sloths because they scan at eye level. Here's where each one spends its time, from the canopy down to the ground.
Too exposed and too windy for a slow animal.
Curled in the fork of a cecropia, often soaking up morning sun.
Both feed here. Two-toed sloths hide inside vine tangles.
Comes lower at night and after rain. Your best photo chance.
They climb down to go to the toilet. Rare to see. Never touch.
Silver-backed leaves shaped like an open hand. Three-toed sloths love them.
Most sightings are a still brown lump in a fork. Scan for shapes, not movement.
Guides carry a spotting scope. It turns a dot at 25 m into a face, and into a phone photo.
Every guide on Lyferr carries a scope and knows which trees to check.
Compare sloth toursWhere to go
Sloths need connected trees and warm, humid forest: the Caribbean, the northern plains and the south and central Pacific. You won't find wild sloths in the dry forest around Tamarindo and Nosara.
| Spot | Best way |
|---|---|
| 01Manuel AntonioCentral Pacific · both species | Morning walk |
| 02CahuitaSouth Caribbean · both species · good for photos | Early walk |
| 03Puerto ViejoSouth Caribbean · even in town | Local guide |
| 04TortugueroNorth Caribbean · by boat | Boat tour |
| 05La Fortuna (Arenal)Northern plains · day + night · good for photos | Day + night walk |
| 06SarapiquíNorthern plains · reserve walks · good for photos | Reserve walk |
| 07Uvita and DominicalSouth Pacific · both species | Guided walk |
| 08Osa and Drake BaySouth Pacific · full-day hikes | Full-day hike |
| 09Jacó and CararaCentral Pacific · both species | Guided walk |
| 10MonteverdeCloud forest · two-toed, at night | Night walk |
Best eye-level spots for photos: Cahuita, Sarapiquí and La Fortuna. Lens and light for each spot are in the photography guide.
Photography guideTown by town
Both species, in and around the national park. Go at opening time.
Both species. Book a night walk for two-toed sloths.
Yes, even in town. The forest behind the beach holds both species.
Yes. The beach trail in the national park is one of the best spots in the country.
Both species, in private reserves with easy trails.
Yes, on the UCR campus in San Pedro, right in the capital. Easy two-hour walk.
Mostly two-toed, mostly at night.
Both species, in forest running down to the coast.
Carara and the hills around town hold both species.
Forest patches in the southern Nicoya. Less predictable.
No wild sloths in this dry forest. Day trip to La Fortuna.
No wild sloths here. Add nights inland or on the Caribbean.
Species expert program
Lyferr certifies guides one species at a time. A Sloth Expert has the strongest proven record on Lyferr for finding and photographing sloths, which makes them your best odds for a good sighting and a good shot.
At launch, we award Founding Expert badges to guides with several years of premium tours focused on this species. Each one is confirmed or removed once the guide has logged 20 trips on Lyferr. After that, the badge is earned with logged trips and score.
No guide can promise a sighting. The badge shows the strongest track record for this species, not a guarantee.
See Sloth Expert guidesDay tours from local guides
Day tours run by independent local guides, all held to the no-touch, no-feeding standard.
Ranked by sighting success, verified reviews and licence
Sloths tours from local guides are being added. Tell us your dates and where you’re staying, and we’ll match you with a guide.
Ask Lyferrup to 60 days before trips, 48 h before day tours, on every booking made through Lyferr. Booking fee (11% of the price) excluded.
secure checkout on WeTravel, the rest paid before your tour
every listing shows its maximum group size
guide's name and WhatsApp arrive in your booking confirmation
only travellers who booked can review
Prices are set by each guide. The 25% deposit includes Lyferr’s booking fee (11% of the price), shown before you pay. Each card opens the tour’s booking page on WeTravel.
Which species will you see?
Costa Rica has two sloth species. Scientists now often call them two-fingered and three-fingered sloths, because the difference is in the front limbs. Both have three toes on their back feet.
Photo: Brown-throated three-toed slothBradypus variegatus
Photo: Hoffmann's two-toed slothCholoepus hoffmanni
Want to see both species? Compare day and night tours in La Fortuna
Compare La Fortuna toursThree-toed sloths bask on open branches mid-morning, the easiest daylight portraits. Two-toed sloths only move at night, so plan for high ISO.
Photography guideWhen to go
Any month. Sloths live in the same patch of forest all year, so there's no sloth season. Time of day matters more. Three-toed sloths often climb into the sun on cool mornings, especially after rain, which is when they're easiest to spot. Two-toed sloths wake up after dark.
Why a guide matters
Most visitors walk right under a sloth without noticing. Good guides find them by:
Not sure where to go? Send us your dates and where you're staying, and we'll suggest the right guide.
Ask Lyferr a questionBest light is 5:30 to 8:30 am. Many photographers prefer the green season for soft, overcast light.
Photography guideActive hours
Read across the day. Dark green is when they move and feed, which is when a guide is most likely to find them and you get the best photos.
Based on what our local guides see on the trail. Animals keep their own schedule, so treat this as odds, not a timetable.
Tours are timed for the best hours. Night walks are listed separately.
See night walksFor photographers
Ethical wildlife watching
Some "sloth sanctuaries" are genuine rescue centres that rehabilitate injured sloths and release them. Others are attractions that keep sloths for visitors. A good rescue centre doesn't let you touch the animals, explains its release work, and doesn't breed sloths for display.
Seeing a sloth in the wild is a different experience: it's living its normal life, on its own terms, and you're the guest. Every tour listed on Lyferr has to work that way.
Sloths are wild animals that react to handling with stress, even when they look calm. Their slow movement is how they cope with danger, not a sign that they're relaxed.
In 2019 Costa Rica launched its Stop Animal Selfies campaign, asking visitors not to touch, hold or pose with wild animals. The Sloth Conservation Foundation calls sloths the number one victim of the wildlife selfie trade. If anyone offers you a photo holding a sloth, say no and report it.
See sloths in the wild, with a guide who never touches them
Find a no-touch guide
The sighting everyone wants
Sloths have one baby at a time. Three-toed sloths are pregnant for around six months, two-toed sloths for about 11 and a half. The baby clings to its mother's chest for about six months, then stays close until it's about a year old.
A mother with a baby is one of the most sensitive sightings you can have. Keep your distance and keep your voice down.
Mothers with babies are around all year. Morning walks are the best time to look.
See morning walksWho wrote this
Wildlife photographer and guide who grew up in Guanacaste, and a finalist in the Sony World Photography Awards and Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Lior has spent years finding and photographing sloths across Costa Rica. This guide is what he tells friends before they go.
FAQ
Yes. Costa Rica has two species, the brown-throated three-toed sloth and Hoffmann's two-toed sloth, found in lowland forest across most of the country.
No. Lyferr is a marketplace. Licensed local guides and tour operators list their tours here, and we rank them by sighting success, reviews and client experience (and photography expertise for photo tours). You book and pay the deposit through Lyferr, and the operator you choose runs the tour.
You reserve with a 25% deposit on Lyferr's secure WeTravel checkout and pay the rest before your tour. The deposit includes Lyferr's booking fee, 11% of the price, shown on every listing. If you cancel at least 60 days before a trip, or 48 hours before a day tour, you get everything back except that fee. Your tour is run by the guide or operator you chose, and their name and WhatsApp arrive with your booking confirmation.
Common in the humid lowlands of the Caribbean, the northern plains and the south and central Pacific. There are none in the dry forest around Tamarindo and Nosara, and few in high cloud forest. There's no official national count.
For wild sloths, Manuel Antonio, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo, Tortuguero and La Fortuna are the most reliable.
Morning for three-toed sloths, when they climb into the sun. After dark for two-toed sloths.
Yes, but you'll miss most of them. A guide with a spotting scope can turn a brown dot into a clear view of the face.
A morning guided walk for three-toed sloths and a night walk for two-toed sloths. Doing both gives you the best chance of seeing each species.
You shouldn't. Holding wild sloths harms them, Costa Rica asks visitors not to, and ethical rescue centres don't allow it.
Genuine rescue centres that release sloths and don't allow touching are worth supporting. Places that let you hold sloths are not.
Perezoso. The two species are perezoso de tres dedos and perezoso de dos dedos.
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