Hello kathykeiver!

Thank you so much for your interest in DIY Costa Rica!

This is a really great question and also one that’s tough to answer! 🙂 The Osa Peninsula is beautiful, teeming with wildlife, and definitely worth a visit. It is also a much more remote destination that requires longer and more complicated travel days, and usually comes with a much higher price tag. The question I should ask you here is: How much of a raw wildlife-viewing experience are you looking to have? The Manuel Antonio area is great for seeing wildlife, but you’ll have a greater chance of seeing more wildlife, and more unique species of wildlife, if you visit the Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula. If your time, patience for travel, and/or budget is limited, Manuel Antonio is a wonderful “fallback” option.

As far as snorkeling goes, you can get some good snorkeling in either way. While there are opportunities to snorkel just off the coast at Manuel Antonio, the best snorkeling you’ll find along the central/southern Pacific coast takes place at Isla del Cano. Tours to Isla del Cano depart from both the Osa Peninsula and the community of Uvita, which is positioned along the central Pacific coast. So long as you coordinate transportation between Manuel Antonio and Uvita (either via your own rental car or through the snorkeling tour operator) in order to catch the tour, you don’t need to travel all the way down to the Osa Peninsula just to experience the region’s best snorkeling from there. 🙂

Pura vida!