Crocodile Bridge

A large crocodile suns on a muddy sandbar in the Tárcoles River
Photo:  Phillip Lott

Along the busy main highway № 34 ( Carr. Pacifica Fernández Oreamuno), over the River Tárcoles, between the capital of San Jose and the surfer-friendly beach town of Jaco, is Costa Rica's most unusual tourist attraction. 

On an otherwise unremarkable stretch of road in the foothills, about 75 miles (121 km) west of San Jose's airport and just a few miles north of the main entrance to Carara National Park, exists an unlikely travel curiosity; The Crocodile Bridge.

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The only sign I saw leading the the crocodiles.  It was pretty well plastered with travelers' stickers. 
Photo:  Phillip Lott  

Despite the cars, trucks and buses speeding past, dozens of onlookers are gathered along both sides of a small bridge over the Rio Tárcoles to peer down at the brown water, and crocodiles below.

But this isn't because the view is so gorgeous.  Instead tourists stop here to document the place for social media.  This main bridge over the Tárcoles is known as the "puente de cocodrilo," or "crocodile bridge."  And pretty much everything you see from the bridge to the south of the river is Carara National Park.  And the river here is full of crocodiles.

Costa Rican Crocodiles
Photo:  Ezequiel Becerra

Puente de Cocodrilo is not a metaphor.  Most of the year crocodiles gather under the bridge and on any given day you may see 10 or 20 large crocs sunning themselves on muddy sandbars in the river. 

A mini economy has developed around the bridge, with vendors selling stuffed crocs and other souvenirs to the tourists who stop for photo ops.  There are also several restaurants with "cocodrilo" in the name, plus a crocodile Safari boat for particularly brave travelers who want to get even closer to the prehistoric-looking creatures below.

It is kind of a chaotic scene with everyone heading to or from the bridge onto a very narrow sidewalk with a low handrail.  Meanwhile all manner of traffic is speeding past on the road.  You won't want to do this is you don't like heights, get vertigo, don't like the feel of a bridge moving under traffic, etc.  I guess it is about 40 feet down to the water (and the crocodiles) from the bridge.

Looking east across the Rio Tárcoles.  There are three large American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) in foreground and more in the distance.  Everything to the right (south) in this photo is Carara National Park

Photo:  Phillip Lott

This stretch of road, variably known as Pacifica Fernández Oreamuno Highway or simply № 34 is one of the busiest in the country, as it links Costa Rica's biggest airport and many of the popular beachside communities along the Pacific Coast like Quepos, Playa Hermosa, and Jaco.

The road is named for Costa Rica's inaugural first lady, whose husband, President José María Castro Madriz help the country's top office for two separate terms in the 19th century.

View from the Puente de Cocodrilo
Photo:  Phillip Lott

Most of the travelers who stopped to see the crocs in Costa Rica on this day were taking photos from far away and doing their best not to interact with the reptiles.  It may have been out of respect, or fear, since crocodiles like the ones at Tárcoles could easily take down a human.  Some were scaling the bluff down to the river to get a closer selfie.  I stayed on the bridge.  I found it to be scary enough.  While I'm not that afraid of heights I don't especially like crowds of people shoving and pushing, and the traffic was busy, very close to the little sidewalk.

We looked and took our photos for about 15 minute then hiked back to the vehicle to get back in the traffic on our way up to a mountaintop rendezvous with Tesoro Escondido Waterfall.  

Spectacular reptiles.
Photo:  Phillip Lott

According to one of the vendors I was chatting with, Costa Rican law prohibits the killing of crocodiles, so when they become a threat, they are generally moved here.