Sloths can be found almost everywhere in Costa Rica, which is 50 percent forest. To discover them, you only have to enter a rainforest and, at best, know which trees the animals favor, although they sometimes even dwell in the green areas of hotels. Costa Rican sloths are mostly three-fingered sloths. They are ubiquitous in Cahuita National Park and along the southern coast of the Caribbean Sea to Manzanillo. In addition, the Tortuguero and Caño Negro National Parks, as well as the private nature reserve Ecocentro Danaus, which also contributes a lot to the education of the people in environmental protection, are perfect places to observe sloths.

You will surely encounter sloths at the Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica in Cahuita, a sanctuary for injured animals. A guided tour shows some of the sloths that could no longer survive in the wild and have been given a safe home here. There are also animals in this sanctuary that only need to get well and resume their lives in the rainforest, but they are primarily kept away from visitors. 

From time to time, the facility is criticized because the sloths are kept in small cages, so the species’ justice is questioned. But the private project is not supported by the state and does not have the financial means to provide better accommodation for the sloths, which are maimed, blind, or otherwise unable to survive on their own.

Admission to Sloth Sanctuary costs $30 and includes a guided tour of the sanctuary and a canoe trip through a nearby rainforest.