NOTE: We are now booking dates in May 2018 for the next Costa Rica workshop. It will most likely be the week after Memorial Day (end May / early June). We’ll post when it’s live, but feel free to message us as we anticipate this will sell out quickly. 

I’m super excited to announce that we’re doing another Photography Workshop in Costa Rica in November 2017. Our May workshop was incredible. Some of the attendees actually said it was “life changing” and everyone come away with awesome shots and could not stop raving about the Crocodile Bay resort. I don’t think people realized just how good the resort staff would be, and that it is indeed all inclusive with AMAZING food and service throughout the trip. If you’ve ever been on a workshop before, I promise you it’s nothing like this. 

As for photography, we hit the jackpot!!! We saw all 4 types of monkeys from the area, Sloths, Frogs, an Anteater and too many species of birds to name. The macro opportunities were spectacular as well. It truly is a special place, and ideal for photography workshops. All of the photos from this post were taken by workshop attendees 🙂

Photo by Anna Glenn

Photo by Carol Keller

Not only will I be there to help guide you along the way (and steal your photos when they’re better than mine ;), but we have a special treat for you. I wouldn’t even consider doing this workshop without the guide that we had when I was there. His name is Dennis (Instagram #Osa_photography), and he’s an incredible photographer. He knows this area like the back of his hand. He worked tirelessly to not only get us to the right spots, but also to help give us some knowledge of the area along the way.

He constantly hunts around and finds the right spots. There were times where I would have bet $1,000 we were nowhere near wildlife, and he pulls over and points up in the tree to a group of monkeys that were barely moving – yet he still saw them. He found small frogs to photograph in the rainforest that you would swear were nowhere in sight. 

In short… Dennis is a rare find and we’re lucky to have him along with us. 

Photo by Carol Keller

The Dates

The workshop will be held from Friday, November 10th through Wednesday, November 15th, 2017

The Location

Our location host is the lovely Crocodile Bay Eco Resort, which is located in the remote Osa Peninsula. Crocodile Bay is the perfect place for a photography workshop because of the abundance of wildlife located right on the property. While we were there, we saw Macaws, Toucans, Hummingbirds, Hawks, Crocodiles, and Monkey’s right on the resort property (some of them in the trees right outside our room).

Photo by Mark Maffet

The resort is also located on the water, so we have landscape scenery opportunities as well as a TON of macro possibilities. So when you see time for walking around the grounds of the resort in the schedule don’t underestimate it – some of my favorites from the trip came from a 1 minute walk from my room.

The Workshop

So here’s how it works. It’s going to be a 4 day workshop. Due to the remote location of the Osa Peninsula you will fly into San Jose and spend the night at the Double Tree. A shuttle will pick you up on Friday morning and drive you to the airport to catch the plane to thePuerto Jimenez Airport.  A driver will pick you up from the airport and drive you to Crocodile Bay (only 5 minutes from the airport). All of your meals at Crocodile Bay will be included in the price.

The Schedule

Here’s the tentative schedule of the workshop. Depending on the weather we may need to adjust as we go, but there’s so much to shoot that it won’t be difficult to change it up if we have to.

This is limited to 12 people so you get very close and personal attention. In May, everyone arrived not knowing each other, and left feeling like family. 

Also, I’m with you the entire time. From morning until evening… you got me! With only 12 people it’ll be super easy to break off in to small groups that may need some extra education on camera settings or post-processing. There’s a reason (other than just parking and cars) that this is a small intimate workshop. I want you to come away with a great educational and personal experience.

Day 1: Friday

 – Arrive at Crocodile Bay and settle in. 

– Photography 101 in the Rainforest and Photo walk around the grounds. We want you to be prepped for the days to come. 

 – Group dinner and introductions.        

– Classroom time – Get to know your gear and what settings to use for different shoots

Day 2: Saturday

– Morning – Sunrise photo shoot along the docks of Crocodile Bay. We’ll also have some time to review camera settings, and make sure you’re warmed up and set up to take some great wildlife photos later that day. 

 – Breakfast at the Resort

 – Head out to photograph monkeys, birds and other wildlife.

 – Post-Processing instruction back at the resort conference room

– Group Dinner

Day 3: Sunday

 -Breakfast at the Resort

 – Morning – Head out to photograph monkeys, birds and other wildlife.

 – Afternoon – Depending on whether and previous shoots, we’ll be at the beach, resort-exploration for macro and wildlife, or a photo-walk through town. 

– Post-Processing  – Instruction back at the resort conference room

– Evening – Night Photoshoot looking for frogs and other night creatures

Day 4: Monday

– Optional early walk around the grounds to shoot. We may have been up late the previous evening shooting stars so we’ll plan this as we get closer.

– Breakfast

– Late Morning – Again, head out to photograph monkeys, birds and other wildlife

 – Sunset at a new beach and hopefully catch some surfers too. 

 – Group Dinner and Good bye. 

Day 5: Tuesday

 Ok workshop is officially over, but your trip would not be complete without at least 1 day to play

Suggestions 

– Fishing – This is one of the premier fishing destinations in the world. You don’t want to miss out on your chance to catch Rooster Fish, Sail Fish, Grouper, Tuna, and more. Diana caught this fish within the first 30 minutes!

-Reptiles and Amphibians Rain Forest Walk (it’s a bit of a drive and a good bit of hiking is involved)

– Zip-lining – hopefully I’ll have a picture to put here after this trip 😉

–  Click here to see a list of tours that are offered through Crocodile Bay Resort

Prices

The price of the workshop is $5,775 (per photography workshop attendee), and includes the following. If you’d like to bring someone, who will not be participating in the workshop the price is $999

For Photography Participants, This Is What’s Included:

• The 4-day photography workshop
• All instruction and classes
• All transportation to photo locations
• Guides
• Transfer Package –
  • Shuttle from San Jose airport to Double Tree
  • 1 night at Double Tree in San Jose
  • Shuttle from Double Tree to San Jose Airport
  • Roundtrip Airfare from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez
  • Shuttle from Puerto Jimenez Airport to Crocodile Bay Resort
• 5 nights at Crocodile Bay Resort
• All Meals at Crocodile Bay and wine (mmmm) at dinner (packed lunch if on outing)
• Gratuities (excluding spa and day 5 activity gratuities)

What is not included?

• Airfare from your home town to/from San Jose
• Excess/Overweight Baggage Fees
• Airline Change Fees
• Alcoholic Beverages (other than wine included with dinner)
• Activities on Day 5

For Non-Photography Participants, This Is What’s Included

• Transfer Package –
  • Shuttle from San Jose airport to Double Tree
  • 1 night at Double Tree in San Jose
  • Shuttle from Double Tree to San Jose Airport
  • Roundtrip Airfare from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez
  • Shuttle from Puerto Jimenez Airport to Crocodile Bay Resort
• 5 nights at Crocodile Bay Resort
• All Meals at Crocodile Bay and wine at dinner (packed lunch if on outing)

What is not included?

• Airfare from your home town to/from San Jose
• Excess/Overweight Baggage Fees
• Airline Change Fees
• Gratuities
• Alcoholic Beverages
• Spa
• Tours

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I see Monkeys, Sloths, Toucans etc?

While we can’t guarantee that you will see these animals there is an extremely good chance that you will. Keep in mind that these are animals in their natural habitat, not a zoo.

Can I Bring My Husband/Wife/Daughter/Son etc?

Absolutely, it is a wonderful place to vacation and I’d encourage you to bring family/friends with you. HOWEVER, during the Photography Outings only the 10 paid photography participants may join. Here’s why… the roads are a little smaller in most of the places we go. Parking space (if you can call it that) is extremely limited.  If you’ve ever been to a 25 person workshop before, you know there’s often convoys of cars traveling around. And if the first car stops because they see some great wildlife, the last car has no chance of getting those shots. And by the time they do stop and get their cameras out, it’s 20 minutes later. Then it’s another 15 minutes to get everyone back together and moving again.

To give you an idea, when we say we’re going to go out and photograph the wildlife, these are the roads we travel on. They’re smaller and you can imagine the endless stops and opportunities along the way. The roads themselves are the attraction since there’s so much wildlife on and around them. Most of the monkey photos I took were when we pulled off on a road just like this and looked up.

So, if you bring someone with you the staff at Crocodile Bay will be happy to arrange some tours for them to see the wildlife or other locations. Or they can indulge in the onsite spa or pool, and relax while we’re gone.

Can I Stay Longer?

Absolutely! I’d highly encourage you to stay another day or two – don’t make this trip for just the workshop days. I’d try to plan 6-7 days if you can swing it. It’s a truly beautiful place. Also, if you’re into fishing it is one of the best fishing destinations in the world.

One day we rode bikes from the resort into town (it’s only a 10 minute bike ride). It’s a great ride along the water. You’ll see fishing boats, and even the occasional bar along the way 🙂

Is it Safe?

Yes. The entire area is very safe. At no point during our trip did we ever feel even the slightest bit worried about anything. The locals were SO incredibly nice. We didn’t speak Spanish and everyone was very helpful to us as we walked through town one afternoon.

How Do I Sign Up?

Send us a message right here and we’ll get you signed up 🙂 Remember it’s first come, first served. It’s only 12 people and will sell out. Pura vida! (that’s Spanish for “Pure Life”) 🙂