Where to see
Caiman crocodilus
Tortuguero National Park leads · 21 parks ranked by real sighting rates
Share of wildlife watchers reporting a Common Caiman during a day in the park, from citizen-science data (GBIF)
| # | Park | Country | Sighting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Caroni Swamp | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 6 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 9 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 12 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 14 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 15 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 16 | Tayrona National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 17 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 18 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 19 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 20 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 21 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Tortuguero National Park
In Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica, about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Common Caiman sighting on a given day, the highest of the 21 parks where we can rate it, from GBIF citizen-science data.
Piedras Blancas National Park and more
After Tortuguero National Park, the next-best odds of seeing a Common Caiman are in Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 60%), Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (Panama, about 50%) and Braulio Carrillo National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%). Outside Central America, the best option is Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in South America (about 50%).
It depends on the park
In the top parks, the best months are August in Tortuguero National Park (about 90%), February and July in Piedras Blancas National Park (about 80%) and August in Bastimentos Island National Marine Park (about 70%), as the share of wildlife watchers who report a Common Caiman on a given day. Each park's Common Caiman page has the full month-by-month chart.
