We took a three week self booked trip to Costa Rica with our two children in April 2018. So far this goes down as one of our best holidays ever even though there were some serious downs; luckily they were far outweighed by our amazing experiences in this friendly and stunningly beautiful country.
Days 11-18. Beaches, Quetzals, turtles and a flooded toilet around Matapalo in Costa Rica.
Continuing around the stunningly beautiful country of Costa Rica. 6 days of empty sandy beaches, swimming with turtles, bodyboarding, a resplendant quetzal and those classic holiday downers – losing your passport and flooded toilets – what a week!
Follow our story below and read on for accommodation, food and activity reviews, logistics and costing.
Day 11 – Matapalo Beach – our first Costa Rican beach
With the sun shining and the day already hot we were up and off to the beach at 8am! It was literally 100 metres away and virtually empty (perhaps that was because it was 8am?). Matapalo beach is a long shallow sandy beach with great waves rolling in from way back which were made for jumping over and it was blissfully warm. I have never gotten in the sea so quick in my life (I’m very much a fan of the gently easing in approach).
In true naïve British form, we mistakenly thought that at 8am we’d be safe from the sun, especially as we were only planning to be there for a little while. After losing all track of time splashing in the waves we suddenly realised an hour had passed and applied the suncream. Too late – we burnt the kids. Parenting fail.
Our safari float guide in La Virgen had recommended a place called La Parcela to eat so we headed there for lunch. It’s a restaurant about 5km south of Dominical with splendid views, a brisk breeze and a delicious menu so we stayed there for hours in the heat of the day. We taught the kids to play Knock out Whist which was a big hit. So nice to spend time with the family with nothing pulling me away (chores, work etc). Really peaceful.
Reluctantly leaving we headed back to Dominical to book some trips and drove past it twice as we were expecting something much bigger! This little beach town is essentially a single (unsignposted) unpaved road lined with bars, tour shops and a few other shops (mostly stocking surfer gear). It’s known for being an ultra chilled out place to hang and surf and we believed it. After wandering up and down and talking to a few we hired body boards from Costa Rica Dive and Surf (although there were many other options) and booked a boat trip with them to an island the day after. Back to that glorious beach to try the boards out and catch the sunset. The waves were excellent and we had a couple of amazing moments where all four of us caught the same wave and we rode in together. Coupled with that glorious sky it made for a perfect evening.
Just time for a dip in the pool and a pizza take out before bed.
We had a visitor at some point in the night. I woke to sounds in the kitchen (with no wall anything can get in!) and after braving investigation discovered the pizza box had been stolen and was being shredded. Pretty sure it was a racoon but I didn’t get a good look… That’s something that’s never happened to me in England!
Day 12 – We’ve lost the passports?
Woke with a nagging feeling and finally voiced the question I’d been putting off to Chris. ‘Have you seen the passports?’ After a lot of thought and searching through EVERYTHING we finally accepted we’d lost them. At that point we had no idea where or how as they’d been in our house or a locked car until we’d arrived the night before…
As a very practical person I didn’t panic – this must have happened to many people before us right? I looked it up online and you can apply for Emergency Travel Documents which take a couple of days and get picked up from the British Embassy in San Jose. No problem; it was Sunday and we didn’t fly till Friday so plenty of time.
The kids were bored so we headed to the beach for a repeat of our body boarding fun (coated head to toe in factor 50 this time). I had seen a few things moving in the water and was pretty sure I saw a fin. It’s one of those ingrained fears I guess. I knew it was highly unlikely that it was a man eating shark – the water was less than a foot deep and yet I still felt that chill and stayed in the shallows for a while. Wuss! One brushed my foot too but we carried on splashing around undeterred (I was over my temporary fear but hadn’t mentioned it to the kids in case). We found out the next day that they were stingrays and that you should do the ‘stingray shuffle’ (move your feet along the sand rather than picking them up so that you don’t stand on a stingray). Whoops. We had definitely been testing the theory that they will get out of your way!
Back at the bungalow I tried to apply for the ETD’s before lunch but it was super slow internet and kept timing out before we could complete the application form. Grrr! We gave up and wandered down the road to one of the two restaurants in Matapalo. It was so hot – much hotter than in the forest at about 33 degrees so we chose the first one we came too called K (although driving out later we realised the other one was only about 100m further and looked a lot nicer). The food was ok though. We all had burgers as that seems to be standard fayre around here – it’s amazing how Americanised it is in Costa Rica. Coca Cola is everywhere and people walk around swigging huge bottles of it. Not really what we were looking for!
The kids went in the pool with Chris in the afternoon whilst I did the ETD admin on the super slow internet and failed to get an answer on the phone from the local police. It was a Sunday but I hope they have a better reaction time if I call the emergency lines!
We’d found something that looked like beef mince at the local supermarket so had spaghetti bolognase for dinner.
Day 13 –Turtles, sharks and dolphins – does it get better than this?
We woke early as we had to be in Uvita for 7am for our boat trip. The sky was dark and ominous and the weather forecast said thunderstorms all day – yikes! Checked with the tour company and they pretty much said ‘of course we’re going you’re in the rainforest – it rains here’ which is true. But whilst I am ok with rain, being out on the sea in a thunderstorm with a daughter who isn’t a big fan of boats I’m not so ok with. Another difficult decision but we went anyway seeing as it wasn’t actually raining yet.
Arrived at Costa Rica Dive and Surf in Uvita and got kitted out in wetsuits to protect us from the wind on the speedboat. We had to wait for the rest of our group (not a private tour this time and one of the most expensive trips we’d done ☹), some of whom (the Americans) turned up an hour late! We had Julia the German, a Spanish brother and sister and the American and his parents so not a big group at least. Our speedboat was waiting for us at the beach. Apparently one of the newest and fastest it was recovered from a wreck found along the coast. Seemingly there are people who do drug runs up from South America and when they reach land they remove the engines (as they can be traced) and shoot a hole in the bottom of the boat to sink it. So if you’re looking for a cheap boat chassis this is the place!
The boat headed off towards the massive grey clouds and we were soon warned that it didn’t look good for us as they could see other boats which had turned around and were heading back to shore. We were reassured that this wasn’t because they feared sinking in the storm, just that the waves slow the boat down and so the little ones could not make it there and back in the day. In our new boat with twin engines we pushed on. Then we entered the storm. First the rain started. At this speed the rain is basically horizontal and hits you at pace. The waves got rough all of which led to a pretty miserable little girl. After half an hour of this we were all wet, miserable and bored – it’s hard to keep a conversation up. I was thinking that this trip was a massive mistake and lamenting the huge amount of money we’d spent on it. Then the shout of blue sky and the little island came into view basking in glorious sunshine. Our spirits lifted, the waves dropped, the wind lessened and we pulled around to our first site.
Neither of the kids had snorkelled before but both were excited to try. This was our mistake – if you take your kids on a snorkelling trip practice in a pool first! I paired with Aiden and Chris was with Evie. Unfortunately the sea was still pretty choppy and Evie would not put her head in – she was convinced that the water would go down the end of the snorkel and she’d drown and it was hard to reason with her when she was being constantly hit in the face with waves. She got more and more agitated. Aiden was a little unsure too, but after we ditched his flippers and I’d put my head under and seen the ridiculous number of fish below I was able to convince him that he really should try it. Once he’d seen the fish he was sold and his face was never coming out again! Evie was taken back to the boat in tears. Heart breaking. Chris went to sit with her rather than leaving her sad and alone in the boat.
I towed Aiden along after our guide looking and pointing out all the different types of fish to each other. The water was really clear and you could see 20m to the bottom. There were fish everywhere, from small electric blue ones, yellow box fish and angel fish to big pink and green groupers. At times they were all around you. I’ve snorkelled in the Med before but this was a whole other level – I must have seen at least 40 species of fish. Just amazing!
There were a couple of other groups there (although less than normal as some had turned back) all swimming about behind a guide and we heard the shout ‘tortuga’ (turtle) so followed the crowd and saw a turtle resting about 30m down where it was a little murky. There were so many people there with flippers kicking around I was worried Aiden would get kicked in the face so after a quick look we moved away.
Back on the boat for fruit and a quick stop on the island (a biological reserve where there were loads of huge hermit crabs). Both kids decided they’d rather stay on the beach than go to the second snorkelling spot so Chris stayed with them to play on the beach. They were literally left alone on their own private island!
By now the sun was blazing and they only allow organic suncreams as the others damage the reefs. I was covered to my elbows and knees by the wetsuit and figured that my arms and legs would be well below the water so I’d be fine for another 40 min snorkel. We didn’t have any organic suncream anyway so I didn’t have much choice.
The second snorkel was also incredible. There were no other groups at this one and it was a little easier for not having to drag Aiden around. I kept close to the guide so I could see what he was pointing out. There was another turtle much closer and a couple of us stopped to watch for a bit. It swam off, slowly coming to the surface so we were following it a couple of metres away. It surfaced just in front of us – we could have touched it – and stayed there for a minute or so before diving down. A really magical moment I will never forget shared with the Spanish siblings. I just wished the kids and Chris had been there!
Just as I was thinking ‘seeing a shark now would make this a truly epic trip’ the guide called ‘shark!’. Was I dreaming? As I was nearest to him I looked and saw a white tip reef shark a couple of metres long. It saw us and with a flick of its tail it was off. We swam after it but we were close to shore by this point and the water was a lot murkier – all we could see was the white tip waving as it disappeared off into the murk. Still – I’ve swum with sharks! Scrap that – I’ve chased a shark!
We picked up the kids and Chris from the beach before heading home. They’d had a great time building a hermit crab hotel. The tour provided lunch on the boat (rice, chicken and salad) and then we were back up to full speed to head home in the sun.
Travelling back in the sun was a much more pleasant experience and Chris saw some leatherback turtles (we think). These are massive turtles a couple of metres across which were floating on the surface.
We’d hoped to do a whale watching tour but seemingly we’d just missed the season so picked this one as it had snorkelling and they did say we might see some cetaceans from the boat on the way out and back. I was just thinking that we were going too fast to spot any and it was too late when the Spanish man and Chris suddenly saw some movement off the boat. A pod of Pacific dolphins – about 40 of them! The driver headed over and started driving in circles and invited us up to the prow of the boat. A handful of the dolphins joined the boat and swam along in front, leaping in the bow wave. We were leaning over to watch and again I’m sure if I’d have reached out I could have touched one as it leapt out of the bow wave. The kids loved it and Aiden thanked me for bringing them on the boat trip – the rain of the morning was forgotten 😊.
Any doubts I had about boats approaching dolphins were quickly alleviated watching them come round and pick up the boat again and again (it seemed we had to be going fast enough or it wasn’t fun and they dropped away). Others were leaping in our wake and we weren’t following them, they chose to stay there with us rather than leave.
A quick stop in Dominical to return the body boards and talk to the police about the missing passports and then home for a chorizo, tomato and vegetable pasta dish for dinner which was delicious if I may say so myself.
Possibly the best day of our holiday?? Although once back it became obvious that my assumption that I was sufficiently covered from the equatorial sun was very VERY wrong!! Officially the worst sunburn ever. The backs of your knees and your elbows are definitely strong contenders for the worst places to burn.
Day 14 – Epic sunburn, thunderstorms and flooded toilets
So today wasn’t such a good one… Due to my sunburn (I could hardly bend my knees) I wasn’t up to much. It was another scorcher so we spent a relaxing morning in and out the pool (I was cooling my burns, but the others were playing). Then we headed back to La Parcela for another leisurely lunch. Absolutely delicious again. We took our time again and taught the kids rummy this time. Another hit! Note to selves, always take playing cards and any restaurant wait will be fun.
We had decided to drive to Uvita after lunch to get our passport photos done but during lunch the sky was clouding over and the wind picked up massively. I was hit in the lip by something airborne travelling at speed on the way to the car. Ouch! Once on the road we could see proper fork lightening ahead and the heavens opened with a super heavy deluge. All the local traffic left the road and stopped at the side and we decided that the passport photos weren’t worth it! We turned round and raced the storm home, managing to get inside just before it hit our place. It was no shower; thunder boomed and lightning flashed until we went to bed – which is quite entertaining when your kitchen doesn’t have a wall!
The kids played at feeding the ants whilst we made some sort of leftovers dinner and then the kids emerged from their room and announced that there was water in the bathroom and that it smelt. Backed up drains which couldn’t cope with the rain meant it was coming back up the toilet – nice. Thanks to the lovely owners who spoke very little English but came over straight away in the downpour to sort it out.
Day 15 – Hacienda Baru Reserve and the secret beach
With my sunburn more manageable (I think soaking it in the pool for hours worked wonders!), I was up early and dropped off at the Hacienda Baru Wildlife Refuge by Chris and the kids at 6.30am for a spot of bird watching (they went back to chill in the pool for some reason). A simple café, an orchid garden and some trails into the reserve. There aren’t a huge amount of signs so I got slightly lost and headed into the Orchid garden first. I was immediately confronted with a Lesson’s Motmot which was on my (and Aiden’s) must see list. A beautiful smart blue and brown bird with long tail feathers – an excellent start to my bird walk 🙂
I found the start to the trails and an Agouti immediately walked straight across my path and started feeding in the leaf litter. It’s like a tiny deer with a cute face like a mouse.
Climbed to the top of the bird tower and a troupe of Capuchin Monkeys came by at my level. All this nature within 15 minutes – I wished the kids had come.
Sightings dropped after that as I continued along about 3km of trail (the Pizote trail) but there were plenty of new birds including a rare view of a Great Currasow with its chick, then a Collared Peccary (a sort of wild pig) also crossed my path and the Capuchin troupe travelled overhead again – they are so noisy!
Cloud was coming over again and it was starting to drizzle. I got back to the car park for my 9.30am pickup just as it started raining hard. Excellent timing.
Our plan had been to go to another recommended restaurant – the Ballena Bistro south of Uvita – and then head out to the ‘secret beach’ I’d found in a review. We nearly cancelled, but had to go to Uvita to get passport photos and find some cash anyway. We found an ATM on the main road through Uvita and a little photo shop down a side road with a super helpful man who printed our photo’s hastily taken against his almost white building walls.
The rain seemed to have stopped so we headed to the restaurant. This was literally the best restaurant experience I have ever had! We’re not particularly into nice restaurants so it’s probably got fairly low competition but for us it was perfect. Rock music was playing (Killers, Blink, Razorlight, QOTSA etc), it was empty when we arrived so we had seats out on the roofed verandah where I could bird spot over the fields, the serving lady was lovely and the food was simply delicious! The kids had a burger each, Chris has a pulled pork burger and I had trout with passionfruit sauce and yucca croquettes. So good! Coupled with a real banana milkshake, a chocolate tart and the exquisite blackberry pie (the nicest desert I’ve ever eaten and I’m chocolate person!).
It rained torrentially through most of our meal but we had nowhere else to be so played cards and chilled. Eventually the rain eased and we made the crazy decision to go to the beach (seeing as we were there already and had no other days to come back).
We were trying to get to Playa Arco beach which is not accessible unless you walk a few km down from another beach and car park (hence very few people get there), but the review by Two weeks in Costa Rica made it look amazing and we loved the thought of a beach we had to go exploring to find. We walked down the track to the main beach, paid our $6 entry fee to the Marina Ballena Reserve to the little lady in the hut and set off right down the beach. By this point it was raining pretty heavily again – ah well – that’s what waterproofs are for right?
At the end of the beach you can find a trail (not super obvious – we had to look for it) that goes up in the trees behind the headland and brings you out on the next beach, which is probably one of the nicest beaches we’ve ever been on – or would have been if it wasn’t raining I imagine. Picture cliffs with caves for shade and changing, a curving sandy beach with rocks just out in the sea asking for you to swim out to them and a rocky outcrop jutting into the sea with a cave that goes through from one side to the other (you can’t see the other side though). On the other side is an even bigger beach curving round and backed by jungle.
Upon arrival we were faced with a bit of a dilemma. We were in the rain in our waterproofs with our clothes and swimsuits underneath. We were about to get wet in our costumes, but we’d presumably want to walk back in something dry. Cue one of the handy caves in in which we could strip to our swimsuits, leave the bags and clothes in the dry and then get out in the rain. We felt like crazy Brits beaching in the rain, but it was fairly warm still, and the sea felt lovely and warm. It’s a new first anyway.
The cave was great as the sea was up to the outcrop and so the passageway was mostly flooded and dark with waves coming in after you – the kids were in waist deep at the start. It was probably about 40m long and went around a bend so going in felt pretty brave! We did our newly learned ‘stingray shuffle’ and did some crab spotting along the way – the kids loved it.
After playing in the sea in the rain some more like loonies we headed back to our cave, dried off, changed and put our waterproofs back on for the walk back. Just as we walked out the rain stopped – gutted! On the way back there were some big streams which had developed from the rain so we had a bridge building competition to see which of us could build the best bridge across so that we could get back with dry feet.
Headed home for an omelette and final packing. Our trip shortly to be over ☹. Or not…
Day 13 – Las Quetzales and some bad (or good?) news…
One of my main missions in Costa Rica was to see a Resplendant Quetzal; not because it’s a well known, spectacular looking bird like most people who go searching for it, but because when I was a teenager playing a game my friends refused to believe that ‘Quetzal’ was a type of bird and I lost the game. Fuming I brought my book in the next day to show them a Resplendent Quetzal (this was before the internet!) and they had to cede that I had been right. It became a running joke after that and so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to photograph one in the flesh (and ideally get a selfie with one – although I am rubbish at selfies so that was probably always a pipe dream).
There aren’t a huge amount of places where you can see them as they are mountain lovers and call the cloud forests their home. We’d opted out of Monteverde but hoped that Las Quetzalas National Park would be the place (surely with a name like that…!). After reading reviews I’d found a highly recommended guide called Michael who would do a 3 hour tour to see the Quetzal nests (so pretty much guaranteeing a sighting) for $60 for the four of us which was incredible value, he’d even offered to add lunch as we’d be on route to San Jose for our flight. Being stubborn I had refused to cancel this trip even when it turned out we’d have to be in San Jose at the embassy to pick up our emergency travel docs at midday and it was a 3 hour drive back. I solved this by shortening our trip with Michael to 1 hour and agreeing to meet him at 7.30am, which meant leaving our bungalow at 5.30am. Was I a little obsessed with seeing the Quetzal? Quite possibly! I should thank my husband and kids for not vetoing this…
It turned out to be a beautiful morning to drive up through the mountains in the dawn, with cloud below us lit by the sun. I tried to capture it but my photos don’t do it much justice.
I thought it was all over after we had trouble finding the ranger station where we were to meet Michael. It wasn’t down the incredibly steep winding road to San Gerado like google maps said, but back up again and slightly further on along the main road. So we were late. Ironically we then had to drive all the way back down that road to where the nests were. He pulled over on the side of the road, got out the telescope and pointed to a nest – right there by the side of the road! With about 30 mins till we had to leave we had two options, wait here and hope (the male returns to the nest about every two hours) or hike around in the jungle to common feeding areas and hope we saw one. We chose the first option and I crossed my fingers. There were plenty of other birds around to keep us interested. I got another 7 new species in (Michael knew them all and could identify all the calls which helped!). Then suddenly it was there, perched on a tree limb for all to see! A beautiful male and so close when viewed through the scope – the kids loved seeing it. It sat there for about 5 mins before entering the nest and leaving. Another magical moment on this holiday and my mission accomplished – I could go home! (I had previously joked that I wasn’t going to go home until I’d seen one).
The drive back to San Jose with our sandwiches from Michael was ok. Except for Cartago and San Jose, where the roads were super busy and there are crazy rules at roundabouts!
Then the fun started. Perhaps I’ve seen too many films, but I pictured our embassy as a grand building with gates. Nothing of the sort! We arrived outside a concrete high rise with a shopping mall on the ground floor and no signs to the embassy at all! We were late and no-one seemed to know what we were after. Eventually we found some armed men standing at a kiosk by the lifts and it turns out they were who we had to speak to! After a call up we were escorted into the lift and up a few floors. Our embassy turned out to be a couple of rooms with a large picture of the Queen on the wall. Trips to the toilet came with instructions to make sure we took the correct door as the other one was the Israel Embassy and they might not like us barging in!
The very nice man at the embassy took us into a room and asked the simple question, ‘Did you get my voicemail?’ to which I answered that I hadn’t as I couldn’t pick up the message. He then informed us that he’d called to tell us that ETD’s don’t work through American airports on an ESTA so to put it bluntly – we wouldn’t be flying home the next day. Oh dear.
I’ve done a longer post on our whole passport loss saga here as I’m sure we can’t be the only ones to do this. (We have since found them in an odd pocket in the back of one of our wash bags which both of us claim to have had no idea existed! Ah well!)
To cut a long story short, after 4 hours which started with tears we left beaming from ear to ear with our new flights booked to leave a week later. Another weeks holiday – whoop whoop!
We checked into our airport hotel anyway, re-booked it for a weeks time and treated the kids to a KFC as they’d just sat in the embassy for four hours quietly whilst we sorted things out. Thanks kids. Then we called the car company to extend our booking and started looking at places to stay for the next week. Where to go?!
We decided on the Nicoya Peninsula as it was a part we hadn’t done and had some good National Parks on it with different wildlife and wasn’t too far from San Jose. There weren’t a huge amount of places left at this short notice but we got one with a pool overlooking the bay. Confused the poor guy who phoned me after booking late that Thursday night for a stay the next day. His English was mediocre and my Spanish was poor but in the end I realised that the reason he was so concerned was that he lived not far from where we were so he was going to have to beat us over there to get the place set up and there are only a couple of ferries a day!
Coming soon – Part 4 – The Nicoya Peninsula
Reviews
Accommodation Reviews
Casa Aba Matapalo
Overview
A great little set of about 5 bungalows with a shared pool set in the very quiet beach town of Matapalo and set just 100m from a massive empty sandy beach with awesome waves.
Getting there
Matapalo is set off the main road (the 34) from Parrita to Palmar Sur down the Pacific Coast. We used GPS signal to get us to the bungalow (about 5 mins from the main road).
Costs
Our bungalow cost us £427 for 6 nights. This was for a kitchen with one wall open to the outside and with two ensuite rooms coming off it.
Facilities
A shared pool with some lovely shaded areas to sit, a bar (although this didn’t seem to be staffed much) and an excellent, clean, sandy beach 100m away.
Food and drink options
The bungalows have kitchens so it’s largely for self catering (although we didn’t see a supermarket in Matapalo itself).
There are two restaurants in Matapalo and you can order pizza at the reception desk of the place.
Places to eat reviews
La Parcela
A restaurant serving delicious food (with local options), reasonably priced and set on a peninsula giving it lovely sea views on both sides. There was a lovely breeze blowing through so it was cool even when it was 33 degrees at lunchtime. SO good we went there twice!
Location
About 5km south of Dominical. There are signs to the right and you drive down an unpaved road through trees to get to it.
Food
The food was delicious. We can recommend the whole fish, parmesan chicken and the cas and guanabano juices were a big hit with the kids.
Ballena Bistro
A lovely restaurant with a deck outside overlooking fields, again offering a mix of well known foods and local offerings. Possibly still my favourite restaurant ever for the deck offering bird watching opportunities, the music (rock) and the simply incredible blackberry pie.
Location
On the road main road (34) from Quepos to Palmar Sur between Uvita and Pinuela. You’ll see it as you drive past as it’s on the road. It’s on the turning into Uvita National Park.
Food
I had salmon with passionfruit sauce and yukka which was amazing. The rest of the family had burgers which were still good. The homemade blackerry pie was simply amazing!
Activity reviews
Costa Rica Dive and Surf tour to Cano Island
Overview
This was an all day trip (starting from Uvita at 7am) on a speedboat out to an island with excellent snorkelling. You get two 45 minute snorkelling trips (two separate sites), fruit snacks, lunch and 20 minutes on the sandy beaches of the island.
Getting there
We parked up in the initial ‘parking area’ when you start down the unpaved road into Dominical and walked down the only street. They were down here on the right.
Costs
The tour we did cost $420.
Body board hire for two days was $20 for 4.
Tours
There are plenty of options for boat tours, body board hire etc but we chose the day trip to Cano Island. This includes a boat trip in a modern, fast speedboat to a protected island )about an hours ride) where you can do two sessions of snorkelling, with a quick stop on the island beach and snacks and lunch on the boat.
The tour guides were pleasant, the boat was great, lunch was delicious (can’t go wrong with chicken, rice and beans!) and we saw so much wildlife! Apart from the weather it was pretty perfect (which is good because it was pricey!)
Food and drink options
There isn’t anything here at the shop or at the launch place, but our tour did include lunch and fruit snacks. There are plenty of places around both shops to get something though.
Practicalities
Wetsuits were provided for us if we wanted (free of charge) to keep you warm (or protect from the sun). Snorkelling gear is also provided.
Wildlife
Where to start! Hundreds of fish of at least 40 types, turtles, Pacific Spotted Dolphins, White tipped reef shark, massive hermit crabs.
Sustainability/Eco Friendly rating
The reserve you go to do not allow you to wear anything other than organic sunscreen to protect the reef and the company reiterated this.
The drivers behaviour towards the dolphins was good, we did not drive right up to the pod but started doing circles and they came to join us.
We were in a boat with an engine so causing some pollution, but it was a modern engine so hopefully less polluting than others.
Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge
Overview
An private wildlife refuge of 815 acres with 7km of self guided walking trails through a variety of habitats including primary and secondary forest, mangrove swamp, wetlands, grasslands and pristine beach. Once a cattle ranch this area is being brought back as an important wildlife corridor for tapirs and jaguar.
There’s also a lookout tower and a small cafe.
Getting there
Heading on the road (34) south between Quepos and Palmar Sur it’s just before you cross the river at Dominical. The turn is signposted.
Costs
Entry to walk the self guided trails was $6.
Tours/Activity
There are walking trails here, with a lookout tower. The trails cover 7km. The shortest is 2km and the longest 5.5km.
There is also an ecolodge here and there are guided tours and a tree-climbing activity on offer.
Food and Drink options
There is a café although I didn’t go in to see what was being served.
Practicalities
The Pizote trail was generally pretty good – you’d get a buggy around a lot of it. (Bear in mind I was there during dry season).
Wildlife
I saw an agouti and loads of white faced capuchin (very close). Also quite a few bird species including a curassow and chick.
Sustainability/Eco friendly rating
This is reclaimed land which was once used for farming and is now being returned to forest to provide a route of passage between areas like Manual Antonio. Corcovado and Los Santos Reserve.
Logistics
Some facts to help you plan your trip:
Our route:
Matapalo was about 30 mins (30km) from Uvita and 10 mins (14km) from Dominical.
The long drive back to San Jose was 110km to Los Quetzales National Park, and then 85km (2 hours) on to the Embassy at San Jose (via Cartago). From the embassy it was 23 minutes (18km) to Hotel La Guaria for the night.
We drove 380km at a cost of about £32.
Our transport:
We did all of our travels in our own hire car which was 2WD.
Costs
Our costs for this part of our trip worked out as follows:
Accommodation
Casa Aba Matapalo 6 nights = £427
Travel
Fuel (at about £8.50 per 100km) = £32
Activities
Hacienda Baru = £5
Costa Rica Dive and Surf trip to Cano Island = £345
Body boarding hire = £17
Entry to Marina Ballena National Park = £15
Los Quetzales tour with guide (and lunch) = £50
Food
Breakfasts in self catering place, 6 mornings = £20
We ate lunch out every day (although it was included in two of our tour prices) = £183
DInners were self catering except one take out pizza = £69.
| Costs for days 11-16 (£) | Total costs so far (£) | |
| Accommodation | 427 | 1,115 |
| Travel | 32 | 2,049 |
| Activities | 432 | 1,280 |
| Food | 272 | 678 |
| Extra bits, snacks etc | 50 | 130 |
| 1,213 | 5,252 |
Days 17+ coming soon!