A great vacation to Costa Rica!

Costa Rica | Sep 26 - Oct 1, 2022

Great location right in the middle of downtown. Everything worked, the room was very nice and very clean, and the breakfast was great.

The individual lodges were a little spartan, but nice enough, and it added a little bit of charm. We really only used our room to store our stuff and sleep. They had nice porches with hammocks. The grounds are pretty cool, with some short nature trails and easy access to the beach, though the beaches apparently have strong currents and are not great for swimming. You can use the beach to walk to the town to pick up souvenirs or have dinner and drinks on the lagoon. The restaurant/bar was excellent. It is not a buffet style, and there was a wide selection. A few specialty items had upcharges (fresh seafood choices). The boat tour we took was great, and our tour guide was hilarious in at least 5 languages.

This is a very modern-design hotel. It's got an open space in the middle with a nice pool and a hot tub, and each room has balconies looking into the jungle. The rooms open into large stairwells that lead directly to the pool area. The restaurant is right across the road and has indoor and outdoor seating with beach access. We really liked Le Cameleon!

We were picked up at the hotel right on time, and we joined a group of other people for the ride to Tortuguero. The drive was through the mountains and across the eastern side of the country; the driver was excellent and our guide was entertaining. He pointed out the sights and gave some commentary, but left plenty of time for napping and watching the scenery. Lunch was provided at the Mawamba lodge restaurant in Guapiles. The boat ride to Tortuguero was fun. We saw lots of wildlife on the way.

Spent the morning on a boat cruising around the lagoons. Our guide and boat pilot were excellent at spotting wildlife, including a crocodile, monkeys, turtles, iguanas, etc. Our guide was really funny and spoke something like 6 languages.

Cahuita tours provides several different packages. We did only the nature hike (about 2 miles). Some of our group did snorkeling for part of the morning and met us for the hike back, but on the way out it was just us. Our guide was really good at spotting animals and was very knowledgeable. She was really friendly and didn't mind our tourist questions.

The drive to the Jaguar Rescue Center took us about 45 minutes, except that we were driving to the wrong place (I blame my phone map). The actual Jaguar Rescue Center was literally next to our hotel. We ended up running about 5 minutes late to the tour after figuring out our mistake, but the staff understood and we got connected to the tour group. We saw a baby sloth, and a bunch of other animals. Definitely worth taking the tour to see some of the wildlife up close. The rescue center is a legit rescue operation, not a zoo, which was important to us.