Ever considered a Costa Rica road trip? Read on to learn more about the last days of our eight day road trip across the Northern part of the country. Did you miss Day 6? Catch up here!
We spent our sixth and seventh nights at Cabinas Palmer in Cahuita, on the Caribbean coast. This cozy little, hostel style spot is a stones throw from the beach and Cahuita National Park. The rooms are simple and each has a patio complete with a hammock and small table with two chairs overlooking the courtyard. Rooms here are priced around $30/night. The hosts are kind and very helpful should you need anything, including setting up a local tour. The night we arrive it is after 9 pm and we are still able to set up a snorkel tour in the Cahuita National Park for 8:30 am the following morning.
It is forbidden to snorkel in Cahuita National Park without a local guide. The tours are $15-30 USD per person for a 2-3 hour excursion with gear provided. Our tour includes stops to snorkel at two different reefs, followed by a beach front pineapple snack at the tip of the park’s peninsula. The ocean part of the park comprises over 55,000 acres!
Snorkeling Cahuita National Park
Our first morning in Cahuita starts with a quick bite at Soda Kawe for breakfast (not included with our hotel stay). We head back to the hotel to meet our tour guide who arrives at the hotel to collect us at 8:30 am. The tours are by boat which are located just a couple blocks down the street. After a short walk, we arrive to find a handful of boats. They are all preparing to usher snorkelers out to the reefs for their morning tour. On our boat we are joined by one more couple, making for a semi-private tour.
We push off the dock and our boat ride is a smooth 10 minutes out to the first reef location. The water is crystal clear as we can see the bottom for most of the ride. We even slow down for a sea turtle enroute to the reef. Our guide tells us they are common here. Once on site, we jump into the water which is about 30 feet deep. There are mounds of coral all around, only some of the over 25 species that have been identified in the national park. There are also many species of tropical fish here. Among them we see rainbow parrotfish, damselfish, sergeant major, a porcupine fish and a stingray!
We return to the boat to head over to the next site which is made up mostly of incredibly stunning leaf coral. It is abundant here – not like anything we’ve ever seen! The reef is shallow, around 5 feet but drops off suddenly to 20-30 feet and the thermocline is sporadic.
Our guide leads us back to the boat and we speed off towards the National Park’s peninsula, Punta Cahuita. Our skilled captain slows the boat and grounds it on the pebble beach. We jump out and head over to the picnic area for some fresh cut pineapple as we take in the view of the Caribbean Sea. It doesn’t get much better than this! After a short break, we jump back into the boat and head back to the dock. Talk about a morning well spent!
Parque Nacional Cahuita
We head back to the hotel to chill for a bit on this last, full day of our Costa Rica road trip. We make the most of the free coffee and hammocks that are available to all guests. Before long, we are packing our day packs to walk over to Cahuita National Park in search of some wildlife. On our list to see before we leave the country: coati[mundi], parrots, toucan, and anteater, all of which should be present here!
There is a decent set of trails in the park which spans nearly 2,500 acres! The park entrance fee is voluntary at the north end, near Playa Blanca where we enter. The other entrance at the south end is near Puerto Vargas and costs $10 to enter. The trail we take runs parallel to Playa Blanca and is very well maintained. We first encounter a couple bold racoons trotting along the trail. As we near the Rio Suarez crossing, there are signs warning of alligators in the water but we don’t se any.
Cahuita National Park is open from 8 am – 4pm but the rangers begin a trail sweep from Punta Cahuita to the trail head around 2:30pm so be sure to give yourself plenty of time for the nearly 4km hike.
We take our time along the trail to take in the scenery as well as watch some of the wildlife. We encounter some parrots as well as howler and white-face capuchin monkeys before making our way back to the trail head. There, we spend a bit of time on the beach before the park closes.
If you are looking for a guided tour of Cahuita National Park, there are several available to book online.
Playa Negra
When we hear there is a black sand beach near the hotel we need to go see it. It definitely provides a drastic contrast to Playa Blanca, where we were earlier in the day. The sun is setting as we arrive and there are only a few people left on the beach. We walk it’s length and realize that the setting sun is bringing some biting flies so we decide to retreat and make plans for dinner. There is a swing and a playground near the main beach entrance and restaurant. There are also make shift weights for an impromptu weight lifting session. So we stop for a few more pictures before heading back to the hotel.
We decide to dress up for our final dinner out. After a lap of the town and a look at all the menus, we agree on the restaurant across the street from our hotel – El Rincon del Amor. A decision neither of us regrets! Palate satiated, we head back to the hotel to pack up our bags one last time. We are suddenly jaunted from our packing limbo by the sound of loud drums outside our window. When we run out to see what is happening, the local marching band seems to be practicing in the street. And they are great! What an unintentionally excellent send off!
Adios Costa Rica
And so we have arrived to our final day in Costa Rica 🙁 We rise early as we have a 3 hour drive back to San Jose and need to arrive in plenty of time to drop off the rental car and check into customs. The drive is relatively smooth until we hit rush hour through the beautiful mountains of Braulio Carrillo National Park. The roads here are only two lanes with breakdowns and construction peppered along the route. Luckily we make it into town with a few minutes to spare and time to do some last minute souvenir shopping at the airport.
So there you have it – our eight day whirlwind Costa Rica road trip! We had an absolute blast and experienced so many things! While the trip had it’s minor moments of disorder, we wouldn’t have changed any part of it (except maybe to stay longer 😉 Otherwise, we’d to do it again!!
If you’re just joining us, head over to Day 1 where our Costa Rica road trip began. If you’re planning a trip yourself, check out how we planned this 7-night trip for two with a rental car, flights and accommodations for two, for less than $1050 USD!
Looking to spend a little more time on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica? Head over to Tucan Dream to read about exploring Manzanillo, Punta Uva and Puerto Viejo.
Have you ever set foot on a black sand beach?
