bniemand

I know many of you Costa Rica regulars are very passionate about Bosque del Cabo – thank you, you made me want to go, and my husband and I have 4 nights booked during late November.

My question is about activities. Most of the days we’re planning to relax and enjoy the property and do a variety of hikes. On one day, we are thinking of doing the Dolphin Watch Tour described on the BdC website. Have any of you done this tour or know anyone who has? I LOVE the idea of seeing (and possibly swimming with) dolphins in the wild, but it’s quite expensive, not to mention the time consuming drive to/from Puerto Jimenez. So just looking for feedback from anyone with personal experience – did you think it was worth it? And also wondering if late November is a good time for dolphin sightings.

And if you’d like to mention any other of your favorite trails or tours, I’d love to hear that too!

colibri

I love the Titi trail - you'll most likely see all 4 species of monkeys on it. Just walking along the driveway will also give you plenty of wildlife sightings.

Dolphin tour - I specifically booked Iguana Lodge outside of Puerto Jimenez for my Golfo Dulce tours. I didn't want to spend the drive time from BdC, plus there are so many trails to explore that I wanted to stay onsite. We booked the animal sanctuary/dolphin tour in combo from Iguana, but since it was a super moon and really rough surf, our guide said we wouldn't have any luck with dolphins. We went up the Rio Esquina instead and saw plenty of wildlife.

If you haven't already booked your domestic flights, you might want to think about doing that.

Cattail

We did the animal sanctuary/snorkeling/dolphin tour out of BdC (we weren't going to be able to book closer), and saw lots of dolphins.

I second colibri's trail advice! The Tiki trail is excellent. I also love the trails leading to the beach, but take extra precautions walking to the waterfalls - the beach, there especially, can be extremely hot, with no shade.

bniemand

Thanks for your replies! I'm happy with our choice to stay in BdC for the whole time, since we're just thinking of leaving the property on one day.

Cattail, what time of year did you go? I'm curious what you thought about the snorkeling -- we like to snorkel but the BdC site says it's not that great there, so we figured we'd skip it.

tully

The snorkeling isn't great, too rough and the Golfo Dulce gets too silty. All the trails are great. The Titi trail is often a fave as it seems to get the most wildlife. The creek trail is also a lot of fun, if you like adventure. One you get to the bottom (at the creek), there is a big bulge of dirt on your right hand side. If you carefully inch yourself around it (not far, maybe 10 ft) you'll find yourself at the creek where you can walk for a good hour to the waterfall. Your other option is just to jump from the creek to the creek below, there's a small waterfall, maybe 10 ft high. The Sunset tour and the Primary tour, both with Philip, are also must-do's.

volcanogirl

We liked the Primary Forest tour with Phillip too; he tells you all about the interconnectivity of the plants and wildlife in the rain forest. It's a good hike. Also liked early morning birding with Carlos and the visit to the animal sanctuary. We saw dolphins on the boat ride to the sanctuary. They said you weren't allowed to swim with them when we were there. Not sure if that's still the case.

Cattail

I think our expectations for snorkeling were quite low, based on what we'd heard from others! No, it wasn't anything like Hawaii or Belize, but it was better, and way more fun, than we expected.

Each day, a board near the kitchen lists people who are signed up for trips. You can sign up with others and split costs this way.

Cattail

Oh, we were at BdC in January or February.

bniemand

Thanks everyone. I like the idea of the board near the kitchen, day trips like this are always fun with a bigger group.

We'll definitely do those hikes with Phillip and Carlos!

volcanogirl

Since the dinners are communal, that's also a good time to ask others what they're interested in doing so you can split transportation costs.

Eliot_Greenspan

If you want more athletic options, Andy Pruter's Psycho Tour is amazing. And the beach break just below Bosque is a perfect place to learn how to surf. The folks at BdC can set any of this and more up for you.

Cattail

What is a Psycho Tour, lol! ? Surfing?

bniemand

We are back from our trip and I thought I'd give an update on what we did.

About halfway on the drive from Puerto Jimenez to Bosque del Cabo (which took a bit over an hour) we looked at each other and said there is no way we are driving down this road again until we have to leave to go back to the airport. The potholes were just awful, and none of the off-site activities were appealing enough to make us want to go up/down that road another time!

We did the Primary Forest tour and the Sunset Tour with Philip, both were excellent and he has a wonderful way of explaining the inter-connectivity of the plants, trees and animals. We still can't stop talking about the leaf cutter ants!

We did the Early Morning and the 3:30 Afternoon Birding hikes with Carlos, who blew us away with his ability to spot tiny specks in faraway trees. His superpower telescope gives such clear close-up views and you can see the colors and details of the birds like never before.

We hiked to the waterfall, not via the Pacific Trail, but going on Titi Trail to Saino Trail to Bella Vista Trail. Bella Vista is not shown on their map, but it well marked with a sign and is a (VERY STEEP) path down that lets you out on the beach just 20 yards or so from the stream that you walk along to the waterfall. This route lets you stay in the shade much more than the Pacific Trail route, and you also have to worry less about the tides. If you have trouble walking up/down steep hills think twice about doing this hike, I personally had a really hard time. The great photos I took of my husband standing under the waterfall helped make it worth it!

We found in general we saw more animals just walking around the grounds than we did on any of the trails. We were in the Congo cabina (which faces southeast, and is known for its amazing view with an arched rock) but were jealous of the people in the west-facing cabinas because that's where the monkeys live and they saw all types of monkeys on a regular basis.

When not hiking we spent a lot of time lounging on our deck, reading and watching the birds float by. It was sunny each morning and each day it started raining mid-afternoon and rained most nights.

Other than the relentless, clothes-soaking humidity, we loved everything about BdC!

RAC

Bookmarking.

tully

Welcome to the club bniemand Glad you had a great time. I'm guessing you are referring to the cabinas near Pizote/Tucan which do get a lot of monkeys.

volcanogirl

Glad you had such a good time. We stayed in Tucan and had a lot of monkey visits - howlers, capuchins, and spider all hung out in that area around a big fruit tree.

sparklegem

Oh! Reading this is making me so excited to go (time to start counting the days!)!! When we were at BDC we spent all of time on the property. Our daughter was pretty little and so we did not do any of the bigger hikes. We saw lots of birds and mammals on the driveway and in the garden. We also took the primary forest tour and the sunset tour which were both amazing! This time we will add some trails and maybe an activity or two.

Cattail

It's always good to see how a poster's trip turned out. Yes, it's easy to spend an entire trip at BdC, especially if you've never been. Thanks for the report!

Robbietravels

Any one on this thread going to be there Jan 1-4? Would be fun to say hello. I've noted all the good activity advice, gracias

shillmac

So glad you enjoyed your time at BdC! Thanks for posting. Love Congo and that view!