Dominical, Ojochal or Uvita?
 

Which of these towns do you recommend for June? We want to be on the coast for three days. Love the beach, mountains, hiking, healthy restaurants, seafood, beautiful scenery. We don't surf, but MIGHT want to take a lesson. Also, trying to stay under $75 per night. Any particular cabinas/hotels you recommend? We will have a car. Thanks!

I'm just heading to that area myself late June so I can't offer firsthand rec's, but if you have trouble finding something you like in that price range you might check out Shelter from the Storm which is between Uvita and Dominical. I chose the Baja Las Rocas room which is $105/night including taxes. Another place I looked at is Roca Verde, but oddly enough their website doesn't even list prices...

Might try "Lonely Planet Guide to Costa Rica" It has a wealth of info for the price range you want around Dominical and Uvita areas. If you are driving from the San Jose international airport-central valley-the drive to Dominical area is 4-5 hours, depending on the weather. It's rainy season in C Rica at end of June which means it rains in the afternoons.
Im a travel writer for Costa Rica-lived there for 8 years-plus I have a travel agency dedicated to Costa Rica, Unique Costa Rica Journey's. Please check out 2 post of my travel blog www.costaricalearn.com 3-10-09 Tips for Safe Travel 3-6-09 Renting a Car in Costa Rica. I cover the strict new laws put into place this year by the C Rican Gov related to speed limits, seat belts, etc, with penalties in the hundreds of dollars if you break these laws. Please ask me any questions. click no comments (I know it should say comment. I need to fix that on wordpress.
Have a great trip! Ann

Hi,

We just returned from Dominical, Uvita, Ojochal area last night. We stayed at Costa Paraiso in the "Toucan's Nest" just outside Dominical. The view was amazing, pool was delightful, managers Doug and Jennifer were very laid back, gardens were gorgeous and there was a night security guard. If you are looking to be pampered, have a massage on site, etc., this isn't for you. It's a great place to come and go as you please, which is exactly what we did. We used this as our starting point for all of our activities - which were all south of Dominical.

If you have any questions about possible tours, lodging, restaurants, or anything else, I strongly suggest you contact Sonia or Francine at Uvita Info --- www.uvita.info/ --- they were tremendous before our trip as well as during our trip (I have no personal relationship with them).

You mention, "Love the beach, mountains, hiking, healthy restaurants, seafood, beautiful scenery." All of those are in close proximity and the coastal highway is a great road to get you around the area.

There is one big difference between what we did (snorkeling, kayaking, horse-back riding, whale watch, hiking, etc.) and what you may do because you are going during the rainy season. Hopefully someone with knowledge of the area during the rainy season can help you out.

Good luck.

brainc thx for mentioning uvito.info, I have their contact info jotted down for upcoming trip but hadn't come across anyone using them. Did you use them for any hiking trips?

We used them for the whale watch/snorkeling combo trip from Ballena National Park and a four-hour kayak trip that started from Las Vegas Restaurant in Sierpe. They also recommended a great little restaurant hidden in Ojochal called "Citrus" which was marvelous.

I own some teak trees and we had the good fortune of a private guided tour of the plantation and surrounding area on horseback by the farm owner. It was extremely hot last week (near 100), so our hiking/walking was limited to places near the beach - Hacienda Baru and the areas near Playa Ventanas and Playa Colonia. My wife had a brain aneurism just 3-1/2 years ago, so any major-league hiking involving much elevation was out of the question.

Any other questions before your trip, please throw them my way.

Oh that's 2 things looking at doing - Playa Ventanas and Hacienda Baru. Did you take the morning 3 hour hike at Baru? Did you drive there yourself? Will have a car just a little nervous about going off the main road. Will look forward to your trip report in the other thread.

Tully:

Hacienda Baru: From the paved three-way intersection in Dominical, it is a 2 Km drive on the rocky dirt road toward Quepos to Hacienda Baru. Just drive slowly, realize it is worth the effort, and it will take about 10 minutes at most. It's well-marked, just past the gas station (only one in town) on the left as you head north toward Quepos.

We didn't do the 5:30 a.m. bird tour or the zipline. Instead opted to walk trails ourselves - there is a $6 fee per person and you can walk all of the trails without a guide (if you choose). We did three of the four trails starting around 10:30 a.m. - a pretty stupid thing to do in the heat and humidity but it was still great. We saw numerous birds, coatis, leaf-cutter ants, vultures, and two toucans on our way down to the ocean which was void of people. Make sure you have plenty of liquids because it is hot and humid! The forest changes several times during the walk and there are signs along the trails that explain what wildlife and trees you see are seeing as you walk through each area. We walked up the bird tower, saw the top of the forest and a few birds, but it was nothing spectacular probably because it was mid afternoon. I'm sure it would be different early in the morning if you're into birdwatching. The butterfly garden was quite nice, blue morphos were particularly gorgeous. Orchid garden has nothing in bloom. As you warned me, the food was so-so, but we were hungry and thirsty and it wasn't expensive.

Playa Ventanas: You should drive in the road about 300 yards and then park to the left in a lot that has security (350 colones per hour). From there it is about a 10 minute walk on a rutted path up and over a hill to the beach. There are a couple of neat natural caves that go all the way through to the ocean and a large area beneath the palm tress to releax and have a picnic. The beach is huge and during the day we were there had waves of 10' to 12', so you really have to be careful of the undertow. There were park police there telling you not to leave anything lying around because of thieves. The backdrop to the beach is gorgeous; mountains come right down to the coastal highway and it is heavily forested all the way to the beach.

If you want to go swimming, I suggest Playa Colonia right up the road. It does cost $6 per person to get in, but the waves were smaller, about 8' and the beach goes for miles without anyone on it. However, I was stupid and left my backpack on the beach when I went swimming. My wife saw a guy run out of the palm trees, grab it and disappear. I was really ticked at the guy, but just as mad at myself for providing the bait for letting it happen. But we liked the beach so much, we went back the last day we were there for a truly relaxing swim in the waves. This time we didn't leave anything on the beach.

I hope this helps you.

Brian

I meant to thank you all for your great advice. I ended up booking a cottage at Coconut Grove (recommended on the Thorn Tree forum.) Still, I appreciate all of the good information here, and I'm very excited about the trip.

Have a great trip Cimbrone!