Dominical vs. Uvita-which do you prefer?
 

Hola to you all, again! So, I just returned home from my fabulous vacation in Costa Rica, and the first thing I do upon my return is to book my flight for next February!
I'm interested in anyone who's been to either Dominical or Uvita, and what their experiences were. What's the "vibe" down there? We are thinking of either staying in the Dominical area, or Uvita, which seems to be a smaller, less populated area. We are interested in great wildlife, beaches, laid back vibe, and a choice of good restaurants. Shelter from the Storm looks appealing (closer to Dominical) and I've just discovered another place that gets good reviews in Uvita called Las Terrazas de Ballena. If you can give me any feedback, I'd be thrilled. Am so excited about discovering a new area!

Can't tell you which I prefer yet, but will be going in June and staying at Shelter from the Storm. Had all the same questions as you, but I don't think one can go wrong staying there. Will definitely post back. Good luck deciding!

Great, Hip! Which room did you book? It looks like a great place! Will you be staying in Uvita at all? I checked out La Cusinga lodge and it looks like a smaller scale version of Bosque. Looks interesting.

We were in Dominical and Uvita during our first trip to CR 2 years ago, and stayed a few nights in Uvita at The Overlook. Another place we saw - Hotel Villas Gaia - looked really beautiful. Thought they had similar vibes, and are not that far away from each other. Dominical was definitely the more populated, but it's all relative. By populated I mean there is a small, hip(py) town with cool surf shops and laid back restaurants, and the beach was nice, with lots of surfers, but a little rocky.

I thought the beaches in Uvita were nicer - less populated and more private. Hotels seemed more boutique-like and secluded. Some good beaches in Uvita - Playa Hermosa was popular with surfers at our hotel, Playas Ventanas was great, very private with cool shells, Playa Ballena was nice and secluded.

There are a few places to stay between the two if I recall - so you might check this out and see both places. Either way, you can't go wrong - and the road between the two is paved and great to drive on!

I booked Baja Las Rocas, one of the smaller rooms. It's just for me so it will be perfect. Not planning on staying in Uvita. SFTS is sort of in between Uvita/Dominical (at least it appears on the map). I'm meeting up with Tully there to do some exploring and then making the drive to BDC afterwards.

La Cusinga looks wonderful. Let us know if you end up staying there.

www.cunadelangel.com was great in July

A howler monkey family visited us in our room

including a baby...it was awesome...

Thanks Wasigan, thanks Hip.
I may split 8 days between Shelter from the Storm in Dominical and La Cusinga in Uvita, to get the best of both worlds.
Hip, what a trip! You and Tully will have a ball! I think we are going to book the Monkey Room in Shelter, but they all look great. Donna and Daryl are having problems emailing me detailed info on the hotel, did you have the same problem?
Any place named after a Bob Dylan song is OK in my books!

crlover - Sounds like a great plan. The beaches look great over there and good for day trippin' too.

What do you mean by problems exactly? Donna was very good e-mailing back and forth to me, and with Tully as well I believe.

Yep, Bob Dylan. ;-) Tully's staying in the Monkey House, so she can let you know how it is. I'll be taking lots of pics!

Meeting up with shillmac and cmerrell at BDC.

Hip, they have had problems sending me attachments via email, it's not that they haven't been responding. They keep on re-sending me the same emails and I never get them. It could be my email progamme, who knows.
I definitely want details on the Monkey House, and of course, expect a full report of BDC GTG! Unfortunately, that is my busy time at work, otherwise I'd be sharing an imperial or two with you at the bar. Don't forget to ask to see Chin-Chin, the pet peccary!

I like the smaller town of Uvita and think the beaches are much nicer but if you have a car it really won't matter where you stay. They are just a relatively short drive apart on an excellent road and you can enjoy both even in the same day. Check the tide charts and go to the Whale Tail sandbar during the lowest part of the tide. It is really neat and does look just like a whale tail. Dominical does have rips so be careful while swimming there. Check out the sea kayaking around the rock caves in Ballena marine park. Unfortunately, the building of that excellent road did a lot of damage to the reef but it is still a nice place to visit. For a wonderful meal, if you have a car, make reservations at Exotica in Ojochal. Wonderful food. Doesn't look like much but well worth the effort to get there.

crlover - I think SFTS would be a good choice as it's S of Dominical so easy to reach so many areas in a short time. Will definitely takes pics of the Monkey House....though I'm still thinking of switching to one of the bigger ones but we'll see! I would try another email account and see if Donna can get her attachments thru that way.

crlover -- I know you'd be there if you could...maybe another time! Can't wait to meet Chin Chin. ;-)

tully -- Which one are you thinking of switching to? Arriba Los Rocas or the Villa?

hip yeah I was thinking, maybe, maybe to Los Rocas...we'll see, I'll probably hold off deciding til May. I do really like Monkey House though, so it's hard to decide between that & Los Rocas with the killer view (but which we'll have plenty of at Miramar, so...) That's the problem they all look so nice, and the pool looks like a perfect place to have a sundowner or two.

Cool. Either way it will be great...You're just bored cuz you've got everything figured out already ;-) ...except the last night, right?

Oh, except for the daily stuff of course. Did you ever hear back from Rafiki?

crlover -- Can't believe you actually booked your flights already! Hope you got a great deal!

Thanks, Qwo. I'll check out Cuna del Angel. A howler monkey in your room...very interesting!
So, I'm counting on you both, Hip and Tully, to give me detailed descriptions of every room at SFTS. How long are you guys staying there?

I'll only be there for 3 nights :-( but tully for 6 :-). Sounds like there's a decent amount of wildlife around there.