Taking my 6 yr. old daughter to the Osa Peninsula this summer... our first trip there! My husband is unable to join us so it will be a mother-daughter adventure. I’ve spent hours searching this forum for info on this destination and greatly appreciate the recommendations and wonderful stories shared by those who have been there.

Bosque del Cabo appears to be the best fit for us and I am now trying to figure out which cabina to book. Hoping to get some help and feedback.

We would like to see as much wildlife as possible from our deck, especially scarlet macaws, toucans and monkeys. For us, viewing a greater abundance of wildlife as near as possible to our deck would trump an ocean view. Since my daughter is well behaved and can follow instructions, I am comfortable with decks with no railings, etc. We would like our cabin to feel very open to the forest, and we would love to have a nice breeze into our cabin. Also, my daughter would love to have an outdoor tub… a nice bonus but not an absolute necessity. Wildlife viewing from our cabin still trumps all. Garden cabinas are out.

So here are my questions:
1) I’m sure all cabins are wonderful... but which cabin do you think would be the best fit for us?
2) It looks like some decks would get morning sun and others afternoon sun. Do some of the cabins have decks that are less sunny (more shaded throughout the day) than others?
3) Do all deluxe cabins except Pizote have king beds... or do some have queen beds?
4) Can anyone remember what the layout/location of the cabins are? I read an earlier post that said the layout is as follows: Mariposa, Congo, Lapa, La Palma, Manglillo, Gecko, Tucan, Pizote, Sol, Bambu. Is this correct?
5) Just curious... How far is the main lodge from the cabins? Which cabins are nearest to the lodge?

Would appreciate any comments and suggestions. My daughter wants to be a veterinarian and loves animals, especially birds. It has been her dream to visit a rainforest, and we are both SO excited about this trip! Thanks for helping!

I believe Mariposa has the most forest border, but we saw spider monkey sightings were pretty common at all of the ocean-view cabinas. We rented Congo and were able to gawk at the ocean and monkeys at the same time. The view from Congo was really extremely spectacular.

Not terribly far to the main lodge from the ocean front cabinas--it's about equidistant from them.

Thank you RAC! Congo, Mariposa and Tucan have been at the top of my list, but I wanted to hear from people who have been there before making my cabin request. Did you see scarlet macaws and/or toucans from Congo?

On a daily basis.

Best place for scarlet macaws was Iguana Lodge--17 scarlet macaws before breakfast.

We stayed in Tucan and loved it. It has an outdoor tub which very few of them have. We saw all 4 kinds of monkeys from our front porch and scarlet macaws flew by every day. There was a fruit tree next to our cabin that the monkeys were always in. I think Mariposa also has an outdoor tub. I took a bath in Tucan and had monkeys swinging right over my head! It has a loft area too. I think our bed was king sized down below and then two smaller beds up in the loft.

If your daughter is interested in birds, try to do the early morning birding with Carlos; we really enjoyed that. My husband is a birdie person too. We bought the Birds of Costa Rica book and checked off all the birds we saw as we went along so we could have a record of it. There were quite a few.

Thanks for the tip on Iguana Lodge, RAC... Good to know!

Thank you volcanogirl! I think my daughter would love Tucan, but I personally like the looks of Congo. So I'm still undecided. It's nice to have some great options. Will definitely try to do that bird tour you mentioned!

I haven't had a cabina that hasn't had tons of wildlife visible right from the deck. I would say Pizote may be a great fit for you, as it has 2 beds on the main floor. It doesn't have an outside tub but like others the shower is outside. I've had a tub in both Mariposa and Tucan but honestly it wasn't something I used that much. Another plus to Pizote is the split bathroom. To the right is a toilet and sink and to the left is 2 sinks, mirrors and entry to the outside shower. The deck is stunning and often gets monkeys at dawn coming up the ridge.

You have the order correct of the cabinas, all are visible from the main lodge, just 2-3 minutes to walk to.

Thank you Tully… that is helpful info!

tully-- Do you prefer Pizote over Congo? Is Pizote a larger cabin than Congo? My daughter decided she doesn't need a tub and she loves the way the Congo deck looks. Also, I like the shuttered doors along the side of the bed in Congo… thought it would keep the room cooler. We live in HI and get to see lots of ocean views but not as many forest views. Geez… so hard to decide… perhaps we should try both!

Also, you mentioned in an earlier post that you would not ever fly back to the U.S. all in the same day again, due to the stress it caused. That concerns me because I currently have us doing just that… 5:00 pm flight from SJO. I thought that would leave us plenty of time to get to SJO. Eek… should I change and do an overnight in San Jose before leaving?

There are a couple of cabins that have really pretty ocean views of the big arched rock out in the water - Congo and Lapa if I'm remembering correctly. We went from cabin to cabin and checked them all out when we were there - lol. One problem with returning to the U.S. on the same day is that sometimes those Nature Air and Sansa flights get delayed, so it can put you in a bit of a jam if you're trying to connect to another flight. We usually spend a last night near the airport for that reason.

Thanks volcano girl. I think we'll do an overnight near the airport before returning.

I love both Congo and Pizote but have to give the edge to Pizote. The deck is very large and yes it is bigger than Congo (but not by a huge amount). I think if you leave at 5pm you should be okay as long as you leave PJ early enough. I just had too tight of a connection, think it was 3-4 hours and cut a little too close. At least a plus now is that both Sansa and Nature Air are right there at the airport, no more traveling from Pavas to get to the Int'l airport.

Xandari is a nice spot for a last night if you decide to go that route; they have trails on site, some small waterfalls, and a good open air restaurant. The room designs have pretty cool architecture and nice views. There are also a couple of small swimming pools and a spa.

Thank you tully! I know you are very familiar w/ the cabinas at BdC, and I appreciate your feedback. I'm changing my return date and no longer have the 5 pm flight… so will do the overnight near the airport.

Thank you volcanogirl! I did check out Xandari after reading about it on this forum… looks great but cost is more than I want to spend for the last night. Since we are flying from HI, we are doing 4 total airport overnights (I hate red-eye flights.) My goal is to minimize the $ spent on these so we can stay longer at the Osa Peninsula. I'm leaning toward Adventure Inn right now.

I am also looking seriously at splitting the time between BdC and Lapa Rios! Lapa Rios will only cost a little more (I called them directly), and I would love to check it out. We're also spending a couple of nights at Toucan Rescue Ranch prior to BdC, per my daughter's request.

Always hear good things about Toucan Rescue Ranch. How far is that from SJO?

volcanogirl-- Toucan Rescue Ranch is 30-35 min from the airport. Rates include a large breakfast, and you can watch them feed baby animals while you eat. Also includes 2 hr. afternoon tour. Best part is that proceeds from the lodge puts money toward helping the resident animals.

I've always thought my husband would enjoy it; he is obsessed with toucans! Thanks for the details on the location.