ewesthoff

Planning a trip to the Osa for the first week in August with my family that includes a 9 and 11 year old. This will be our third trip to CR, but probably our most adventurous, and I would really appreciate your recommendations on lodging. Bosque del Cabo looks awesome, but may be more than we would like to spend. We would like a place that we can hike nearby, has food on premises, or within a short distance, and has decent wildlife viewing. Thanks in advance.

RAC

We looked at La Danta ecolodge for our most recent Osa trip--we almost wound up staying here.

http://www.dantalodge.com/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...untarenas.html

volcanogirl

We've only been to BdC, but I hear good things about Iguana Lodge and Casa Bambu if you want to explore those.

RAC

Iguana Lodge is a fantastic place and one can stay there relatively affordably if you opt for the club rooms, but there's not much hiking on the grounds. Good birds, including macaws galore though.

tully

I've had Danta C on my list for years, looks like a great place and is not too far from Puerto Jimenez. Agree Casa Bambu gets very good reviews and is right on the beach. Further down in Carate there is Lookout Inn, La Leona Lodge (great!) and LagunaVista Villas.

colibri

We really enjoyed our three nights at Iguana Lodge. We specifically booked it in order to do the Golfo Dulce tours to the wildlife sanctuary, dolphin viewing and the Rio Esquina, plus a little beach time. They gave us a free upgrade from the club rooms to Villa Villa Kula which was outstanding. Their food was some of the best I've had in six trips to Costa Rica. We saw howler monkeys, sloths, scarlet macaws and loads of other birds on the property, but for hiking you need to take other tours from there.

We then went to Bosque del Cabo for 4 nights which was just awesome. You might consider splitting your week with two different properties. We knew once we got to BdC we wouldn't want to leave there since the hiking and wildlife viewing was so fantastic.

volcanogirl

Hi, col! Can you explain a little bit more about the hiking? Is it a smaller property? How did you guys see so much wildlife if there isn't hiking there?

colibri

VG - I would say Iguana's grounds are more like a large tropical garden with beachfront. You get a variety of birds, plus we had howler monkeys each day along with sloths, but it would only take you 10-15 minutes to "hike" the grounds.

It's definitely one of the smaller properties I've stayed in, not sure of number of acres - maybe 15-20?? www.iguanalodge.com

We really went here for some beach time before heading to BdC. They do offer numerous tours off the property for hiking and adventure sports.

volcanogirl

Gotcha, that makes sense - thanks. It looks like a great spot.

RAC

Iguana Lodge is great for water activities, since it's so close to Puerto Jimenez. Fishing, kayaking, dolphin tours, etc. Also some cool tours like a night tour on a small river, etc.

More of a new age, relaxation, soak it in vibe than a hiking and animal-watching place I would say.

Food is fantastic.