Cahuita National Park – tips for the best nature park in Costa Rica

If you're a true nature and animal lover, you won't want to skip Cahuita National Park when traveling through Costa Rica . We think it's definitely one of the best nature parks in Costa Rica. It's about half an hour from Puerto Viejo , and you can easily spend a whole morning here. Below you'll find all our tips.

Walk through Cahuita National Park

Cahuita National Park consists of a trail no less than 8 km long. You can walk it all, from start to finish. Set aside a few hours for it, as it's a long hike. But don't worry, it's not a difficult one. You can walk the trail from either side. We recommend starting from the side of the village of Cahuita.

As you walk the trail, you'll pass the most beautiful beaches on your left hand. You can enjoy a swim here or relax on the beach. On your right hand is an amazing green jungle full of all kinds of animals. We can promise you'll spot animals here without having to search too hard. You can easily see raccoons, sloths, howler monkeys and capuchin monkeys. These animals are found mostly at the start of the trail, on the side of the village of Cahuita. 

Another advantage of entering the park from Cahuita is that a donation is requested here. If you enter the park from the other side, you have to pay a fixed amount. On the Cahuita side, you decide the amount yourself. A donation of at least 3000 colones is appreciated.

Looking for more nature parks or other destinations in Costa Rica? Also check out our tips for Tortuguero National Park, another beautiful park full of wildlife. Or browse our overview of the most beautiful destinations in Costa Rica for more inspiration.

Want to learn even more about the nature and animals in the park? Book a guide for Cahuita National Park in advance..

How do you get there?

So it is only a half hour drive from Puerto Viejo and is therefore easily accessible. Go there by scooter or take a tuk-tuk or the local bus. The advantage of a tuk-tuk or local bus is that you enter the national park on the side of Cahuita and you can leave immediately by tuk-tuk or bus on the other side where you get out. We went with the scooter ourselves and therefore turned around halfway through the path to get back to our scooter. 

Nog wat tips voor het bezoeken van het park

• Go in the morning. The hike takes a few hours and it can get very hot in the afternoon.
• Put on swimsuits. So you can cool off in the sea during the long hike.
• Bring a towel if you want to swim!
• Bring food and drinks. You can't buy food or drinks in the park. The hike takes quite a while, so you'll want to bring enough water and preferably some food too. Just make sure you don't get all the bags out in front of the animals! Then you have a chance that the monkeys will run off with your plastic bag.
• Bring sunscreen. You'll walk between the trees for much of the way, so there's plenty of shade. Still, there are also some open stretches, and full sun when you're walking on the beach.
• Bring mosquito repellent!