TAKE A BREAK IN BAHIA DRAKE

First of all, know that when you arrive in Bahia Drake by boat, you arrive directly on the main beach. There’s no pontoon to welcome you so be ready to put your feet in the water. But jumping into the water it’s when the magic operates. A small town with super pleasant atmosphere. Accommodation everywhere, small restaurants, a few bars and supermarkets. Life’s cool and quiet in Bahia Drake. It’s not very big, and you’ll have done the tour in half an hour. But take the opportunity to walk on the main beach Playa Colorado at the end of the day. When you’re on the beach, go to your right and overtake the rocks to see an abandoned catamaran on the beach. The vision of this catamaran stranded on this black sand is super pretty. A good spot for beautiful photos. 

If you’re going to Bahia Drake, don’t miss  the excursion to the Corcovado National Park! Because of malicious people towards the fauna and flora, it’s now mandatory to visit the park with a guide. No way to go independently. So the prices are a bit expensive. But it’s definitely worth it! I explain you why. To do this excursion, we chose Corcovado Hiking Tour, the cheapest of all agencies, and we were only 6 people in the group. And honestly, the agencies all do the same excursion, I don’t really understand the price difference except maybe the lunch? You have the choice with two different paths, I recommend the one that goes through the Sirena ranch because it’s on this trail that you’ll have the best chance of seeing animals. We get to know one of the best guides I’ve ever had in Costa Rica, Freiman. He knew exactly where to go, he preferred to go where there are fewer people for us to be quiet, he even sent us photos of his book with the illustrations and the names of the animals we saw so we could remember. Really great! Departure at 6am from the main beach of Bahia Drake to embark on a boat. We arrive at the entrance to the national park after 1h15 well shaken journey. In the national park, there are several objects that you can’t bring, normally the agency will tell you the day before. In general, it’s all disposable plastic. They look in the bags at the entrance. We therefore begin the visit in the opposite direction of all groups. Let’s go for a 3h30 walk in the park to observe the animals. The guide gives us explanations about the park in general, the ranch La Sirena, and the animals. We have seen so many! A sleeping tapir, spider monkeys, toucans, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, peccaries, blue heron, leaf-cutter ants… I had never seen so many animals in the wild! It was amazing! During the visit, we passed by the ranch of the Sirena, nothing very special. This is where people who have taken a multi-day excursion are sleeping. We met a person who told us that several days in the park wasn’t necessarily. Besides, know that it’s now prohibited to do animal night-seeing walk in national parks in Costa Rica. So if you make one, it won’t be in a national park. After this beautiful walk in the forest, we came back by the beach to the starting point to take the boat back to Bahia Drake. We ate a casado (meat, rice and black beans) in a small restaurant that looks more like a house. And we were lucky to have a visit from a white-faced Capuchin family in the tree opposite (be careful because they steal food). 

Price of the excursion with guide, transport, entrance to the national park, lunch: US $110 

A free hike where you can have the chance to see animals, it’s at the Drake Bay trail which goes to the Rincon de San Josecito beach. It’s a very beautiful hike that starts from Bahia Drake and walks along the coast, sometimes in the forest, sometimes on deserted beaches with black sand with coconut trees. I advise you to start around 7 a.m. to have the best chance of seeing animals, and avoid the crowds that do the walk. On the way, we were able to see macaws and whales, incredible! Count about 6 hours to make the 17km round trip. There’s very little positive elevation gain on this path. On the other hand, there’s a river in the middle of a beach to cross. So watch the tides before and try to pass through it at low tide. Otherwise you’ll get stuck. Feel free to ask the locals on the way for advice. 

Another excursion you can do in Bahia Drake is the Isla del Cano excursion. We didn’t do it so I can’t give you a personal opinion but the people I met, and who did it, liked it a lot. 

I really liked Bahia Drake and its diversity of activity. The beaches are beautiful and we saw countless animals in the national park! It was amazing!