Top Things to do in Osa Peninsula
What to do and see in Osa Peninsula, Province of Puntarenas: The Best Things to do
Discover the best top things to do in Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica including Rancho Raices de Osa, Golfo Dulce, Drake Trail, Piedras Blancas National Park, Corcovado National Park, Osa Wildlife Sanctuary, Cano Island, Playa San Josecito, Corcovado Info Center, Sirena Ranger Station.
Restaurants in Osa Peninsula
1. Rancho Raices de Osa
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 106 reviews
We are a local family farm, we do home made traditional chocolat and we share all about our culture, traditions, fruit trees, cultivations, animal farm and more !!!
Reviewed By Eagar4Nature
This was a wonderful tour given by a beautiful Costa Rican family who share their chocolate farm experience directly with you. They let you and your kids participate as much as you want in the whole chocolate making experience. The guide Herman was very knowledgeable about native plants that he grows on his farm and their various uses and you get to sample many along the way. If you visit the Osa peninsula I highly recommend you visit this family and support their tour! Covid has hurt many families like this in Costa Rica who depend on ecotourism and I recommend you support a beautiful family like this over some ecotourism corporation.
2. Golfo Dulce
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 35 reviews
Reviewed By 860raphaell
We are a family of 5 from Montreal, children’s age: 13, 8 and 4. We just had the most amazing time at Golfo Dulce Retreat and we recommend it with all our heart. It’s the perfect family vacation. Luxury cabins in the middle of the jungle, a two-minute walk from a spectacular private beach. In the same day, we were woken up by monkeys, and in the afternoon, dolphins swam around us while longboard paddling. You will stay entertained all day, one day you will be kayaking in the mangroves and the other day you are snorkeling with amazing corals and fishes! This is a perfect place for kids and adults for relaxation and adventure. Our kids left completely amazed and … in love with the owners Chantelle and Simon as well as Katie, a biologist from Cambridge University, who taught our kids so many things about different species in the jungle. Let’s not forget about the food. We still can’t grasp how is it possible to feel like we’re eating in Italy, but in the middle of the jungle in Costa Rica! We often say that we will return for sure to a place we loved so much, but at the end, we never do. I hope this time we will.
3. Drake Trail
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 22 reviews
Reviewed By 77karl - Lichtenau im Waldviertel, Austria
I recommend to go this trail. It is a very nice day-trip from Drake to the south and back. On one side the Pacific ocean and on the other side the dschungle
4. Piedras Blancas National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 71 reviews
We offer different Guided tours to the Piedras Blancas National Park, expert guides will take you to an amazing adventure. Piedras Blancas National Park forms part of the Osa Conservation Area, included in the National Conservation Areas System. It has an area of 14 350 hectares. With the objective of protecting the last tropical rain forest in the Golfito sector including the Esquinas River basin, Piedras Blancas National Park was created in January of 1993. This bio-geographical area has acquired great importance, becoming a gathering spot for flora and fauna species coming from North America, as well as South America. It constitutes a high diversity zone of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The very humid tropical forests seen here have tall evergreen trees, and are dense with large quantities of plants that live amongst the trees.
5. Corcovado National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,262 reviews
Reviewed By prl16
I just hiked in Corcovado National Park the week of March 19, 2019 and it was amazing. Lots of wildlife, a pristine primary forest, and a great waterfall that is nearby the ranger station. It is a good idea to hire a guide to take you through the forest, especially if you are unfamiliar with what to watch out for (like army ants for example) or want more info about the birds and mammals (including many monkeys) you are seeing.
6. Osa Wildlife Sanctuary
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 220 reviews
Also known as the Santuario Silvestre de Osa . Owned by Carol Crews. $25 admission/donation. All proceeds go into the sanctuary.
Reviewed By spiritbears - Wokingham, United Kingdom
My husband and I visitied the Osa Wildlife Sanctuary at the end of December 2020, as arranged through Playa Cativo (where we were staying). A boat was arranged for us to take us to the sanctuary as it is tucked away along the coast in the Osa Peninsula. The lovely Carol was waiting for us on a log with Sweetie, the spider monkey who loves to sit on your lap and have a scratch, a delightful little monkey! We were given a tour of the sanctuary and heard stories about where the animals and birds came from. This sanctuary clearly provides the best care possible for injured, orphaned and displaced wildlife, always with the intention to rehabilitate and release when possible. We learnt that the Osa Wildlife Sanctuary liaises with other similar organizations and promote conservation through education and community involvement and are doing a great job of this. With donations and visits to this sanctuary they can continue to help animals in need and sponsorship and membership of the sanctuary will also be possible soon. We really enjoyed chatting with Carol as she has a wealth of experience and gives her all to care for the animals/birds. We enjoyed seeing the animals close up and were able to hand feed them - the Scarlet Macaws were beautiful, toucans, 2 toed sloth and kinkajoo, to mention a few. If you are nearby in the area and have the chance to visit, please support this sanctuary as your contribution will help the animals and birds rehabilitation and eventual release back into the wild. To know that some can be helped and be released into their natural habitat is heart warming and for those that can't be released, they will be cared for in the sanctuary in the best way possible. Will definitely visit again next time we come on holiday to Costa Rica in the Golfo Dolce and will follow their good work on their own website osawildlife.
7. Cano Island
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,032 reviews
Reviewed By Kerryem2
Great snorkel trip. Saw dolphins and birds eating needle fish and Olive Ridley turtles eating jellyfish, and that was just the boat ride out! Clear water, lots of white tip reef sharks, a moray eel, more turtles, and devil rays, and all the tropical fish you could want.
8. Playa San Josecito
9. Corcovado Info Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 285 reviews
Corcovado Info Center is a tour operator located in Drake Bay, owned by Kenneth Mora Mendoza, tour guide with over ten years of extensive experience and knowledge of the Corcovado National Park, Cano Island and the Osa Peninsula. We are specialists in overnight trips to the Corcovado National Park where you can see amazing wildlife, forest and beautiful nature. Also we do many other tours in the area, such as whale and dolphin watching, snorkeling at Cano Island, Terraba-Sierpe Mangrove Forest excursions and more. Contact us if you would like to have a great experience in the National Park.
Reviewed By Laurakene - Berlin, Germany
IF you choose Drake Bay - choose Corcovado info center It is really hard to put in words all positive emotions which I received during the time I used services which Corcovado Info Center and it's team provided. I had a overnight tour in Corcovado National Park with excellent quide Jairo. We saw a lot of different animals and the guide was very knowledged and attentive. I also took a Mangrove tour on Sierpe River which was guided by Kenneth. Excellent experience. Kenneth always asked what I expect, what I want to see and how do I feel myself. He was super caring, always present and goal-oriented. But the best experiences were ofcourse snorgeling and fishing which I had at least 3 different times. All of them were in different places and with different targets. Our Dream-team made everything to catch different type and sizes of Fish. The team really cared to give the best experience. I spend in Drake Bay all together 14 nights and best time of it was the time spent with Corcovado Info Center and its team.
10. Sirena Ranger Station
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 216 reviews
Reviewed By JeffL3465 - Minnesota, United States
My wife, 12-year-old daughter, 10-year-old son, and I stayed at Sirena for two nights in June 2019. It was an amazing experience! One of the best places to see wildlife on the planet! But you need to be willing to rough it a little and get a little hot and wet. Your guide will make all of the difference. We were lucky enough to have Nito, one of the owners of Surcos Tours, as our guide. He explained all about the birds, ants, and other wildlife that we saw. And he was very good with our kids. We slept in a bunk room on bunk beds with other guests staying at Sirena. The food was good. Most of our time was spent hiking the trails. We were up and out on the trails at 5:00 a.m. each morning (the earliest they allow you to start hiking). My wife and kids spent an afternoon just sitting on the station porch watching birds (and kicking a soccer ball) while I was on the trails with Nito. The variety of birds we saw was amazing. We saw all four kinds of monkeys (spider, howler, squirrel, and white-face capuchin), four tapirs, a tamandua, a tayra, coatis, peccaries, bats, caimans, lizards, snakes, and a lot of different kinds of insects and ants. You'll be disappointed if you expect the wildlife to appear on your schedule, but if you spend the time on the trails and enjoy what presents itself (almost always a wealth of birds), eventually you'll come across most of the animals you were hoping to see. The only thing on our wish list we didn't see was a sloth, which other guests did see, so that was the one animal we got unlucky on. Earlier on our trip we had hiked to San Pedrillo ranger station from where we were staying (Campanario Biological Station), and while the scenery and wildlife there was also good, it doesn't compare to Sirena station. The density of birds and other animals at Sirena is on another level, and must be one of the best places on the planet to see wildlife. Also note that the hiking is easier because Sirena is more level and less hilly than San Pedrillo (and Campanario). I do recommend staying at least 1 night, and 2 nights if possible The longer you stay, the more likely you'll see the animals you were hoping to see. If you just go for a day, you could get lucky, or you could get unlucky. You can either take a very long hike to Sirena or travel to Sirena by boat. Since we were traveling as a family, we took the boat that comes from Drake. We actually stayed at Campanario Biological Station (which is hiking distance from San Pedrillo Ranger station), so our guide Nito arranged to have the boat pick us up at Campanario to take us to Sirena. After our two nights at Sirena, the boat that was taking everyone else back to Drake dropped us back at Campanario.
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