The Cahuita national park, a quite known park in Costa Rica. The places around are crowded with tourists, like many places in the country. What is with this national park and is it worth going?
Where is it located?
The Cahuita national park is located at the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica, not far away from the border with Panama. The nearest bigger city would be Puerto Limon. It is a national park, which is located right at the coast. It also includes a beach and not only one entrance, which is important to know.
Costa Rica in general is located in Central America and is holding two borders, one to Panama and the other to Nicaragua. Both are also nice places to visit.
How to reach it and how much does it cost?
Reaching was quite simple, the bus system between cities is not bad in Costa Rica. The prices for that are also, generally speaking, not that much, not like everything else in the country.
I took the bus from Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, which is even closer to Panama, to reach the little town Cahuita. This was the bus, which was going to Puerto Limon after.
It was one of the places, where a host was not able to find anything else, which was cheaply booked out. From the place I stayed in, the national park was within walking distance, like everything else in this town as well.
About the price, it depends on you, the entrance fee is based on donations, so it is also possible to pay nothing. It is for that important, to use the entrance, which is next to the beach in Cahuita
After the entrance guide, who can be booked, always try to negotiate prices, when you decide to take a tour guide.
Is a guide needed?
A guide is not needed, I went to the national park by myself, just walking around. With the guides, you are for sure able to see more animals, which you are most likely don’t achieve by yourself, when not having the experiences.
Also with a guide, you are going to receive way more information and can ask questions. It is of course not necessary and when wanting to save money, like me, then you don’t need it. As long as you follow the way, you won’t get lost.
What can I see when visiting?
There are many animals out in the national park, when arriving right to the opening, the shy animals are also maybe easier to spot. When the crowd of tourists are coming, they will hide deeper in the forest.
Racoons are able to see, just searching for food on the beach. A lot of monkeys are everywhere, so it is important to not give them too much attention, you could get attacked.
I saw many different birds, flying around and making nice sounds, often not easy to see. A sloth was in the top of the trees, I just saw it with the help of a guide, otherwise no chance, it was too far away.
In a little pot of water, there was a crocodile hiding really well, not more than a meter of distance from the official walk.
My highlight was for sure, the antbear, who just minded his or her business and ate some ants near the beach. It was nice to see a antbear in action, I didn’t even expect to see one.
At the entrance, there is information written about animals, you could be able to see.
Besides the animals, there is a lot of nature around it, with nice beautiful beaches, in which you are also allowed to go swimming. People were also BBQing during their stay with loud music, which was for me not really a thing that you should do in a national park. Maybe that is just me.
You are able to walk until the other entrance and do different routes, so many things are able to explore.
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What is important to know?
When you are going to visit this place right at the beginning, you will be able to have some time by yourself in total peace. This might be even 30 minutes after opening, not anymore possible. The opening time is at 8:00 am
You are in the territory of the other animal species, showing respect, by not leaving your trash out would be good.
When your skin is sensitive, put sunscreen on! There are many parts of the trail, in which you are not able to cover from the sun and it can be really hot in Costa Rica in general. So just in case have it with you, or cover yourself in long thin clothes.
Don’t walk without a guide far away from the trail, this just could be dangerous for you. Neather you, nor the rangers want to find you. Maybe they don’t even know that you are still out there. Just for your own safety
Don’t bring your drone! Also it is not possible to enter the park, before the opening hours, I tried and failed.
My experience
I went there five minutes before opening and was one of the first ones who entered that day. My walking speed was quite high, due to the fact that I wanted to get as far from the crowd as possible, to have some peace for myself. That worked really well. For more than 30 minutes I was able to fully enjoy the interaction with me and nature. I went to the half of the coast trail, until a group from the other entrance was meeting me. Due to the heat I was turning around at that point.
So many animals were able to be seen, which I enjoyed a lot. Like mentioned above, my highlight was for sure the antbear. On the way back to the exit, I went slower and tried to see as many varieties of animals and plants as possible. Other tourists were helping with it. Whenever you see someone with a good looking camera stopping, the chance is there, that something nice is able to see.
After two hours in and arriving closer to the exit, masses of tourists were there. It was loud and not enjoyable anymore. People listened to loud music and had BBQ’s. It felt not right anymore being there, so I decided to leave and enjoy the rest of the day with local fruits and ice-cream in my room, which I booked. Being too long outside in the heat was nothing, which I was looking forward to. Also had to do a bit with the travel burnout, which kicked in way more during this specific trip. To this topic there is more space in a different article.
My review
It was a beautiful place to visit and that it could be basically for free makes it better. When not entering the place right at the opening time, then my review would have been for sure different. For everything you are receiving and the amount of time, which is possible to spend there. It is hard giving not many stars. When thinking of the place without the other guests and the surrounding outside of the park, then it could be full of points. It is not really dirty and well maintained. But with all the masses of people, who will arrive in a short amount of time and the disrespectful behavior, which ruins the peace that is not possible.
Like this I would still give it four from five stars.
I would say that this is for sure a place, which you should visit, when being in Costa Rica. It is cheap, not like the rest of the country. This is probably already the main point. Beautiful national parks, you are able to find all over the country, but they are not for free. This makes the Cahuita national park special for me. The prices around are not cheap, but this is sadly normal in the touristic “paradise” Costa Rica.
Summary
The Cahuita national park is a nice located park with many different animal species and a great variety of plants as well. It is a big tourist destination, due to its location in general. Nothing is really far away from it.
The masses of tourists are a bit annoying, but when coming early, you can avoid them for a while longer. I can for sure recommend you go, because you won’t regret it, it is beautiful, big and many things are possible to see. From racoons to antbears, over to sloths, beautiful birds and monkeys. This place has it all. Also, it is better to stay the night before in Cahuita, that will be worth it, not because of the place itself, but because you know that you will arrive on time!
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