LisaH
TUG Lifetime Member
We visited Botanika Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica from Jan 13-20, booked using an accommodation certificate.
Getting there isn’t easy. The options are renting a car, taking a Sansa flight from SJO, a shared shuttle from SJO, or taking a public bus from San Jose MEPE bus terminal. We have been to CR before and decided against renting a car at the last minute. We also didn’t want to take the single engine plane for safety, luggage weight limit and also the price (round trip about $350 per person). Our flight from US arrived at 10 pm and we didn’t want to wait until 4:30 am in the morning for the shuttle bus. Since we are retired and have time, we choose to use the public bus. After arrival, we took a taxi to Hotel Milan near the MEPE bus terminal. Next morning, we walked to Central Market to explore and had a local breakfast there. The bus operated by Grupo Blanco departs at noon daily and made two stops along the way for food and bathroom breaks. It arrived in Puerto Jimenez around 7:45 pm. We took a taxi to Botanika that costed about $8. Although Botanika will pick up guests from the nearby airport free of charge, it doesn’t do so for passengers arrived by bus. I think you can prearrange a shuttle service for about $10 but we didn’t bother.
At the time of check in, we were told that we had to pay resort fees and taxes totaling $350 for the week, a bit expensive but OK. Also, since we booked through a 3rd party (II), we were not offered free breakfast even though I’m a Gold member (bummer), so we just had breakfast from the local bakery or restaurants which is much cheaper.
Our room was just a hotel room, with a nice big bathroom, microwave, small fridge and Nespresso coffee machine. Housekeeping, bottled water and coffee pods (2 regular and 2 decaf) are provided daily. Air conditioning is strong, and TV has a few American channels (CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC).
This is a very impressive resort, surrounded by rainforest, with many wildlife onsite. We walked all the trails and saw three kinds of monkeys, a residential sloth, toucans, scarlet macaws and other beautiful birds. We didn’t have a balcony, but from the window of our room on the third floor, we saw macaws and monkeys on the trees up close. Curious birds looked in sometimes, standing on the edge of the window. It was such a treat every day. The only problem is because we didn’t have a balcony and our window didn’t open, every time we stepped out with our air conditioned camera and binoculars, we had to wait a while before we could use them due to the foggy lenses. Also, our hand washed clothes took a while to dry in the room, but other quests who had a balcony said clothes didn’t dry outside either because of the high humidity.
Botanika has a nice pool with bridge and waterfalls feature. A few floats are also provided. No problem getting a chair, and cabanas also available for booking (presumably with a fee). There is also a second pool that was left from the old Crocodile Bay Hotel, a bit plain but much quieter.
Guests are free to take a boat ride to a nearby beach club, with an onsite restaurant, beach chairs and towel. It departs several times a day and you need to make reservations for the boat. I found that the price from the beach club restaurant are comparable to the poolside service at Botanika. Be sure to wear flip flops or water shoes as it’s a wet landing on the beach and sands on the beach is very hot.
Other than two lunches by the poolside, we ate most meals offside. We like Soda Marbella and Marisquera Corcovado a lot, ate there multiple times. Both are about 10-15 min walk from Botanika. For breakfast, we either picked up things from a local bakery called Panaderia Monar (quite good) or ate at Cafe Monka across the street from Monar. The grocery store BM Jimenez in town has prepared food and we liked its Gallo Pinto and grilled chicken takeouts. We discovered Aventuras Cafe close to Botanika late during our stay and we like it a lot. Coffee and carrot cake were really good. The chocolate cake was supposed to be great but it’s not quite to our liking. They also provide simple salad and burgers that look nice but we ran out of time time to try them.
We decided not to rent a car in Puerto Jimenez. Instead, we booked tours from local tour operators. A private Matapalo birdwatching tour ($210 total) came with a guide and a driver. It’s a 4W SUV and went all the way to Matapalo Beach. The main road is fine, but the side road that goes down to the beach is very narrow and rough, with potholes and rocks everywhere. Unless you’re a very skilled driver, I wouldn’t attempt to drive that portion. We also took bioluminescence kayak tour ($50 each) and Corcovado National Park day tour ($147 each), all significantly cheaper than booking directly from the resort. The tour to Corcovado National Parks starts early like 5:30. We were picked up by the owner of the tour company and dropped off at the dock for the boat ride, which was really nice. On our way back, several dolphins put up a great show and everyone had a great time.
Overall, we had a wonderful time there. A week is a good amount of time to explore Osa Peninsula. We thought about visiting Drakes Bay after Botanika but it’s even more difficult to reach and we didn’t think snorkeling at Cano Island (one of the main draws of going to Drake) could top what we had experienced in French Polynesia, Hawaii, Caribbean or Red Sea. Instead, we spent the two extra nights at an Ecolodge called Hacienda Baru near Dominical on our way back. We really like that place, saw even more wildlife there than at Botanika.
Please ask away if you have any questions.
Getting there isn’t easy. The options are renting a car, taking a Sansa flight from SJO, a shared shuttle from SJO, or taking a public bus from San Jose MEPE bus terminal. We have been to CR before and decided against renting a car at the last minute. We also didn’t want to take the single engine plane for safety, luggage weight limit and also the price (round trip about $350 per person). Our flight from US arrived at 10 pm and we didn’t want to wait until 4:30 am in the morning for the shuttle bus. Since we are retired and have time, we choose to use the public bus. After arrival, we took a taxi to Hotel Milan near the MEPE bus terminal. Next morning, we walked to Central Market to explore and had a local breakfast there. The bus operated by Grupo Blanco departs at noon daily and made two stops along the way for food and bathroom breaks. It arrived in Puerto Jimenez around 7:45 pm. We took a taxi to Botanika that costed about $8. Although Botanika will pick up guests from the nearby airport free of charge, it doesn’t do so for passengers arrived by bus. I think you can prearrange a shuttle service for about $10 but we didn’t bother.
At the time of check in, we were told that we had to pay resort fees and taxes totaling $350 for the week, a bit expensive but OK. Also, since we booked through a 3rd party (II), we were not offered free breakfast even though I’m a Gold member (bummer), so we just had breakfast from the local bakery or restaurants which is much cheaper.
Our room was just a hotel room, with a nice big bathroom, microwave, small fridge and Nespresso coffee machine. Housekeeping, bottled water and coffee pods (2 regular and 2 decaf) are provided daily. Air conditioning is strong, and TV has a few American channels (CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC).
This is a very impressive resort, surrounded by rainforest, with many wildlife onsite. We walked all the trails and saw three kinds of monkeys, a residential sloth, toucans, scarlet macaws and other beautiful birds. We didn’t have a balcony, but from the window of our room on the third floor, we saw macaws and monkeys on the trees up close. Curious birds looked in sometimes, standing on the edge of the window. It was such a treat every day. The only problem is because we didn’t have a balcony and our window didn’t open, every time we stepped out with our air conditioned camera and binoculars, we had to wait a while before we could use them due to the foggy lenses. Also, our hand washed clothes took a while to dry in the room, but other quests who had a balcony said clothes didn’t dry outside either because of the high humidity.
Botanika has a nice pool with bridge and waterfalls feature. A few floats are also provided. No problem getting a chair, and cabanas also available for booking (presumably with a fee). There is also a second pool that was left from the old Crocodile Bay Hotel, a bit plain but much quieter.
Guests are free to take a boat ride to a nearby beach club, with an onsite restaurant, beach chairs and towel. It departs several times a day and you need to make reservations for the boat. I found that the price from the beach club restaurant are comparable to the poolside service at Botanika. Be sure to wear flip flops or water shoes as it’s a wet landing on the beach and sands on the beach is very hot.
Other than two lunches by the poolside, we ate most meals offside. We like Soda Marbella and Marisquera Corcovado a lot, ate there multiple times. Both are about 10-15 min walk from Botanika. For breakfast, we either picked up things from a local bakery called Panaderia Monar (quite good) or ate at Cafe Monka across the street from Monar. The grocery store BM Jimenez in town has prepared food and we liked its Gallo Pinto and grilled chicken takeouts. We discovered Aventuras Cafe close to Botanika late during our stay and we like it a lot. Coffee and carrot cake were really good. The chocolate cake was supposed to be great but it’s not quite to our liking. They also provide simple salad and burgers that look nice but we ran out of time time to try them.
We decided not to rent a car in Puerto Jimenez. Instead, we booked tours from local tour operators. A private Matapalo birdwatching tour ($210 total) came with a guide and a driver. It’s a 4W SUV and went all the way to Matapalo Beach. The main road is fine, but the side road that goes down to the beach is very narrow and rough, with potholes and rocks everywhere. Unless you’re a very skilled driver, I wouldn’t attempt to drive that portion. We also took bioluminescence kayak tour ($50 each) and Corcovado National Park day tour ($147 each), all significantly cheaper than booking directly from the resort. The tour to Corcovado National Parks starts early like 5:30. We were picked up by the owner of the tour company and dropped off at the dock for the boat ride, which was really nice. On our way back, several dolphins put up a great show and everyone had a great time.
Overall, we had a wonderful time there. A week is a good amount of time to explore Osa Peninsula. We thought about visiting Drakes Bay after Botanika but it’s even more difficult to reach and we didn’t think snorkeling at Cano Island (one of the main draws of going to Drake) could top what we had experienced in French Polynesia, Hawaii, Caribbean or Red Sea. Instead, we spent the two extra nights at an Ecolodge called Hacienda Baru near Dominical on our way back. We really like that place, saw even more wildlife there than at Botanika.
Please ask away if you have any questions.
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