What did we do today?

Walked the 8km trail at Cahuita National Park

Accommodation: Casa Viva at Punta Uva

Meals: we made our own breakfast and ate dinner at Selvin's Restaurant

We wanted to walk the entire length of the 8 km trail at Cahuita National Park so decided to enter the park via the southern Peurto Vargas entrance, park our car, walk the trail, exit the park at Cahuita, and then take a taxi back to our car.

The Peurto Vargas entrance begins on a 2 km boardwalk over swampy ground through a dense jungle of towering trees. Once you exit the boardwalk at Peurto Vargas there are some bathrooms before you continue about 2 km on an open beach trail with little shade until you reach Punta Vargas. The trail then continues parallel to the beach but through the trees with lots of shade, until you reach the Cahuita exit. The whole 8km is completely flat and a very easy walk.

We stopped just after Punta Cahuita for a swim. Several white-faced capuchin monkeys near Punta Cahuita were aggressively interested in our backpacks that were sitting on a beachside log; clearly, they have been habituated to being fed by humans. I had to toss a rock in their direction to scare them away.

In 2019 we had to take off our shoes to cross the shallow Rio Suarez, but this time we were able to cross on the dry beach. The level of the river here may be dependent on tides and rain so be prepared for a wet crossing.

It was a wonderful day and we saw both capuchin and howler monkeys as well as a sloth. There were taxis right outside the Cahuita park entrance and it cost us 3,000 Colones for the 10-minute ride back to Peurto Vargas.

Reviews

Selvin's Restaurant: Selvin's specializes in Caribbean-style Costa Rican food. I had the Caribbean Chicken: the sauce was tasty, but it was made from a very scrawny chicken without much meat and so was disappointing overall. My husband had the beef fajitas which were much better.