From Dominical to Ojochal: cliffs, beaches, rainforest and the first marine park in Central America.
Marino Ballena National Park is a protected area in Uvita, Costa Rica, famous for its whale tail sandbar. Visitors come for humpback whale watching from August to October and January to March, plus quiet beaches, coral reefs and boat tours departing daily.
Costa Ballena is the stretch of Costa Rica's southern Pacific running from Dominical to Ojochal, in the canton of Osa. It gathers a long series of cliffs and beaches such as Dominical, Dominicalito, Playa Hermosa, Uvita, Playa Arco, Bahía Ballena, Piñuelas, Ventanas and Playa Tortuga.
It owes its name to the large number of migrating whales that arrive each year and to the natural whale-tail sandbar at Punta Uvita. The region is celebrated for its biodiversity and is a destination for nature lovers, diving, kayaking and surfing.
The whale tail town and gateway to Marino Ballena
Uvita is the heart of Costa Ballena, in the canton of Osa, Puntarenas province. It is best known for Punta Uvita, the natural sandbar shaped like a whale's tail that appears at low tide inside Marino Ballena National Park. Around it you will find waterfalls, rainforest ridges, farms and a small, relaxed town that works as the base for most tours in the southern Pacific.
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Costa Rica's laid-back surf capital of the south
Dominical, at the northern end of Costa Ballena, is a beach village famous for its consistent surf, long grey-sand beach and bohemian atmosphere. It is the meeting point between the Pacific and the mountains of the Fila Costeña, with waterfalls, rivers and wildlife refuges only minutes inland.
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The gourmet village in the rainforest
Ojochal is the southernmost village of Costa Ballena, settled in the 1980s by Québécois and European families. Today it is known as the culinary capital of the southern Pacific, with an unusual concentration of international restaurants hidden among jungle hillsides, plus quiet beaches such as Playa Tortuga and Playa Ventanas.
See moreInformation from SINAC-MINAE, Osa Conservation Area.
The first Costa Rican protected area created exclusively for its marine resources and the first marine park in Central America. National Geographic ranks it among the world's best places for cetacean watching.
The largest protected area of the Osa Conservation Area and one of the most biodiverse places on the planet: lowland tropical rainforest, rivers, waterfalls and wild beaches on the Osa Peninsula.
A biological reserve on the continental shelf of the Costa Rican Pacific, 16 km northwest of the Osa Peninsula, with the clearest waters of the region and archaeological remains of pre-Columbian cultures.
The largest mangrove wetland in Central America, formed by the deltas of the Térraba and Sierpe rivers. A Ramsar site and nursery for fish, crustaceans and birds of the southern Pacific.
Source: SINAC – Área de Conservación Osa
Local taxi drivers in Uvita, most of them with 4x4 vehicles. Tap a number to start a WhatsApp chat.
| Driver | Phone / WhatsApp | English | 4x4 | Max pax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William ElizondoOfficial | Yes | ✓ | 6+ | |
| Greivin BonillaOfficial | Yes | ✓ | 6+ | |
| Greivin Bonilla (Taxi 2)Official | No | ✓ | 6+ | |
| Geovany VillegasOfficial | Yes | ✓ | 4+ | |
| Alex (Pick Up)Official | Yes | ✓ | 4 | |
| Carlos TaxiOfficial | Yes | ✓ | 4 | |
| Carlos (Pick Up)Official | No | ✓ | 4 |