Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge

Our stay at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge was the highlight of our visit to Costa Rica. The Lodge takes a relatively small number of people and provides genuinely warm hospitality - they make you feel welcome guests in a lovely home. If you are interested in the Costa Rican wildlife, and in eating freshly cooked, delicious, relatively local food - this is the place for you! The lodges/rooms are set into the forest, so you are surrounded by wonderful plants and animals all the time. There are well-maintained trails that give you miles of walking through wonderful ecosystems. Gardens provide havens for huge numbers of butterfly species and humming birds, and the beach the ecosystem is different again. Everywhere chilled water is available to fill your water bottle, a real bonus in the hot, humid climate. The rooms have silent, effective ceiling fans which mean the lack of aircon is no problem - in fact you really get the sense of where you are staying, rather than being observers from cool rooms. We slept really well there. The meals are served at a communal table unless you request otherwise - we weren't sure about this until we experienced it. The variety of interesting people we met and chatted to, from so many different countries, was an added bonus to the whole stay. All of the staff - from the guides to the bar staff, the gardeners and the cleaners - were welcoming and were all knowledgeable about the wildlife - sharing sightings of animals from frogs and hawks to bats, snakes, humming bird nests and puma! If you are looking to sit by a pool and then retreat to an air-conditioned room, then this is not the place for you - but if you want an amazing experience of time in the Costa Rican rainforest with all it has to offer in terms of hospitality and biodiversity, you will love it here. Nicuesa will always be a cherished memory for us, and we will return to visit them again!

My partner and I stayed for 10 nights, and we loved it. It's a peaceful and relaxing place. The cabin we stayed in was very private and very comfortable. The main lodge had pretty good Wi-Fi and was a nice place to hang out, with a nice bar and dining room upstairs (all open, no doors or windows, you could see birds and monkeys from everywhere in the lodge.) Every morning there was some type of tour to go on with a guide, from dolphin watching to snorkeling to kayaking to guided walks in the rainforest with very knowledgeable guides. We saw so much wildlife. All the staff were so helpful and friendly, all the meals were fresh and tasty. And when we weren't on a tour, we loved just relaxing on the beach (under trees or canopies), or snorkeling around the pier. My partner enjoyed the two yoga classes she took and also a Thai massage.

What a place! We arrived via Sansa (quite the fun experience) and were greeted by Oscar, one of the lodge guides. We were then whisked away in a taxi and transported by boat from Puerto Jimenez across the Gulfo Dulce. On arrival we were welcomed with a cocktail and taken to our jungle accommodations! The place is beautiful , teeming with wildlife as you are literally in the jungle! Your cabin is open air( fear not as you can close it up at night) as is your private bathroom/shower which we loved! . We didn’t have too many bugs but the bed is draped with a mosquito net to ensure bug free nights! The lodge itself is isolated and as a result they provide all of your meals , which were fantastic / fresh fish, traditional Galo pinto, steaks , beautiful salads etc and the tres leches..delicious!. Shout out to Kimberly who was amazing! You eat all your meals communally (if you want to) which is nice as you meet like minded interesting people. There’s also a bar area where we had cocktail hour with appetizers at 6pm each night. The staff were so warm and friendly, especially Hazel who is the new General Manager, they all helped to make our trip extra special. You can sign up for tours or buy an inclusive package when you book, which i’d recommend as it’s cheaper than going a la carte. We went hiking in the jungle with a guide , including a night hike. We also went on a dolphin tour , snorkeling trip, river kayaking in the mangroves as well a a bird watching tour. There was a daily yoga class too! You can also do nothing and just sit by the beach or snorkel around the pier where there is a lot of life! If you like being in an exotic location with monkeys, macaws , snakes, frogs spiders etc you’ll love it . You go to sleep listening to the jungle and wake up to it howling and screeching, it’s simply amazing , oh and the sound of the tropical rain….. just so relaxing! Nicuesa lodge is an amazing place . It’s a very different vacation , but one I’ll remember for a long time.

This resort is a heaven for nature lovers. It only has a few bungalows nestled in the jungle and it is only reachable by boat. The view from our bungalow (the perezoso) was only greenery, and we were visited by colibris , butterflies, dragonflies and some mammals which we do not even know the names of. You could hear howler monkeys in the morning. We loved it. We had chosen the rainforest activity package which meant we could choose from a large number of guided activities each day. These were amazing. Our favorite was kayaking on a river in the rainforest watching crocodiles and beautiful scenery. Another day we went on a boat tour and saw so many dolphins, we could not count them. The fjord is so full of life, you see fish jumping everywhere. And it is surrounded by mountains covered in jungle and stretches of black beaches, with no umbrellas or people in sight. We also went on hikes alone, in the rain forest surrounding the resort. The forest on the top of the mountain was beautiful and we again saw many interesting animals. After a day of adventures, we rested at the beautiful and quiet beach in the afternoon, or listened to the rain on the bungalow roof, or did yoga. The staff at the resort are lovely people: Warm and friendly and talented, and we felt very welcomed. The chefs prepared excellent food every day and the fruity drinks were also delicious. The bungalow was very comfortable and beautifully designed in wood (although the bathroom could use a makeover). The bungalows are open to the elements, but can close with mosquito doors at night. I warmly recommend this resort for anyone who wants to experience the jungle, and then return for some comfort at a nice resort after the adventures.

We visited as a family with an 8 yr old and 10 yr old. We had a wonderful and relaxing stay. The food was amazing and plentiful. The staff were extremely accommodating. Shout out to Stefan, Manuel, Stephanie, Jon Carlo. My husband and son went fishing and they prepared the fish they caught. We did chocolate making and the chocolates are delicious. The sustainability tour was very interesting as well. The clothes drying was genius! If you want authentic jungle living, this is the place. It is not for everyone. Nothing dries, there are bugs, it is dark, it is remote. The food is delicious but there is not a variety of food choices. You get what chef makes. Not recommended for young children.