Curú Wildlife Refuge

We had a lovely time hiking around this place. Saw lots of wildlife including coatis, an agouti, various types of birds including a green parrot, howler monkeys, a white faced monkey, and probably more I'm forgetting. We basically had the trails to ourselves which was nice. We had lunch here and it was also tasty. When we left we got to see a guy on horseback herding cows which was also neat.

Our third trip to Caru so we knew it was rustic. We had a great time in the cabins because you are right there for animal encounters. A few ideas for them would be new fans, bedding, a broom to sweep the floors, one hour per day dedicated to picking up plastic from the beach and a bilingual host. It’s not a zoo but the animals are there. Keep your food protected and leave nothing but footprints.

Great experience! This national park is a less touristy place, which means you can see many animals. We rented a „cabina“ through the national park’s website to stay overnight. The cabina is very simple, with a dining area and two sleeping rooms. Unfortunately, we were the only guests staying overnight, even though there were six cabinas in total. There is also a dining area, so we booked lunch and dinner. The salad and burger were okay, but the nachos and breakfast menu were great! Even near the main paths and next to the reception, we saw white-faced monkeys, raccoons, and coatis. In the forest, we encountered howler monkeys (a crazy experience!), an animal similar to a capybara, many deer, and a variety of birds. The park offers extra tours, including guided walks, snorkeling, and a bioluminescence night snorkeling tour. We chose the bioluminescence tour, and it was an amazing experience! We had no idea such a thing existed. Tiny plankton in the water light up when disturbed, creating small glowing effects when you move your hands or any part of your body in the water. We were seven people on the tour, and we all jumped in. The guide and captain were very kind and helpful (even holding you in the water from behind so you can put on your snorkeling gear if you haven’t done it before jumping in :D). In the morning, we took the longest trail, Quesera, leading to the beach. To go there, you need to get a (free) ticket from the reception. It’s best to do this the evening before, as the reception only opens at 8 AM. At first, we were a bit nervous about walking alone, but we quickly got used to the different sounds and enjoyed spotting animals along the way. All in all, we are more than happy that we stayed overnight! The cabina is very simple, but it is located directly on the beach, so you have your own private access for swimming and watching the sunrise

Lovely space with a lot of wildlife to see! Amazing beach and atmosphere. Definitely recommend to take the time to go on the little trails, it's magical. Cabanas are very simple but also reasonably priced. Not so much the activities, so haven't done any and can't report.

Really enjoyed our hike here, followed by a "tipica" lunch in their restaurant. There are options for hikes from short to much longer. We saw lots of wildlife. Bring lots of water and enjoy the sites and sounds!

It's bad. Thankfully there are a couple of trails that are closed. As bad as the open ones are I can't imagine what the others look like. Handrails are typically rotten if they still exist, but most of them are just gone. Despite instructions to stay on the trail the trail is impassable from flowering water and mud at many points where you have to walk over the broken handrails to walk through the forest. The bridges are all bad, but the first wooden one cracked as I walked it and I made my wife walk separately for safety. Signs are non-existent or confusing with several forks lacking any guidance. When we finally found out way to the main road we skipped everything else so that we wouldn't get lost again. Perhaps because I took photos of how bad the trail is they did refund our money. The ticket person was very nice but others who ran one of the tour businesses were not. Maybe he didn't appreciate being told that $24 per person for a guided walk was too much. We were lucky that we anchored our own boat in the bay, but I would feel terrible if you took an expensive ferry to ensure this so called attraction.

Unexpectedly, this refuge appeared to be the best place to observe wildlife in Costa Rica during my visit. Large number of capuchin monkeys and coatis roam woods off the main trail. We saw agouti next to large coatis family and crocodile on the bank of the creek, also a few birds native to the country. The beach is very nice swimming one (no large waves). Definitely recommend to visit, one of a kind experience.

One of the best place to see wildlife, we saw so many things, just sitting in front of our cabana. And the beach is private and full of life. The bad part was the rooms that were not clean... and the bunk beds were awfull... the surroundings are full of garbage.