Parque Nacional Marino Ballena

This is mainly a beach rather than a full park with trails. It’s very clean and quiet and there are many shaded areas to choose from. Apparently theft is common here but we saw police patrolling frequently and we brought a wet bag to keep valuables with us when we walked and explored the whale tail. No one ever touched our towels or cooler that we left unattended. If you are exploring the whale tail at low tide you need a hard soled water shoe. The ocean is very shallow here and our 9 and 6 year old had a blast swimming and playing in the waves. We saw lots of marine life in the shallow pools in the rocky area of the tail, mostly smaller crabs, fish and snails. We were there about 5 hours and put on SPF 70 3x and still burned. The sun is very strong on this beach! It’s a long walk from the whale tail to any restrooms or areas to purchase more water, and the sand is STICKY, so be prepared for that. We paid about $6 USD to park in a field just before the park entrance and it worked out very well. My kids thought this was the best day of our trip!

Marino Ballena Is Marketed As A National Park, But In Practice. It Feels More Like A Public Beach Being Monetized For Tourism. The “Whale Tail” Concept Is Heavily Promoted. Yet From Ground Level, The Shape Is Not Visible. Making The Excitement Surrounding It Feel Misleading. Visitors Are Essentially Paying An Entrance Fee To Walk On A Regular Beach That Would Otherwise Be Publicly Accessible. There Appears To Be Little To No Maintenance Within The Park. There Are No Trash Cans Available, And Coconuts And Debris Are Scattered Throughout The Area. Likely From Vendors Outside The Entrance. It Is Unclear Where The Park Fees Are Being Allocated ($7 per person). As There Is No Visible Conservation Effort, Infrastructure, Or Amenities That Justify The Cost. While The Water Is Clean And The Currents Are Mild. Making It Safe For Swimming. The Beach Experience Itself Is No Different From Many Other Free Beaches In Costa Rica. Walking Along The “Whale Tail” Area Feels Like Walking On Any Standard Stretch Of Sand.With No Distinctive Features At Eye Level. This Location Seems Primarily Geared Toward Gullible Tourists And Fake Influencers. Seeking A Photo Opportunity Rather Than A Genuine National Park Experience. 99% Of People There You Will See Taking Photos And On Their Phone. In My Opinion, This Area Should Remain A Free Public Beach And Does Not Meet The Expectations Typically Associated With A Protected National Park. Additionally, The Staff Was Rude And Unprofessional During Our Visit, And Cash Is Not Accepted. Which was inconvenient and not clearly communicated. We Visited Simply Because It Was Close To Our Airbnb In Uvita, Not Because We Were Aware Of Its Popularity. So When We Arrived We Had No Clue We Had To Pay A Fee. Had We Known The Reality In Advance, We Would Have Chosen A Different Beach. The scenery and mountain backdrop view behind the beach is beautiful. Its kind of pointless for a place like this to even be reviewable because gullible tourist who visit places because they are popular. Will always think its something spectacular. Regardless of how ridiculous it is. The fact that people are saying the whale tail portion is amazing. Is confirmation of how easily the mind can be tricked into things. You cant even see the whale tail from land. There are hundreds of free beaches in costa rica that have split tides during low tide. I will never give any place that monopolize on gullible tourist. Anything more than one star.

This place is amazing! We saw some whales on a whale tour here and the beaches are immaculate. Such a beautiful place because of how well kept the people of Costa Rica keep their land.

This is a fun park to visit. The fee is a little high at about $7 USD per person. When the tide goes out ypu can walk out to the "whale tail" which is fun. Not a super long walk maybe a mile or so each way. If you just like a nice clean beach it is large and clean with decent waves. As always watch your gear when ypu leave it unattended. We had friends who had all their stuff taken while at the beach. They recovered most the stuff in the adjacent jungle after using airbags and find my phone but a pain in the butt. They said they found many passports etc in the jungle. But again just go with eyes open and dont leave everything unattended and you'll be ok.

Be aware that the cashier will try to rip you off, when asking for the entrance fee she showed $ 14 on her calculator for two persons instead of $ 12. The beach is nice, not spectacular. You have a better view from above. Police is patroling on the beach, stay with your belongings! Consult the tide tablel before you go.

This beach is incredible. Rustic charm of the jungle. The whales and it’s also a great beginner surf spot. One of my favorite beaches in Costa Rica.

So we visited the park on the 22nd Dec 2025 and it was absolutely beautiful. We had been reading a number of reviews over the past week and noticed a few reviews about people having things stolen and someone else saying they had been robbed at knifepoint which made us slightly wary of visiting. Trust me, go during the low tide hours when there are other tourists and there is nothing to worry about, we both felt 100% safe as soon as we arrived. I can only assume some of the instances were maybe during sunset when a little quieter and not many people around. I have only given 4 stars and not 5 because unfortunately the lady at the entrance who takes payment tried to scam us. So you can pay by card only. We asked for 2 tickets, to my own error I scanned her payment machine without checking the amount as she held it away but did ask for a receipt. Checking the receipt It was slightly over $20 when it should have been closer to $14($6 + tax at 13%). I asked the lady and she had no shame or apology, she reversed the old card amount and issued a new one for the correct value. Please look out for this, such a shame as this is the first time someone has openly tried to scam us although for a small amount, it is not the point.

Beautiful beach and park with clean waters. We attempted walking the whales tail at low tide, but it was too difficult with the waves crashing over the sand bar. The closer one got to the end of tail, the rockier the ground was. The shells are very prevalent at low tide. Very clean beach and warm waters.