Hiking in Cahuita National Park

The So Caribbean of Costa Rica has many natural wonders and although many are all around you wherever you are, some are designated areas…I’ll get to my favorite the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge a little later, but the Cahuita National Park is a great day trip from our area. I had a few hours to burn before parent teacher conferences (kids are doing great in the Cahuita Complementaria Escuela and Colegio by the way so I decided to hike out to Cahuita Point and Punta Vargas. All you need to do coming from the new bus station in Cahuita (which is what I did) is to walk towards the center of town (go right on the street after passing through their gauntlet of new shopping malls) along the brick paved street and at the end of that take a right and it takes you right to the park entrance. Also at the end of that brick road (on your left corner) is Roberto’s Tours which is the only one I recommend for snorkeling in Cahuita. He will take you out on a boat to the point for snorkeling and then you can get dropped off and hike back to town saving the round trip. There are also guides out there who will walk back with you for a fee and tlk about the trees, ecosystems, animals etc.. There you need to sign in at the park entrance and leave a donation…mine is usually 500 colones. There are showers and bathrooms at the park entrance so you can even bring a change of clothes and be set for the day.. The trail is very nice, wide and clean, especially in the first mile because they rake it etc, but more importantly probably, it withstands rain and does not get muddy so it is nice in or after any weather.

The trail follows the beach for the first mile with beautiful white sandy spots to feel all alone and then it weaves into the jungle a bit on the way to Punta Cahuita….It’s about 4 km to the point which took me about 45 minutes walking briskly. Along the way there are many little beach coves and some bridges you cross (walk on the nailed parts to ensure strongest part of the bridge or it gives a bit …

This trip I mostly say lizards and crabs, but also a troop of howler monkeys and a Trogon, some Herrons, many ant/fly birds, and one vulture (lucky me)…Oftentimes at the point you will run into white faced monkeys, White Capucchin, or Cariblancas as they are known here. Near the point is the mangroves/river on your right and there are also some trals that head up that a bit, which can be much more natural and no people so I suggest taking a right there if you have time (right after the Perezoso River “sign”, or keep heading along…

The trail gets much wilder toward the point because not as many people (including the people with rakes), make it that far and you feel all alone in the jungle with the animals covered by a nice cool canopy…Cahuita Point has a covered little picnic area…I always blow right by it because the real treasure to me is Punta Vargas…At Punta Cahuita you can see back to Cahuita, but you can not see all along the Playa Negra to Puerto Viejo…About 1km past unta Cahuita you arrive at Punta Vargas…This is about an hour from the park entrance for me, but count on 1.5-2 hours for a leisurely walk.. There is a sign, but you can also tell because there is a big sandy/coral point and you can hang out there and feel like you are on a deserted island because you can see both ways along tree-lined beaches and out to the coral reefs….it is a nice place for a rest or picnic. You can also access the point more easily from the Ranger station in Puerto Vargas…What you do is catch the bus at Pachamama at 8:40, get off the bus from at the entrance to Puerto Vargas (you have to pull the cord or tell them..it is a mile or two before the turn into Cahuita) and then hike 1 km to the park entrance…there they do charge a couple thousand colones and then head towards Punta vargas and Cahuita…Then you can hike to Cahuita, eat lunch hang out at the park, check out cahuuta and catch the 3 p,m bus to Manzanillo and it will drop you off back at Pachamama…Variations to this trip might be to catch a ride to the Sloth refuge (avarias del Caribe) a bit past Cahuita,

or to get off the bus in Puerto Viejo on the way back and hang out there for awhile, grab dinner and catch the 7 pm bus back or dance the night away and taxis it back to Pachamama for a well deserved rest