Uvita is a vibrant beachside village in the South Pacific in Puntarenas province, the starting point for many tours to whale watching and the perfect getaway for a lovely afternoon. This beach has a special charm with the picturesque dark sand, incredibly lush mountains, amazing marine life. I would say that this place is like a dream.
The village can be easily reached by car. From Quepos it takes 50 minutes to arrive here. The drive is very beautiful, because you’ll have the ocean on one side and the jungle on the other. The village has both unpaved and paved roads and is surrounded by incredible nature, plenty of wildlife, little restaurants and souvenir shops, with stuff made by hand, which gives a special charm to anything you decide to buy and to the place itself.
getting around Uvita village
Actually is not very difficult to move around, everything is close to the beach and the village is pretty small. The main entrance to the village and beach, is the National Park. Here are the majority of the restaurants, shops and also all the tour companies. The locals told us to be careful with our belongings here, because it seems that are more thieves than usually. But this is not the only place in the world facing this problem, this unfortunately is a global problem. We had a positive experience in Uvita and nothing like that happened, actually quite the opposite.
The more time you spend here the more wildlife you meet. All this is thanks to the impressive jungle, rich waters and amazing mountains. You can have encounters with sloths, scarlet macaws, toucans, monkeys and even raccoons. These are a few of the many animals that live here and the ones you have more chances to see on land. And in the water beside many tropical fish you can see whales, turtles and even dolphins.
MARINO BALLENA NATIONAL PARK
The park is the highlight of Uvita. The main reason they created this park it was to protect the marine life, like turtles, corals, dolphins and humpback whales. Many people know about Uvita as the best place to see the humpback whale, but you can do many other fun things here. Even if I have to admit that the whale watching is pretty awesome and hard to beat.
whale’s tail
The fact that this is one of the best place in the world to see whales and at the point where the two beaches meet, the sand passage form the shape of a whale tail is the most awesome thing in the world. Of course the whale shape is a natural phenomenon. Which it makes it even more WOW!
The size of the whale´s tail is huge and if you want to see it properly, you’ll need a drone or maybe to climb the tallest palm tree, but I think the drone is the better option.
what to do in Uvita
Uvita is a prefect place to keep yourself busy with many fun activities. Here you can just relax on the perfect idyllic brown beach lined up with palm trees, or snorkel among the most stunning marine life, or explore the jungle full of wildlife, or go for a hike in the green hills behind the village.
In other words Uvita can keep you busy for days. It’s up to you to decide how much time you want to spend here and what you want to do. We spent here only one day, but we did many cool activities. To help you plan better your stay in Uvita, here are a few activities you can try:
- snorkeling
- hiking : this is a place with lush green hills but regular hiking is not that easy because, in the jungle you need to have trail infrastructure and here is all very natural
- surfing : the best waves in Uvita are between Ojochal and Dominical. It seems that it attracts surfers from all around the world from pro´s to amateurs.
- whale watching : of course, this is the most famous activity in Uvita
- search wildlife
- watch the sunset
The main reason many people visit Uvita and also one of the best things to do here is whale watching. The humpback whales migrate from the North and South to Costa Rica for breeding. The wale spends her life traveling from a sea to another. They come to Costa Rica twice a year to have their babies and when the babies are big enough they come back to Atlantic Ocean. You can watch them from November – December and May – June.
whale watching
It’s difficult to put into words how truly incredible is to see such an amazing animal in his natural habitat. It´s absolutely breathtaking! Mom and babies are usually seen when the waters get warmer. The warm water is perfect to nurse their babies and teach them to swim, hunt and play.
Uvita has many companies offering great deals to whale-watching tours. There are signs all over town trying to attract tourists. If you want you can book the day you want to see the whales or you can book in advance via online. We booked our trip in advance and it was the best decision.
Only two minutes walk from Uvita beach is Playa Hermosa (Beautiful Beach in English) with dark sand and a backdrop with palm trees lined up all across the kilometric beach, where you can see monkeys playing around. The beach is visited by both locals and tourists, but usually is not crowded.
PLAYA HERMOSA
During the high tide the water reaches the jungle and then is no chance to lay down at the beach. But when the tide decrease the beach is huge. We had an amazing time at this beach and there was nobody around, only us and the wildlife. It was one of the best days we ever had, taking tons of photos, flying drone, exploring the surroundings.
The beach is 2 kilometers long ant it takes around 20-25 minutes to walk from where it starts until it ends. Once on the beach, be careful of your belongings and don’t leave them on the beach alone even if the beach is completely empty. We had no bad experience, but the security of the park told us to be extra careful with the thefts, because they hide in the jungle waiting for the right moment to attack.
best time to visit Uvita
Uvita is a destination with many things to do year round, with great weather, it only depends on which time of the year would you like to visit. But I don’t think is a wrong season to come here.
If you come in the rain season you can do the whale watching, it means also dry mornings and afternoon showers and if you come in the dry season there are more chances to enjoy the places with less people.
best places to eat
Uvita has plenty of nice restaurants all over the village, with fresh food and smoothies. Below I will share some of our favourites ones:
- Restaurante las Esferas : this was our place to have a nice lunch before to spend an afternoon at the beach
- Fernando’s Restaurante : only a few steps from the main entrance to the Marino Ballena Park, with great healthy and fresh food options
- Las Delicias Bar y Restaurante : nice restaurant with delicious food, prompt service and very reasonable prices
IS IT WORTH IT TO VISIT UVITA?
Totally! This is the place where we’ve seen our first whale (a few years ago) so it’s very special for us. And seeing wild animals roaming free and just being happy, is an incredible privilege and a very special experience. I would come back again and again. As you can see from all the awesome things I shared in this blog post about Uvita, that if you come here, there is a high change to have a great time exploring this awesome place.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment area and any question you have, just ask me. If you want to extend your stay in Costa Rica and you are wondering what amazing places you would like to see, just check my latest post from this amazing country here.
Happy travels!
Madeleine 𓇼 