Corcovado National Park is the real jewel of Costa Rica. It has the best scuba diving, whale watching, and big-animal jungle walks in the country. It’s worth the extra jaunt off the beaten track to check out!
If you love scuba diving and want to learn about some other secret spots from first-hand accounts, check out these other articles I’ve written:
- Savusavu – The #1 Best Hidden Scuba Destination of Fiji
- Enjoy a Scuba Liveaboard to Darwin & Wolfe: 5 Tips Save Big in the Galapagos
- Things to Do in Grand Cayman on a Budget
How to get to Drake Bay from San Jose
The journey to Drake Bay from Costa Rica’s Capitol
Our flight on Sansa Air (in a little propellor plane) was cancelled as the runway was too muddy, so we were rerouted to a further airport and then set off by bus, boat, and taxi for a multi-day trek to the south-western region.
Finally, after taking a 30 minute small ferry boat we trudged through calf-deep water up to the town of Drake Bay, where we were greeted by lush forest, a quaint village, and crocodile-infested rivers.
Things to do in drake bay
The Bug Lady Night Tour
The bug lady offers a unique and memorable excursion. Around dusk you meet her and her partner at the start of their walking route, about a 5 minutes from town. She then guides small groups along the dark , well-manicured path through the jungle, pointing out various insects and critters of interest, including scorpions, trap-door spiders, glowing toadstools, frogs, and much more. She is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, sharing fun facts and trivia along the way. I would highly recommend doing a walk with her – but book in advance as this tour is very popular!
*Note – the walking path the bug lady tours are on is a public path very near town. After the tour, we were inspired to go on our own bug walk. My travel buddy and a couple others from our hostel joined me, and with our head lamps (an essential packing item when backpacking!) we found many of the same and some new critters! I would still highly recommend doing a walk with the bug lady, but if you’re really into seeing more that the Costa Rican jungle offers (on a budget) you can definitely do this without a guide.
Scuba Diving Near Corcovado National Park in Southern Costa Rica
Scuba Diving off Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast is a really beautiful thing! The water is relatively chilly (24-25 degrees c) and visibility was hampered by barnacle molts. But the colorful schooling fish came in droves, and we were greeted by literally dozens of white tip sharks. There were also plenty of large morays.
Guide To Backpacking Corcovado National Park Costa Rica
After a few nights in Drake Bay, we picked up a guide and headed over to Corcovado National Park for a night in the jungle lodge.
This place is amazing! Featuring a huge log structure with a dining hall, open air bunk sleeping rooms, and large washroom facilities, this place is worth the visit.
We did a few treks from here heading up and down the coast looking for puma, but sadly saw none. We DID see an amazing sight- juvenile bull sharks swimming up into the fresh water rivers to hunt!
We also saw many sloths, crocodiles (while trekking barefoot through their river, yikes!), anteaters, bats, and monkeys. My travel buddy was innocently standing beneath a tree when a langur monkey took a little dump on her- and not long after, a mother tapir and its baby sauntered over from the nearby bush to give her a sniff, hahah!
If you have any questions about backpacking Costa Rica, comment below and I’ll get back to you!
