Drake Bay and Corcovado National Park - surviving Costa Rica's wild jungle!

I'm on a journey through a country of unbelievable natural beauty where vibrant rainforests meet pristine beaches this eco-friendly Haven beckons adventurers with its diverse landscape of volcanoes waterfalls and untouched Wilderness welcome to Costa Rica and I'm here in Drake Bay gateway to the of National Park Drake Bay is a Hidden Gem located on the Northern tip of Costa Rica zosa Peninsula it's remote wild and Untamed the off the beaten path location adds an extra layer of Alo and offers a tranquil Escape for nature enthusiasts and Adventure Seekers It's the gateway to the cavado National Park a64 Square Mile national park that's home to 2.5% of the world's bio diversity as well as an abundance of incredible Wildlife Drake Bay's remote location inevitably means it's a challenge to get to but I can guarantee it's absolutely 100% worth it the roads in and around Drake Bay aren't paved and they come with a lot of potholes so unless you've got a four-wheel drive and are used to driving off-road I don't recommend bringing a vehicle for the more casual traveler like me there's two Ops by boat or by plane Sansa Costa Rica's main domestic Airline offers multiple flights a day from San Jose with a flight time of around 45 minutes prices can vary depending on season and how far in advance you book boat transfers are available from the town of ceree which is easily accessible by car bus or Shuttle your accommodation in Drake Bay will be able to help you organize this for about $2 the boat meanders its way down the CPE River before heading out into the Pacific Ocean and onto Drake Bay arriving in Drake Bay by boat is an experience in itself there's no port or dock so it's a water landing meaning the boat pulls up on the beach and you hop off into the water and walk to shore welcome to Drake Bay what a journey that was to get here a wet landing on the beach um that was good fun a short transfer here to the hotel where I'm staying this is the cavado and Drake Bay in which is in the center of Drake Bay I'd booked a superior room which was spacious cleaning and comfy it came with a fridge and coffee making facilities as well as a fairly modern bathroom the hotel itself was nice and peaceful and there was a decent on-site restaurant too this room is absolutely massive and this was one of the budget options in Drake Bay as well so this is definite value for money important factors for me air conditioning and a fridge uh um so it sold me did this hotel and as well as that it's got a pool so if I want to chill out around the pool and stay around the hotel I can do um but yeah this is a this is a very nice room let's do the bed test though it passes Drake Bay has a long peaceful biscuit gouard Beach backed by palm trees days can be spent here under the sun watching boats come and go it's picture postcard Tropical Paradise heading west out of town you've got the Drake Bay hiking trail which winds its way along the coast linking to several smaller unbelievably beautiful beaches such as player sanos Cito as for the town itself Tiny Town Drake Bay couple of bars restaurants and a supermarket that's it even the road isn't paved it's gravel it's just surrounded by Nature though it's absolutely stunning it's beautiful after a relaxed afternoon it was just time for a couple of beers in an early night ready for the following day's Adventure it is 5:30 in the morning um so good morning I've just got up I've had a shower packed my bag so now it's time to go into the cavado national park so I've got to be down at the beach for 6:00 a.m. to get the boat this should be good boats Bound for kavado National Park depart from Drake Bay Beach at 6:00 a.m. you can do day trips or choose to do an overnight trip which is what I did I booked my trip through Paso tours who are based in Drake day I'll run through cost at the end of the video so stick around for that it's about an hour from Drake bit's Sirena ranger station and the boat really picks up some speed tackling those early morning waves despite being a small bow I didn't feel any sea sickness although there was definitely some bumps along the way Sirena is another wet landing and when you arrive you'll need to check in with the park rangers when you get off the boat there's also some toilets and space here to dry off too too now you must have a registered guide in order to visit cavado National Park it's not somewhere that you can just rock up to our guide Eric was fantastic he was knowledgeable had incredible storytelling and it felt like he not only enjoyed what he did but he wanted us to have the very best experience too there was only five of us in our group I was here with a couple from burn in Switzerland and a couple from Portland in Oregon this made it feel more special and unique hiking from the beach to the ranger station we took many different Trails zigzagging the rainforest spotting some incredible Wildlife on the [Music] [Music] way not forgetting this baby Cayman resting in a creek just a couple of hundred M away from the ranger station I see the water dir they say oh maybe there something here it's a little Cayman so cool Sirena ranger station is set in a clearing in what looks like it once was an Airfield it's the only ranger station in cavado National Park that you can overnight at there's a dining room and all meals are served buffet style honestly the food was decent and Hearty Gallop Pinto is served for breakfast and typical Costa Rican cados are served for lunch and dinner it's not fine dining by any means but it's a good tasty filling meal definitely needed after a long day of hiking there's also a small shop on site selling coffees ice creams and souvenirs and there's also common seating areas I really like the seats out on the front porch overlooking the clearing as well as this is a space to charge phones a fairly clean toilet and shower block and then blocks for the beds everything is out in the open including the beds that are set out in rows upon rows of bunks if you're a light sleeper and are thinking of doing the overnight some ear plugs might help especially to ease the noise from your fellow Travelers although I absolutely loved sleeping out in the open with the buzz of the Jungle around me for me it was all part of the experience the beds themselves are quite comfy and come with a mosquito net sheets and pillows this is going to be interesting it's pretty Co just sleeping out in the open pillows are terrible though first world problem I guess after a few hours of rest we headed back out on our afternoon hike towards the Sirena River by this point the day Trippers had all left and we'd seen a lot of animals although one in particular the tapier which is Costa Rica's largest La mammal had alluded us that was until we got to a trail very close to the river it's AIA I couldn't believe it next to this small Trail through the grass was this sleeping tapier was so cool loved it Tapia so I haven't been anywhere quite like this this is unbelievable there's just Wildlife everywhere can't believe it in the evening was spent on the beach watching the sun set on a perfect day what an incredible day seeing all different kinds of monkey wild pig aoui kaati and the main one the tap here that was cool another early start tomorrow so 4:30 um but apparently that's when the wildlife is most active so should be good it's 4:30 in the morning let's go see some the 430 a.m. wake up might seem a bit extreme but lights out at Sirena is at 8:00 p.m. and most most animals are active in the early morning so it's definitely worth getting up early because of the heat the day before most of the animals we saw was sleeping so we headed back to the river in the hopes of catching animals on the move and we weren't disappointed we saw this kuati undeniably a male with the huge konas taking a stroll on the river bank and then the absolute highlight of the trip for me this tap here it swam down the river got out and walked along the river bank right past us it was incredible to see this Strang looking yet gorgeous animal on the move after a morning spent hiking along the river it was time to Bid Farewell to Sirena ranger station and cavado National Park back to Drake Bay what an adventure little did I know though kavado had a parting gift for us in the form of this aner as we were heading back to the boats it was just roaming away on the ground and we were lucky enough to watch it cross the trail how cavado completed time to go next stop trake it's my last morning here in Drake Bay today though I'm doing something a bit different going to be taking a boat trip out to Kano Island um which is just off the coast here and I'm going to be doing some snorkeling and getting to see what Marine Wildlife they've got Kano island is a small biological Reserve about 10 Mi west of Drake Bay and it attracts visitors for its Marine Wildlife coral reefs and pristine beaches the boats for Cano islandart Drake Bay Beach at 7: a.m. and it's about a 45 minutes 2 an hours Journey out to the island again I'd B this trip through Paso TS and everything was very well organized I had another great guide and all equipment was provided too the main Beach at Kano island is a Tropical Paradise and it's a Fab swim spot too you can find plenty of shade from the the sun under the palm trees the snoring itself was good fun I'm definitely an amateur and I haven't snorkel much at all but I really enjoyed the experience especially seeing various fish several Turtles and even a couple of sharks too [Music] overall Drake Bay kavado National Park and Kano Island showcase the very best of Costa ricaa for me there was Wildlife a real off the beaten path feel to it and a sense of excitement and Adventure too the excursions to Kano Island and cavado surpassed expectations my snorkeling trip to Kano Island cost $95 for the day and included all equipment a guide and lunch the overnight cavado National Park cost $345 this included return boat transport a guide Park entrance fees one night's lodging and four meals too I paid a deposit before travel and I paid the remainder when I got to Drake Bay by visiting the Paso tours office as there's no 8 m in Drake Bay it's a good idea to have enough cash for your trip it may seem pricey but it's definitely worth it and I can't put a price on the incredible experiences that I had if you've enjoyed this video please hit the like button subscribe and let me know in the comments if you're thinking of heading to Drake Bay or cavado national park thanks for watching see you again soon

Channel: JetAwayJoe

Views: 2,581

Keywords:

Id: XLjWrfUzj4c

Length: 17min 27sec (1047 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 11 2024