Puerto Viejo Forum: Puerto Viejo, Punta Uva or Cahuita

I love Banana Azul...

Just buckle up and enjoy the ride in PARADISE!

We just returned from a visit to the area. We split our time between La Costa de Papito in Cocles - closer to Puerto Viejo, and Pachamama at Punta Uva. As for lodging, we much preferred Pachamama of the two. Puerto Viejo was a really nice little town - we had heard it was a little rough, but didn't find it to be that way at all. Keep in mind, of course, that we didn't stay there and didn't go there at night - but during the day we really enjoyed it.

We loved Pachamama - lovely hosts, beautiful property, and comfortable accomodations. It is an easy walk or bike ride to the beach where we enjoyed the snorkeling. We did a bit of snorkeling off the beach at Puerto Viejo, and it wasn't as good. We also visited Playa Chiquita for snorkeling (again, we biked from Pachamama), and that was nice as well. Our friend stayed at Casa Viva - near Punta Uva, and those were really nice bungalows, too.

You would have more dining options staying in Puerto Viejo, but I wouldn't let that be a determining factor. We took taxis in the evening and enjoyed dining at Jungle Love, Maxis and Selvyns - taxis are inexpensive and it's easy to have your hotel call you one.

I know I really haven't given you an opinion one way or another at this point...if it was me, I'd definitely stay at Pachamama again, and probably wouldn't stay right in Puerto Viejo - but would visit again in a second. :-)

As a point of reference - we were a group of 5 adults ages 25 to 42 and two children ages 2 and 10.

Holler or message me if you have any other questions.

Have a great trip!

Hi,

Banana Azul is beautiful and PV is really convenient to everything.

The majority of the activities you want to do are all organized tours, except for like snorkeling, so they will always pick you up.

For the snorkeling, this is what I recommend, you can rent bikes anywhere in PV and bike to Manzanillo, some of the best snorkeling on the Carribean.

Also there are public buses if you want to check out Cahuita, where you can chill all day at the national park and do some mild hiking and snorkeling.

If you want a real hiking experience, take the Bribri reservation tour and go into the Talamanca mountains with one of the local Indians.

Hope this helps,

Marina K. Villatoro

http://travelexperta.com

Thanks so much for all the info you have given. I have written down all the hotels and I am going to look them up now. It looks like I just need to decide on lodging near the PV area and we can reach everything else by bike, tour, or taxi.

I'm sure I will be back with more questions, you guys are great!

Banana Azul is a great place. Really beautiful, right on the beach, great owners. I like being able to walk the beach the entire way to town too. They have bicyles you can rent as well. I like staying closer to Puerto Viejo than Cahuita.

Hi! We just got back a couple weeks ago. We stayed at Pachamama, but did get the chance to drive by Banana Azul. It's right on the beach, on a very quiet road North of Puerto Viejo. I don't know how the snorkeling would be on the beach there, but the waves should be good! But from the North side of PV, you are quite a ways from much of the fun stuff between PV and Manzanillo. Bikes are fine in the day, but still take time away from the other fun stuff. We enjoyed Cocles beach (great wayves for boogie boarding, watch out for the rip) and the beach in Manzanillo (keep going past Maxi's restaurant down the dirt road). Many of the beaches, when you first walk in from the road, are dirty. Keep walking one direction or the other and you'll find clean, secluded and beautiful spots. We never had much luck snorkeling right from the beach. We took a tour from Cahuita (a very neat, little, laid back town) on a boat that took us out to some calmer reefs. But even there the water was a little murky. But after the snorkeling they dropped us off at the point with a guide who walked us through the preserve to show us monkeys, snakes, sloths, and tons of cool insects and vegetation. Roberto's Tours in Cahuita. While I'm sure a stay at Banana Azul would be outstanding, you'll have more and closer options if you stay somewhere on the road between PV and Manzanillo. See our review of Pachamama for more recommendations!

For the things you want to do, I think Punta Uva is defintely your best best. You wont have to take organized tours either, you can do things on your own at Punta Uva.

We are planning a similar trip in March and I really fell in love with Tierra de suenos lodge. That is where we are going to stay.

Thanks so much for all the help everyone!