Bahia Aventuras
Bahia Aventuras
4.5
Boat ToursFishing Charters & ToursSightseeing ToursDolphin & Whale WatchingNature & Wildlife Tours
About
Bahía Aventuras, located in Uvita-Bahia Ballena, Osa, is a family-friend owned and managed boat and nature tour operator with the mission to responsibly share with national and international visitors their love for and knowledge of marine ecosystems as well as educate and promote the conservation of the priceless natural resources that are found in the Marino Ballena National Park, Mangroves Wetlands Refuge of Terraba-Sierpe, Cano Island Biologic Reserve and the Osa peninsula through fun, friendly and safe boat tour excursions.
Uvita, Costa Rica
Meets animal welfare guidelines

Awards
Travelers' Choice
2023

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Travelers talk about
(82 reviews)

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles818 reviews
Excellent
646
Very good
99
Average
37
Poor
19
Terrible
17

susan m
Haines, AK7 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
We took 2 adventures with this company: Corcovado, and then Snorkeling. Their attention to safety, including explanations of activities, and safety gear were spot on. I have experience as guide, and from that perspective appreciate that serving the public in outdoor adventures is no easy task. Dean, Raymir, Pepi...were a solid team. There were a few others whose names I did not get. They can't control the weather, and did a great job navigating less than ideal conditions. Lunch was great.
Written January 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Veronika
Iceland9 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Family
My teenage sons and I went on the snorkeling trip o Cano island. We had an incredible experience. We saw turtles, sharks, stingrays and hundreds of colorful fish. Also dolphins were jumping alongside the boat.
Our guides Alex and Reimer were very professional, informative and fun. After 3 snorkeling trips around Cano island, we had a good lunch.

I highly recommend this trip.

A few tips, bring waterproof sunscreen and cover up. It’s many hours in the water.
The boat ride is okay but I recommend taking sea sickness pills if you tend to get sea sick - worked for me.
Written March 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kirstymcl118
3 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
We did the combo whale and dolphin tour on 24th January. We were incredibly lucky and saw 4 humpbacks including a baby and were able to spend a bit of time with them. It was one of the highlights of our whole trip and was amazing.

In terms of the trip, we felt like the trip was fairly expensive, it took a long time for us to get out on the water and were only on the water for probably 2.5 hours. We had to pay for parking on top of paying $450 dollars to the company as there were 5 of us who in we hadn’t been told about and should be included in the price. The food wasn’t great and seemed a bit unnecessary on a short trip and for $90 per person a soggy sandwich was a bit disappointing, although the fruit was good. It seemed like there were quite a few companies which followed the whales, then snorkelled for a bit and then looked at a cave and they were all following the same route. It is branded a whale and dolphin watching tour so it might have been good to spend more time doing that; although we were lucky and saw the whales early I’m on the trip and I think if there had been no sightings it might be good to do other activities. I think the marine park is well regulated so there are a lot of rules we were told like wearing life jackets all the time on the boat, life jackets whilst snorkelling and the time with the whales is limited which is good if that reduces the impact on them. Overall- we had an incredible experience with the whales but there might be things about the running of the tour which would improve it.
Written January 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sal
London, UK121 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
Ok...let’s start with the obvious. Mother Nature is unpredictable and the company cannot guarantee seeing any wildlife, including the whales and dolphins.
We saw a few feeding dolphins but couldn’t help feeling that we were interfering with their natural behaviour as the crew ticked a box for us. In the end I wanted us to leave the dolphins in peace.
I wasn’t disappointed at not seeing whales as I had accepted that the probability of seeing them was low. But I was very disappointed that we didn’t have an opportunity to snorkel either as the sea was too murky. This was explained to us as a result of the recent rains.
Then we were told that the corals had mostly died due to pollution, which isn’t something they tell you before you book.
So in summary, you are not going to see whales after the end of February. You can’t snorkel after it rains. The surface corals are mostly dead.
But the biggest problem is the price. This is a very expensive boat trip. Tourists are being ripped off in the hope they may see whales.
We were also told that the behaviour of the hump backs had changed over recent years as they now stay further off shore. My guess is that they probably want to avoid the tourist boats.
This is a big earner for the locals. I’m all for supporting the local community but at $90 per person, it means each 1.5 hours the boat earns $1,500, that seems extortionate, regardless whether you see whales or not.
We’ve had a great time in Costa Rica but this was the worst excursion and the only time we have felt ripped off.
Written February 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kerry C
Cahuita, Costa Rica38 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Couples
The positives: Great snorkelling with turtles, sharks, rays, tons of fish we’d never seen. For sure our best snorkelling adventure and we’ve been about 8-10 times. Axel our guide was very knowledgeable and highly engaged in ensuring we had a nice time and saw great stuff. I stuck close to him for all the snorkelling and saw a ton. He also took and sent us beautiful photos which was an unexpected and generous addition.
The improvements needed: we arrived at 6:50am and waited an hour to head to our boat, then waited on the beach for them to switch boats. We got to Caño Island and because one person (myself) had to pee we did our beach ‘rest’ before any swimming. It was 10:45 before we got in the water. We couldn’t have lunch on the neighbouring island because it was too busy so we did all the 2 hours of snorkelling together with no land breaks. We had some fruit and sandwiches on the boat and got back for lunch shortly after two. It would have been much more enjoyable has they smoothed out the day. That said, we had a great time.
All in all, worth the money but be ready for things not to go as originally told.
Out if anyone’s control: neither my husband or I get sea sick but on this trip we both had a couple moments. If you don’t do well on boats you’ll have to decide if the sea life is worth it!
Written March 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chris
1 contribution
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
This tour was initially let down by a lack of information provided by my tour operator. Described simply as "today we will undertake a whale watching tour and visit to caves" our group was unprepared for a thorough soaking in the boat from spray and unprepared to go snorkelling. Not the fault of Bahia Adventures. However their boat is ok for calm seas and slow speed, we had high speed and a big swell so the entire boat was sprayed with water most of the time so using a camera was not possible - simply keeping it with you would have destroyed it, luckily they had a dry bag and that's where pretty much everything personal was put. They clearly know this is a problem but don't mention it until you are fully committed. We arrived at 8am then waited over an hour for latecomers. We then were told we had to drive elsewhere for the actual tour. Finally getting in the boat hour and half late after wading out to it.

The tour is apparently split into sections, about 30 mins to see if there are any whales (1 blow seen) then snorkelling (a surprise to us and no one was prepared) then to some caves. To their credit the boat crew changed the plan and kept whale watching and we did see several so the trip was redeemed despite the problems.

Seeing whales 5 stars, organisation, advance communication (not all their fault so..) 2 stars, flexible itinerary and the crew 5 stars. Average around 3. Would I do this tour in this boat again? NO!
Written February 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ben
Puebla, Mexico8 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2022
This is my third time in Costa Rica during the last two years and my first ever attempt at whale watching. I love to shoot wildlife and was truly hoping to have a "whale of a good time." The company I utilized was Bahia Adventures. Before I get into the meat and potatoes of the tour, let me say if I knew prior to booking that Bahia Adventures subscribed to masktatorships, I would not have used them.

The tour was not cheap in my opinion. $85.00 plus $62.00 round trip transportation, for three hours on a boat with no booze, while being subjected to bratty, crying kids and obnoxious British wenches. I don't believe the value is there. Masks were required as soon as you arrived at the tour office and had to be worn from then on, including the boat. Life jackets were also required the entire trip.

I realize there are international trendies visiting Costa Rica who enjoy being told to wear masks and life jackets, but for me it's an absolute deal killer. The tour was about 3 hours long, from 9am until 12pm. About two thirds of the way through, we encountered another Bahia Adventures boat where the passengers were not required to wear masks. Clearly, this policy that our guide was so keen to follow, is not equally applied for all customers which I find more offensive. See attached photo.

I'm sure at this point you're saying to yourself, come on Ben, did you actually see any whales? In fact, sadly, we did not see any whales. That is perfectly acceptable to me though, as no one can predict where gigantic humpback whales will show themselves. Regrettably, the insanity of masktatorships does ruin what would have been a beautiful speed boat ride. The weather was quite nice and the seas were not choppy.

We did manage to see some dolphins who were very active and playful. They enjoyed swimming near the boat with us. Regarding Bahia Adventures though, I have to say avoid until the ownership regains some semblance of sanity, concerning masktatorships. Wearing masks outside on a boat traveling 20 knots, is completely inane. A few brief moments of hilarity (for me anyway) occurred when the aforementioned British tourist, told another passenger, "I can't use a regular snorkel, it's too big for my mouth."

From the start of the journey, this woman complained about being seasick, her husband stepping on her foot twice, her ear infection, not being able to see the dolphins, and fishermen catching sharks in the net. I don't believe it is possible for anything to not fit in her gullet. 1 out of 5 for Bahia Adventures. If it was possible to rate something a zero, I would.
Written January 18, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

karen g
Camarillo, CA1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
We had the BEST experience with Bahia Adventuras today on a snorkeling boat trip to Cano Island. We arrived with a flat tire and while we were on the boat they fixed our tire! just for one. The guides were informative and very friendly and the boat was smooth and fast. After stopping at one spot we moved and went back in the water and were entertained by not one but two manta rays, where they had seen one the day before. Also saw lots of white tipped sharks. Lunch on a beautiful beach followed this to complete a beautiful day. I would highly recommend this company!
Written March 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

fabrapa2
Lyon, France9 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021 • Couples
One of the worst tour I’ve ever made. The guide considered us as children and explained how to use lifejacket for one hour and a quarter before leaving ! Then on the boat, you realize that you won’t get water whereas you received a mail telling you the contrary and that these guys don’t have any devices such as sonar to know where the whales are. Thus, you really don’t see much of them which is a pity for a tour costing 78 $/pers. Finally, tour being called « combo whales and dolphins », we asked for seeing dolphins and were replied that these two species don’t like each other which means that if you see one, you can’t see the other !!!! In few words, don’t lose your money with this agency.
Written August 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Bill S
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
Though the day was overcast with some rain, we had a great time! Risto and the crew read the group perfectly and my wife, two boys (14) and I had two great snorkeling sessions off the coast of Cano. We got to see sharks, stingrays, turtles, tons of fish and ended the day with an awesome late lunch. The crew was professional, knowledgeable and fun!
Written January 14, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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