from
$85
per night
Hotel
Playas San Josecito, Nicuesa & Cativo hotels and hostels
If you’re planning on staying at any of the lodges listed here, advance reservations via the internet are strongly recommended, especially since it can be difficult to contact them by phone. All of these lodges are extremely isolated and are accessible only by boat – you can expect a beach landing, so make sure you’re wearing the right kind of shoes! Prices include three meals per day and transportation to/from either Golfito or Puerto Jiménez.
Golfo Dulce Lodge
Set back from the rocky beach, this Swiss-owned place is on the edge of a 275-hectare property, much of which is primary rainforest.
Dolphin Quest
This jungle lodge offers a mile of beach and 280 secluded hectares of mountainous rainforest. Three round, thatched-roof cabins and one large house are on 2 hectares of landscaped grounds.
Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge
Nestled into a 65-hectare private reserve, this lodge is barely visible from the bay. The rustic, natural accommodations are beautifully decorated with canopied beds and indigenous textile spreads; private hot-water bathrooms have garden showers.
Accommodation near Playas San Josecito, Nicuesa & Cativo
from
$350
per night
Lodge
Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge
from
$134
per night
Eco hotel
Esquinas Rainforest Lodge
Hotel Sierra
Appropriate to its location in the Zona Americana, this place feels like an US-style motor lodge, though its sterility shouldn’t deter you from staying here.
from
$154
per night
3.5 Star Hotel
Hotel Casa Roland Marina Resort
A brand-new construction in the Zona Americana, the Casa Roland is now Golfito’s most swish hotel, and p...
Cabinas Jiménez
The efforts of the recent change in ownership are evident at this long-standing clutch of cabins. All of the rooms have jungle scenes painted on the walls, with underwater murals in the hot-water bathrooms.
Cabinas Y Marisquería Princesa De Golfito
If you get stuck in Golfito and you're watching your budget, this cozy little red-roofed house is the best option. The rooms aren't too fancy – they have fans and tile floors, firm beds and mismatched linens – but it is safe, homey and secure.
Palms
A modest attempt at approximating boutique cabinas, the Palms offers rooms of varying sizes and shapes with artsy touches – from the hand-painted sinks and murals to the soft lighting and fine linens.
Cabinas Iguana Iguana
Wood cabins are set on quiet and shady grounds here on the northern edge of town. The rooms are slightly dank, and the swimming pool bears a striking resemblance to a frog swamp, but the overall atmosphere is pleasant.
Cabinas Bosque Mar
This hot-pink motel-style building is one of the best bargains in Jiménez, especially considering that all the rooms are large and airy.
Cabinas The Corner
While this spare budget crash pad provides little more than a bed in a fan-cooled room for the night, the Corner is kept admirably clean and secure, and resultantly has a growing legion of devoted fans.
Cabinas Back Packers
Puerto Jiménez has a burden of riches with budget digs, but this is among the best of the bunch – it's squeaky clean, relatively quiet, situated directly next to the colectivo (collective car/truck) station leading to the park and just a.
Cabinas Carolina
The lack of windows makes this low-priced stalwart feel something like a concrete prison, but at least it’s got air-con and a central location.
from
$12
per night
Guesthouse
Cabinas El Perezoso
Cabinas Oro Verde
Simple and central: this is what a solid budget hotel should be. Rooms are clean, if a little musty, and the bars on the windows are not pretty, but at least you know the place is safe.
Big Thunder Lodge
Colorful depictions of marlin and sailfish adorn the walls of this upmarket lodge, which is a pleasant alternative to the more anonymous resorts in town.
Cabinas Marcelina
Marcelina’s place is a long-standing favorite among budget travelers looking for a peaceful night of sleep. The concrete building is painted salmon pink and is surrounded by blooming trees, lending it a homey atmosphere that invites good dreams.
La Choza Del Manglar
Set on the edge of the mangrove swamp, this tropical inn is –as it claims – ‘a very natural place.’ Wildlife sightings are de rigueur on these beautifully landscaped grounds – from crocodiles to kinkajous, monkeys to macaws.
from
$600
per night
Lodge
Crocodile Bay Resort
Sportfishing is never a cheap proposition, but this all-inclusive anglers’ resort offers competitive pac...
Cacao Monkeys
On the fringes of downtown on a chocolate farm, this new joint has a set of five brightly painted wooden cabinas, each of a unique design, and an excellent riverside café (meals US$8).
Cabinas El Tucán
This friendly, family-run hotel is a wonderfully welcoming place to stay, and you don’t have to worry about there being any funny business going on around you.