Cahuita National Park & Bribri chocolate & Waterfall visit.
Description
This is a unique tour that gives you the opportunity to enjoy the humid tropical forest like never before. Once we arrive at the Cahuita National Park, our guide will be in charge of showing you all the beauties within the park. We will walk for approximately 2 hours in search of wild animals. Once this time was over, we headed to the Bribri community to share the experience of making chocolate in a traditional way. We will arrive at a local family, where we will share for about 2 hours about the history, the way of life, the language and we will also have the opportunity to make 100% organic chocolate in a traditional way. To finish, we will enjoy a delicious traditional lunch prepared with local ingredients. Then we go to the waterfall where we will walk for approximately 10 minutes until we reach the waterfall where you can enjoy a refreshing swim and to finish we will have a delicious tropical snack.
Tour Options
Itinerary
We will start with a short walk on a short trail for approximately 10 minutes, once we reach the waterfall we will have the opportunity to enjoy the impressive landscape or enjoy a refreshing swim in the waterfall. To end our time at the waterfall we will enjoy a delicious tropical snack based on fruits and coconut water or cocoloco.
Once we enter the Cahuita National Park, our Naturalist guide will share information about the creation of the park as well as the history of this park. Next we will begin our search for all types of wildlife. Our Naturalist guide has perfect vision to find all types of creatures that live within the park. During this tour of approximately 2 hours we will have the opportunity to find different species of mammals such as; monkeys, sloths, raccoons, etc. Also other vertebrates such as snakes, iguanas, river turtles, and much more. We can also enjoy the rich sea breeze and the beautiful beach within the national park.
Once we arrived at the Bribris indigenous territory of Talamanca. Our guide who is also a Bribri indigenous descendant of the Duriwak clan will tell you about the history of this indigenous group, you will also have the opportunity to learn about the culture, about the language and also about the way of life of the Bribri indigenous people. As part of this activity we will learn about the use of some medicinal plants that are used in native home remedies. To continue with our day, we will have the opportunity to learn how to make chocolate in the traditional way, you will have the opportunity to make chocolate with your own hands. Once we finish the chocolate process we will enjoy a delicious lunch prepared with local ingredients.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
We can pick you up at any hotel or accommodation around Puerto Viejo.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(31)
This was the best tour of our trip! It was well worth the cost for the three different activities. I will echo what everyone else has said- Ariel was absolutely amazing. From the time we entered Cahuita, he was showing and teaching us about the wildlife there. At one point, we saw a woodpecker, a sloth, a pit viper, and little hermit crabs all in the same area. After the park, we went to the BriBri reserve and learned about their traditions. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and made chocolate, starting with the cocoa pod and ending with a cup of hot cocoa. Then we hiked to a waterfall that we had all to ourselves. We ended with a Coco Loco drink and a song. So fun! Ariel picked us up at our AirBnB and took on an unforgettable journey! We were very grateful for the experience and impressed with him from beginning to end.
We couldn’t have asked for a better experience at the Cahuita National Park and local community. Ariel, who is native to the area and owner of the company, was a phenomenal guide. He was exceptionally knowledgeable and he went above and beyond to ensure we saw as much as possible in the park. With his telescope, we got some amazing views and pictures. Even better was our time with the indigenous BriBri community. We loved learning about their history, way of life, preservation of their culture and even participated in making different chocolate products. Ariel made every bit of the experience unforgettable.
Ariel saw so many hidden creatures that we would have strolled by. Cahuita is truly a magical place. His knowledge of the area and animals and culture was very helpful as we asked lots of questions. Top notch experience!
Ariel is a great guide, he helped us spotting a lot of animals in Cahuita and also take amazing pictures with his equipment. The tour in the Bribri indigenous territory was also very interesting, informative but also very hands-on and fun.
Ariel was awesome and super knowledgeable! Great conversation would highly reccomend!
Ariel was amazing my he picked us up in his car early in the morning, and we made our way to Cahuita NP to spot wildlife. He spoke good English and was able to communicate tons of facts. He’s been doing tours for 15+ years. We then drove to BriBri for chocolate making and waterfalls. Both were great and amazingly authentic. Price was super fair for the whole experience and would highly recommend. The tour is a private tour so we were the only ones with him the whole day!
Saw a bunch of animals in Cahuita National Park that I would have never seen had it not been for Ariel's keen eyes. The chocolate tour was very interesting - I learned about BriBri culture and plants they use (and the hot chocolate at the end absolutely delicious)! The waterfall and provided coconut to drink from afterwards was refeshing. I also learned a lot about how Puerto Viejo had changed over the years. Ariel was very friendly and knowledgable about everything. I was the only person on the tour, so I appreciate that he still ran it!
Wow. I can only say so many words to describe how incredible this experience was. Our tour guide Ariel was absolutely amazing. He is Bribri and was able to share so much Indigenous story telling with us about the land and the sacred meaning of cacao. This was by far my favorite tour of our entire trip in Costa Rica. We got very lucky and were able to see many animals at the national park (it’s really up to the wild animals on whether or not they come out). Ariel helped us spot the animals when they were out. The Bribri tribe we visited were so sweet and guided us on how make cacao. The food was delicious too. So much history on how sacred cacao is here and what it’s used for. Highly recommend this tour and having Ariel as your guide. So much respect for the land and Bribri tribe.
This trip is a long day but worth it! First- hiking in Cahuita National Park... It is more of a walk than a hike. Even before we entered the park we saw a sloth with her baby nestled into her chest, rare birds, and cool reptiles. This area is PACKED with wildlife We had just come from La Fortuna which we loved, but did not see nearly the number of animals as we saw in Cahuita. There had just been a tropical storm so a lot of the park was flooded, but we still saw a family of howler monkey traversing the tree tops, playful raccoons playing in the low branches, bats, sloths, lizards, geckos, and animals I had never heard of before. We could barely get walking because there was a cool animal every step! Our guide had a telescope that he would aim at the animals only he could see with the naked eye. Then he took pics with us through the telescopre which come out so cool! The Bri Bri village is very interesting and making chocolate was fun. Eating it was more fun! We had it with banana, but another guide there with his group brought fresh ginger to grate into the hot chocolate which was another excellent treat. One tiny warning- you eat a delicious homemade lunch by the host native community. However, if you have a picky eater kid like I do, there are no other options. No kids menu, no convenience store. You are in the middle of nowhere and you all get the same lunch. Eat it or don't eat. I thought it was delicious and very cool to see how they use plants to create a plate and coconut shells as cups! Our very amazing guide also brought cacao fruits and let us try the gooey stuff outside the seeds. We smelled and tasted so many plants and fruits on the short walk around the area. Saw lots of frogs, too! The waterfall was very cool. There are ~150 steps to get down and back up and the water is COLD! I would. have liked it more if I had water shoes.I am a wimp about cold water but the braver folks enjoyed it more. You can get really close to the falls if you are a strong swimmer. At the end they give you coconut juice and for very little extra, you can get rum in it ;) Perfect after a long day! Our guide and the locals were all lovely, gracious, and knowledgeable. Great trip with a good mix of activities.
Ariel is that guy, super knowledgeable and you can tell he has a real passion for this tour. I had a great time and would definitely recommend anyone else visiting the area to take this tour to gain a real appreciation of the land.
