Sukia Travel Drake Bay
Epic 6 Day Osa Jungle Adventure Tour with Sukia Travel –
Drake Bay, Costa Rica
If you’re looking for adventure in Costa Rica and a trip that takes you off the beaten path, then you will love any trip with Sukia Travel.
We did the 6 day Osa Jungle Adventure Tour and not only did we see a ton of wildlife, we got to see remote landscapes of Costa Rica that most tourists never see.
Sukia Travel is totally locally owned and operated, which made us love it even more. Thank you to David, Sergio, Roberto and everyone who so wholeheartedly welcomed us to Drake Bay.
You can watch the video recap here:
Tips for Drake Bay with Sukia Travel:
- There are no ATMs on the peninsula so make sure you have enough cash.
- If youâre looking for a great place to stay check out Jade Mar or Sunset Lounge
- When visiting in the dry season, you need to book with Sukia Travel far in advance, they fill up early!
- During the rainy season (May- November) it will downpour daily. It can be difficult to protect gear like cameras and cell phones. And it will be more difficult to dry clothes, hiking shoes etc. I suggest traveling with a GoPro for this trip and we did damage to both our laptops and cameras with the constant excessive downpour of rain.
- I wouldnât necessarily recommend any more than 6 days for Drake Bay. Itâs a tiny area that is super remote and even 3 days would be a good amount of time to explore here. Our favorite activities were the Canyoning in Tamandua and the overnight Osa Jungle trek to the hidden lodge. Both were super adventurous, unique and off the beaten path.
Day 1: Arrive in Drake Bay & Night Safari
To kick off a trip with Sukia Travel, you’ll need to get yourself to Drake Bay. The easiest way here is to fly from the SJO airport to the tiny airport of Drake Bay. You can also take a boat for about $20 USD from Sierpe. It leaves daily at 11:30am & 3:30pm.
We opted for the flight since we arrived in San Jose the day before the tour began.
The terminal for Drake Bay flights is tiny.
It took about 2 minutes to go through security, pick up our boarding pass and get weighed. Yes we got weighed since the plane was so tiny!
Turns out all flights to Drake Bay (around 3 a day) are in a small plane with a max of 12 people.
For a domestic flight you need to be at the airport just 1 hour in advance. I would highly recommend this because even though going through security is very fast, if the plane lands earlier, it departs earlier!
In our case there was a chance it would depart a bit later due to weather conditions, however this turned out not to be the case. We boarded our little private plane (turned out it was the two of us, two pilots and one other man) and flew to Drake Bay in around 40 minutes.
Before even starting our Sukia Travel tour, we got a great aerial view of the wild untamed jungle of Drake Bay. We landed on the smallest landing strip that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the jungle. From Drake Bay airport to Drake bay is about 30 minutes in a 4×4 drive, your accommodation or tour will help you to book your transport in advance.
We booked in a 6 day adventure tour with Suskia travel which included a pick up and drop off from Siepre or Drake Bay airport.
After being picked up we checked into our accommodation for the next 5 days at Sunset Lounge. We got a beautiful hut/treehouse with amazing views over the entire bay!
That afternoon we got picked up to meet the rest of our 5 person group and have dinner before we started the night safari tour.
With sunset being so early, we started our night safari around 6pm. We all got gum boots and flashlights. We started by walking through the river of Drake bay, and within seconds we found our first find, a massive frog. Sergio, our guide explained how the Cane toad (but actually a frog) can grow up to 10 inches (25cm) and weigh over 2.2 pounds.
Over the next few hours we would see so much wildlife around the river and higher up the mountain. We spotted the signature Costa Rican frog, the Red-eyed tree frog, multiple spices of Glass frogs and their eggs in addition to some snake species!
Day 2: Hike to a hidden jungle lodge
We woke up early to have breakfast at the restaurant below our lodge.
After breakfast we got picked up from the beach to head to Corcovado National Park, the Sirena station. The boat ride over was bumpy, rainy, but fun!
Arriving at Corcovado National Park was like a scene out of a movie. It really felt like we just arrived in Jurassic Park. We got the rules and instruction from the park ranger, before David, the founder and owner of Sukia Travel took us on a tour through the park.
Within minutes of walking, we spotted different species of butterflies and birds.
We also spotted a big family of white-nosed coati. David explained how the females and baby live together while the males prefer to live by themselves.
For the next few hours we tried to spot the tapir which unfortunately we did not. However, we did spot wild pigs, howler monkeys and scarlet macaws. You could hear the howler monkeys screeching from just about every corner in the park.
That afternoon we took the boat to San Pedrino station. We had lunch at the station and after we started a fun, but challenging hike. We hiked through a primary forest, meaning a forest that is over 4,000 years old. We hiked through rivers and the incredibly dense jungle. At times, it was so dense that David had to use his machete to carve out the path. Other times, the river was so deep we were crossing up past our midsection.
Whereas in some northern parts of Costa Rica the rain season would have ended by the beginning of November, Drake Day is more southern so the dry season doesnât start until December. Due to the rain some of the rivers were higher than expected which resulted in some fun and challenging river crossings, some slipping and sliding on muddy hills and some dramatic one liners âgrab her hand, she is gonna slide down the waterfallâ.
After a full afternoon of hiking, we ascended the final hill to see a beautiful jungle lodge. We washed our shoes and tried to find some dry clothing in our saturated bags. We had a few beers, watched everyone dancing salsa and had a wonderful dinner before we headed to bed.
Day 3: Hike back from the jungle
The next morning we got up early to watch the sunrise and enjoy the amazing coffee Costa Rica has to offer. We had âthe Typicalâ, a breakfast you will see all over Costa Rica that refers to scrambled eggs with black beans and rice. During breakfast a solo male white-nosed coati paid us a visit!
After watching the very entertaining coati, we got ready to hike the final 5 miles (8kg) through the jungle. It had been raining all night and we needed to get our move on to make it in time to the river crossing before the water got too high, which would make it dangerous to cross.
After 2 hours of hiking we made it to the river and we were able to cross it without too many difficulties. We hiked another 2 hours through the rainforest before we arrived at the pick up point.
We had lunch with the entire group at the Sukia Hostel, before we got dropped off at our accommodation.
The rest of the day was free. During the dry season, you could rent kayaks or sunbathe after the hike.
Because of the rain, we opted to get cozy on our private balcony and watch a movie as the rain thundered down around us. It was a lovely way to unwind after the hike.
That evening, we went for dinner in town. I highly suggest trying the fresh ceviche in Drake Bay!
Day 4: Snorkeling at Caño Island
Drake Bay and Costa Rica are known for the big whale migration. There are two groups of humpback whales that pass through Drake Bay. The northern whales going south, and the southern whales going north. The Northern humpbacks typically start to arrive in Costa Rica in December and can be seen until around April. Southern ones donât show up until later in July and stay until the beginning of November. The whales head to the warmer waters around the equator (like Costa Rica) to give birth.
So needless to say, when heading out on a snorkeling excursion (or dive if you are certified) the excitement levels were high.
Being here in November the odds of seeing either the northern whales or the southern whales were small. We drove the boat for around 1 hour to Caño island, which was our snorkel location. But just before we hit Caño Island we saw two giant water fountains from the whales’ blowholes.
The whole boat whooped and cheered with excitement when they surfaced! It was thrilling.
Our guide was able to tell us we were looking at a small family, one mother, one male whale and a calf. After watching and observing these massive and powerful animals we continue our final drive to our snorkel spot.
As soon as we got into the water we saw a reef shark and sea turtles, the rain made the water a bit murky but we saw plenty of different fish species, especially the closer we got to the rocks.
We had a little break at the Caño Island station and enjoyed our snack box provided by Sukia Travel. After the first snorkeling stop we went to a second location and saw more reef sharks and blowfish.
On the way back to Drake Bay we saw 2 more whales and their calf. It was the highlight of the day!!
Lunch was included, so we all headed to the nearby restaurant for a scrumptious assortment of local food.
The rest of the day we had free. It was unfortunate that the rain was so intense, making it difficult to enjoy more outdoor activities for the rest of the day.
One thing to note: There is a lot of free time on this 6 day tour so you may want to plan on additional afternoon or evening activities. I would perhaps suggest doing a 4 day tour here and packing your days a little more full. For instance, you could request to do the mangrove tour on the same day as you return from the jungle trek etc.
Day 5: Canyoning & Rappelling
On the fourth morning, we awoke to sunshine! It was our first sunny day in Drake Bay so we were excited. Todayâs activity was canyoning and rappelling. My first time doing either!
The entire group was uncertain what exactly was in store for us, but we were all very excited!
We got dropped off in a remote part of the jungle about 30 minutes from Drake Bay.
Here we hiked through primary forest, spotted more wildlife and even almost stepped on one of the most poisonous snakes in Costa Rica.
David, our guide, however is a true expert in the jungle and spotted it before it could bite anyone. But it was exciting to see the animal so close!
After about 40 minutes of hiking in the jungle we made it to our first waterfall. After a short introduction on how to rappel, we started to descend one by one into the waterfall.
None of the 5 people in the group had ever rappelled but with Davidâs expert instruction, we were all able to successfully desend down the waterfall.
We had 3 sections that required rappelling but tons of hiking through the canyon swimming, river crossings and floating. At several points we had to leap into pools and swim to the other side. Once tricky spot in particular, required us to lay on our backs and cross our arms as David pushed us through a small opening in the river. It felt like going down a rocky slide and popped out above the water about 10 seconds later. This was one of the most thrilling hikes ever.
Rappelling and canyoning through the jungle is truly the best way to appreciate the jungle and take it all in! I could not recommend this tour enough and we all wished we had more rappells! This was a huge highlight of our time in Costa Rica.
If you donât have much time in Drake Bay, I would highly recommend and suggest doing the rappelling and canyoning as a day trip!!
Pro Tip: Think of this as a swimming trip (especially during the rainy season) because you will get soaked! Leave all valuables behind and wear hiking shoes. Any electronics that you donât want to leave behind must be put in a waterproof bag. You can buy waterproof bags at the small grocery store in town.
Day 6: Mangrove Boat and Wildlife Tour
On our last day we took the boat from Drake Bay to Siepre to do the mangrove tour.
Our included breakfast was at 6:30am and the boat departed around 7am. It was another rainy morning. (I would suggest doing this trip during the dry season!) So again, we donned our raincoats and put everything in our waterproof bag.
When we arrived in Siepre, we switched from the smaller transport boat to a larger slow cruising river boat. It had a roof to protect us from the rain and two expert guides.
The density of all the wildlife in Costa Rica is incredibly impressive and Siepre was no exception.
Minutes after getting into the tour boat, we spotted our first lizards, crocodiles and birds. We even saw raccoons, owls and multiple massive iguanas.
However, the mission was to spot sloths. So far we hadnât seen a sloth, and the entire group was determined to spot one. Both our captain and guide on the mangrove tour shared our determination and enthusiasm. They made it their little mission to spot one for us.
About half way through the mangrove tour our captain did a little dance of excitement! He spotted a sloth and a baby sloth!! This was the perfect ending of 6 days in the wild and untouched beauty of Drake Bay!
Sukia Travel – Drake Bay
If you are a nature and adventure lover that would like to do something off the beaten path in Costa Rica, I would definetly recommend Sukia Travel.
David the owner and founder makes an amazing guide and host. Throughout the entire trip we were impressed with the communication and organization.
But any of the canyoning or trekking, you will need to be quite physically fit as it involves a lot of scrambling over slippery rocks and climbing up and down big hills in the mud.
In highsight, I would recommend the tour at the beginning of the dry season since we almost never saw the sun during our stay.
But regardless, this trip was a blast and highly adventurous!
Thank you to Sukia Travel for hosting me in Drake Bay during the trip.
As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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For more wildlife & adventure trips: TIGER SAFARI IN RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK, INDIA & A COMPLETE GUIDE TO SOUTH AFRICAâS LUXURY SAFARI PARK: GONDWANA GAME RESERVE
