Things to Do in Cahuita

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Air Activities:

Canopy Tours
Most Cahuita tour operators offer trips to the southern Caribbean’s two canopy tours. Keep in mind that neither tour is located in Cahuita, but outside of town to the north and south. Canopy tours are an ideal way to see the area’s scenery while enjoying high-adrenaline fun. The area’s newest canopy tour is located in secondary forest about 45 minutes north of Cahuita – poison dart frogs, playful monkeys and other wildlife often accompany canopy tourists on this eight-cable, ten-platform canopy adventure.

Read more about Canopy Tours

Land Activities:

Bicycling
Many hotels and tour companies rent sturdy "beach combers" with baskets for as little as $5 per day. Bikes are a great way to explore downtown Cahuita’s nooks and crannies, Playa Negra’s fine black sand and the area’s narrow, potholed roads that often end at hidden restaurants and forgotten spots. Experienced street riders often bike from Cahuita to Puerto Viejo, just nine miles south, where blue waves, beachfront pizzerias and reggae beats meet on the town’s beautiful white sand beaches.

Bird and Wildlife Watching
Visitors to the Cahuita area will likely be treated to sightings of howler and white-faced monkeys, two and three-toed sloths, iguanas, toucans, butterflies, frogs and other wildlife. Walks through Cahuita National Park or the nearby Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge provide wonderful opportunities to spot tropical flora and fauna – guides are highly recommended to maximize wildlife viewing. In downtown Puerto Viejo, Finca La Isla Botanical Garden is ideal for birdwatching and poison dart frog spotting.

Chocolate Tours
Those with a sweet tooth will love the educational chocolate tours offered at local cocoa farms. For a look into the area’s past and current indigenous culture, visit the Chocolate House on the road to Bribri, rumored to produce the best local, organic chocolate. Those interested in getting a firsthand look at chocolate production will enjoy the Cacao Trails chocolate tour, which allows visitors to literally get their hands dirty while making delicious, fresh chocolate bars.

Cultural Tours
The southern Caribbean is particularly rich in indigenous cultures. The Bribri, Kekoldi and Cabecar tribes make up the area’s largest remaining indigenous groups, and several tours offer insight into their way of life: chocolate tours educate on the history and importance of the cocoa bean; medicinal plant tours reveal age-old secrets of preventative, herbal medicine; culture tours offer a glimpse of modern indigenous life, which has remained relatively separate from the Costa Rican lifestyle.

Horseback Riding
Local tour operators and hotels offer guided horseback trips along forested trails through private reserves and indigenous communities. Cahuita’s own horseback tour takes riders along Playa Negra, or Black Beach, for day tours, sunset and moonlight tours and other special event tours.

Hiking
Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge are both excellent options for light hikes along meandering trails. Cahuita National Park, located just a minute or two from downtown, offers miles of sandy walking trails and several sections of raised, recycled-plastic decking trails through the park’s swampy areas. Most Cahuita tour operators offer informative, guided hiking tours to both national parks, in addition to several private reserves in the area.

Turtle Nesting Tours (March-July)
Just 17 miles south of Cahuita, Manzanillo is an important nesting site for leatherback turtles, also known as baula turtles, the largest sea turtles in the world. In addition, Manzanillo beaches shelter smaller populations of nesting green, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles. During nesting season, camping, beach fires and flashlights are prohibited on the area beaches. In addition, a guide is required to visit the beaches in order to protect and preserve the nesting turtles and their eggs. For those interested in an extended, hands-on turtle experience, volunteer programs work to relocate turtle eggs, patrol the beaches and record important information on the nesting turtles; there is a minimum commitment of seven days. Turtle nesting season peaks in April and May, with some activity during March, June and July.

Water Activities:

Surfing
Playa Negra, located a few minutes north of downtown, is one of Cahuita’s hidden secrets – uncrowded beaches and a strong beach break make for ideal surfing conditions. Nine miles south, Salsa Brava is Puerto Viejo’s famous surf break and is often referred to as the country’s best wave. Located off the beach behind Stanford’s on Puerto Viejo’s Playa Negra, Salsa Brava is not Puerto Viejo’s only claim to surfing fame: Playa Cocles, just south of town, offers tall waves, steady surf and distant breaks. Surf boards can be rented at almost every beachfront shop in both Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, and many individuals and surf schools offer surfing lessons.

Read more about Caribbean Surf Breaks

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving
The southern Caribbean Coast is home to Costa Rica’s only two living reefs, which host more than 35 species of coral – including black, sheet, and lettuce. An impressive 400 varieties of fish are native to the area, like parrotfish, triggerfish, angelfish and grouper. Consistently warm waters and very little surge make underwater exploration at Cahuita a pleasure – some of the most tranquil and vivid dive sites can be found at Punta Uva, just south of Puerto Viejo; and Punta Mona, an island near the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. When the waters are calm, divers can enjoy more than twelve other sites between Cahuita and Manzanillo.

The best time to dive the southern Caribbean is March-May and September-October. Local dive centers offer two-tank dives starting from $70 per trip. Snorkeling equipment can be rented from dive shops, hotels and beachfront kiosks.
 
Fishing
Local trips with artisan fishermen can be arranged through several hotels and tour agencies. This traditional style of fishing uses a small dugout canoe or wooden boat and a hand-reel and line.
 
Kayaking
Kayaks may be rented from local hotels for excursions through the canals of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. For those adventurers who prefer to have a guide, several tour companies offer kayaking excursions to the refuge.
 
Rafting and Tubing 
A high-adrenaline whitewater rafting trip down the Pacuare River can be arranged through several tour companies in town. Packages include a day on class III and IV rapids, transportation, a guide and meals. In addition, Bocuare Jungle Adventures offers half-day tubing adventures in the nearby Estrella Valley – one- and two-person inner tubes rush down the Estrella River, passing through the Cabecar Indigenous Reserve on class II and class III rapids.

Swimming
Cahuita’s beaches are both white and black sand, each providing incredible sunbathing and beautiful beachside walks. Just north of downtown, Black Beach (Playa Negra) offers quiet beaches and big waves perfect for body boarding, though conditions always vary. Be sure to heed signs, and don’t hesitate to ask if the water is safe for swimming.

Music and Festivals:

South Caribbean Music & Arts Festival
Held every year for 3-4 weekends in April/May ending the weekend before Easter. The festival features Costa Rican musicians playing a variety of music including ska, jazz, reggae, calypso and more.  Also includes poetry readings, dance, theater presentations and children’s activities.

Walter Ferguson
For a taste of Calypso, visitors should sample the music of this fine musician who moved to Cahuita from Panama at an early age. His songs include anecdotes about his childhood in poverty stricken Panama and are a great source of Afro-Caribbean culture. Walter Ferguson, known locally as Mr. Gavitt, has several CD's for sale throughout Costa Rica.

National Carnival
Cahuita celebrates a national carnival – complete with music, dancing and delicious street food – during the last 10 days of November each year.

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