The lodge is isolated in mixed hilly farmland and tropical rainforest. Ideal location for naturalists - birds, plants, insects and other animals abound. The lodge provides experienced guides - free on local trips.

The lodge is very comfortable and provides the most excellent dining that we experienced in our three weeks in the country of Costa Rica! Dining room overlooks a laguna, forest and bird feeders. There was an array of toucans, aracaras, oropendulas, parrots, woodpeckers, tanagers at the feeders while we were there within photographic distance. Great Green Macaws were seen every day - and heard!! Caimans were plentiful in the lagune - at night.

The staff make you feel welcome and are extremely helpful. English and German are spoken fluently. We especially enjoyed the friendships we made with Adolfo and Didier. Thank you both. You helped to make our holiday in Costa Rica a wonderful trip.

THis eco-lodge is definitely recommendable if you want the rainforest experiece, i.e. if you want to spend a few days in the rain-forest and want to leave the regular tourist experience behind for a while.

Be sure that there is no TV, no internet and no swimmoing pool in this lodge, all you get is the nature experience and a whole lot of calmness.

There are serveral activities that you can do at teh Laguna del Lagarto Lodge, such as canoeing, horse riding, a hike through the private rainforest reservate, a half day trip on the Rio San Carlos, and of course not to be missed is Henry, the guard, feeding the crocodiles that give the lodge its name.

The staff, by the way, is really nice, firendly and helpful. For all I know, all three meals are included in teh pice. The food is delicious and more than substantial - it's bascially all-you-can-eat.

It does take a while to get from San José to the lodge, but the long trip is worth it, in my opinion, if what I have described above is what you are looking for.

Late March, 2010, two of us on a birding trip to Costa Rica (we've made many) stayed 3 nights at Laguna del Lagarto Lodge. I was attracted by the website and the effort to string together birding sites and lodges into what's called the Birding Trail in NE Costa Rica. Impressions -
1. Facilities, hospitality and food were excellent. Mid-range in terms of creature comforts; excellent the birder or eco-traveller who isn't looking for resort-type settings, but nicer than average.
2. Takes about 2+ hours on a rough unpaved road to get there; another 1 1/2 hours gets you to the northern end and the border with Nicaragua. The drive was good for sights and birding. We say 32 species on our drive out the last day.
3. Not large tracts of unspoiled birding habitat; much of our birding was farm roads.
4. Like many places, a birding guide helps in getting places and spotting the hard-to-see species. The Lodge provided Didier (for a fee) and he helped immensely, right down to hacking a trail through thick forest so we could see a large population of Boat-billed Herons.
5. We'd return. It helps if you've made multiple trips to the real hot spots - La Selva, Monteverde, Las Cruces, etc.; you fell more comfortable going off the beaten path to a new location and several different birds as part of a plan to blanket the country over time.
6. Don't chose if you're looking for the hot stones sauna and morning cocktails experience; put this on your trip list if you want a terrific birding base in far NE Costa Rica and are chasing things like Nicaraguan Grackle, Melodious Blackbird, Bat Falcon, Laughing Falcon (say 2-3 per day), etc.

Laguna del Largto is totally worth the rough road drive from Pital. We regret only staying one day, but thoroughly enjoyed the guided tour through the rainforest (we were thankful for the rubber boots!) and the cayman show. It is a birders paradise with the feeders off the restaurant attracting many types of beautiful birds. The food is delicious and some of the best we had during our stay in Costa Rica. The rooms are clean and comfortable. We will definitely come back and stay longer next time!