Our trip to the Osa Peninsula was by far the most unique and adventure filled vacation that our family has taken. Our kids are 15 and 13 and they did not want to leave El Remanso Lodge. They have told us it’s the only place they ever want to vacation again! El Remanso is literally in the middle of the forest and seeing the exotic wildlife and hearing the Howler monkeys makes this destination very extraordinary. The grounds are extremely well maintained and the accommodations are awesome. Keep in mind….you are literally living in an open air room in the rainforest (no TV, AC or WiFi) …which is what we wanted and signed up for. The food was incredible, service outstanding, and the tours & hikes are second to none. We highly recommend the waterfall repelling, the kayak tour, and the 3-hour hike with Gerardo. His knowledge of the ecology is impressive and he is passionate about the Osa Peninsula and sharing his knowledge about the Osa ecosystem with you. Don't miss walking the path to the beach and visit the tide pools too. The owners Adriana & Daniel and all the staff go above and beyond with their hospitality. They are wonderful hosts and take care of every detail of your stay with them. We look forward to returning to El Remanso! If you want a sense of the experience, check out the El Remanso five minute video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2SUu-4-1ec

So not only is the Osa Peninsula one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen, but staying at El Remanso made this trip a total dream. The staff is unbelievable-- friendly, accommodating and professional. They take amazing care of you -- arranging all of your activities, transportation and ensuring your safety. THE GROUNDS AND LODGE ARE GORGEOUS -- If i could build a dream home this would be it. Everything is made out of bamboo so it has a feeling of being both romantic and natural. Lastly, the food was excellent. In fact, our family wrote and asked for a number of recipes we enjoyed it so much. I wouldn't stay anywhere else and wish I could go back now.

We chose our stay at the El Remanso to both experience the rainforest and as a getaway for the 2nd week of our honeymoon. We were married in Tamarindo in our 1st week and travelled to CR with 20 guests. What a great time that was!! But now, my wife and I were travelling by ourselves and ready for a quiet, relaxing, beautiful and fun experience. That is exactly what we got!

The resort itself is nicely laid out and it is easy to get to the restaraunt or lobby and any of the cabins. We stayed at La Guinda which was absolutely stunning with a westerly view into the rainforest and to the pacific ocean in the near distance. You could easily just sit and watch the surrounding area from the deck for hours on end and just feel the peaceful beauty of the area. I am an outdoors person having backpacked in Canada and have been to some awe inspiring areas on North America. However, this was something special with the tropical rainforest aspect, the abundant wildlife and the remote nature of the area.

The beach is an absolute highlight but as a few others have mentioned it is a fairly steep walk up and down. We are not talking slippery steep as we travelled in January during the dry season and there was no rain in our 4 day stay. In my opinion you just need to be able to walk up a hill and take your time doing so and you will be ok. If hill walking is an issue due to breathing issues or definite physical limitations, this is not for you. My wife and I are in our early 50's and we had no issues whatsoever except sweat pouring off of us by the time we made it up the hill in 30+ degree humid weather. There was always fresh spring water waiting for us at the cabin so we were happy. Keep your eyes open at the beach for wildlife as we saw numerous Capuchin and Spider monkeys as well as scarlet mccaws, many brown pelicans, as well as other birds. We are also aware of a Puma sighting at the beach.

We did 6 excursions in 4 days and that kept us busy but still gave us time to do some exploring on our own. I would have a hard time recommending one excursion over the other as they all have their pluses. The Rappelling was exciting and scenic. My wife actually has a fear of heights but had no problem with this. She was thrilled to be able to complete the 75 foot rappell down the last waterfall and it was alot of fun. We did see a Fer de Lance on this excursion but it was well out of the way and I was even able to get a picture.(We definitely counted the snake sighting as a highlight !). The guides were always checking around for snakes before we ventured out on any trail. This was also a very scenic excursion.

We also did the long walk, short walk, night walk, canopy observation tour and the birdwatching tour. All were great! Rinaldo led all of our walks other than the long walk by Gerardo and both did a great job. The canopy observation is a mild zipline to a platform in the rainforest where you sit and have some coffee while looking for birds and monkey's. We saw many other animals and birds in our excursions including the way in to the resort. I dont have the names of all of the bird species but here is what we saw: 3 toed sloth, all 4 monkey species(although just one sighting of a squirell monkey which was enough for a couple of great pictures), Chestnut mandibled toucan, various hummingbirds, egrets, Scarlet McCaw, Crested Caracara, black hawk, roadside hawk, a troup of Coati's, Racoon, Agouti, 3 snake species including brown and green vine snake and Fer de lance, Brown pelican, 2 parrot species, honeycreepers, warblers, various butterfly species, dragonflys and may plant, tree and flower and insect species including army and leaf cutter ants.(I am sure I have left some species out) If you are afraid of bugs or worried about stings it is really not a issue as they are not in "pest" proportions.. We never used insect repellant and I don't think I received a single bite(I can't say that about other areas of CR).

To us, the El Remanso is a gem because of the way you are treated. We felt like everyone truly wanted to help us in every way whether it was on an excursion or the service at dinner or if we simply had any questions. We stayed at other very nice resorts in Costa Rica including Ylang Ylang and Bosque del Mar and never felt that personal caring touch you get at the El Remanso. We ended up getting to know most of the names of everyone in the service aspect of the resort in just a few days. Also, my wife had a very minor medical issue and we spoke to Daniel about it and came up with a few options and they had a medication brought in from Puerto Jimenez and the whole cost to us was $20. We were impressed by the way Daniel handled this issue.

The food was fantastic with an outstanding presentation and the food was as good or better than anywhere else we stayed in CR. Cudo's to the chef at the El Remanso.

I had never travelled to the OSA before so I cannot compare other resorts in the area, but if you are looking for quiet, a rainforest adventure, stunning beauty that you cannot imagine unless you travel here, and fanatastic personalized service, the El Remanso has it all. We would come back in a minute to one of the nicest places on earth we have ever visited.

Pura Vida!

We had dreamed of going to the Osa for years and decided that we would splurge on a top resort according to the reviews we read on Trip Advisor! We were quite prepared for the long shuttle ride and rough road out to the resort but were not so pleased when our room advertised with a "view of the garden" turned out to resemble a dark cave with a wooden outdoor shower stall preventing any view at all. We were already paying many times what we paid for any of our five other stops in Costa Rica but I suppose we should have upgraded and paid more to get one of the cabins with a view over the forest! The other drawback for us was the fact that to go for a walk from the lodge we either had to go down a very steep trail to the beach which took us over 25 minutes (longer climbing back up) or head back up the road leading in, another steep climb. We are birdwatchers in our 70's and found this quite onerous. On the positive side, the guided wildlife walk with Gerardo was excellent. He drives you back to an open area along the main road where the birds are easier to spot. We were lucky to find a pair of macaws, our main quest, near the beach and had some other good sightings as well. We enjoyed the food - served with a little more pomp than need be - and especially appreciated the ambience of the dining area where we enjoyed the company of fellow guests. In fact this was a saving grace. We must admit to feeling a little ripped off by the total experience and wonder if others feel the same.