Wednesday 1 April 2009
Corcovado National Park
Corcovado is a great National Park in The Osa peninsula, Costa Rica, Central America
Sunday 1 June 2008
San Pedrillo National Park entrance
There are 5 ranger stations in Corcovado National Park. San Pedrillo is located at the northern end of the Corcovado National Park. The ranger station at Los Planes is slightly further east but still at the northern perimeter of Corcovado. Then there is Los Patos ranger station to the east, and La Leona (Carate) entrance to the south. There is also a small ranger station at El Tigre, near the town of Dos Brazos, not far from Puerto Jimenez.
San Pedrillo is one of the most visited entrances to Corcovado Park. The nearest town and most accessible point is Drake Bay. Drake Bay is located on the coast, as the name suggests! This is also the end of the road, literally. A number of resorts have now been developed around Drake Bay and all the way down close to San Pedrillo ranger station. There is a footpath linking Drake Bay and San Pedrillo, but it is very narrow and steep in places, there are also some small rivers to cross. Most places collect tourists by boat, from Drake Bay, and take them to their resort, again by boat. This isolation means most places are very expensive and that there is not much else to do apart from eat on site. It depends what you want to do, where you want to stay and what you want to spend. Although Drake Bay is quite nice to visit I personally feel it is a waste of time if you want wildlife, wilderness, and few people. There are also a number of farms and stray dogs around here, which in turn destroys much of the bigger wildlife. If you want tourists, birds and insects fine, but thats not my idea of real jungle!
There are a handful of budget accommodation options in the area, which are good after a long hike or perhaps after visiting Los Planes ranger station, The Mirador hotel is quite a good hotel/ bungalows with a beautiful view, actually in Drake Bay. They also run the cheap hostel Bambu sol which looked a dive, unless your desperate. In the town of Los Planes (5km by road from Drake Bay but there is no public transport) there are 2 basic sleeping options, none are in the guidebooks yet, thank God. One is called "Tesoro Verde" and somebody called Aldomar offers a homestay type option on the edge of the jungle, about 20 minutes walk from the town of Los Planes. Ask locally for more info.
In my opinion, San Pedrillo is ruined by tourist daytrips, already, as most lodges do day excursions by boat and therefore you wont see much in the way of wildlife. I feel San Pedrillo is for the type of traveller who wants to be as close to luxury as possible, considering the remoteness of Corcovado National Park. This entrance has the most upmarket resorts and prices of all the Corcovado Park entrances. Tourists can also visit Isla Cano for the day, by boat of course. Again expensive and I believe very overrated. You need a lot of luck to see much.
To get to Drake Bay there is one bus a day during the dry season from La Palma and vice versa. During the wet season, Nature Air has flights between Drake Bay and Puerto Jimenez and Golfito. Often Nature Air has dirt cheap deals around Costa Rica so check them out!
Another option is by boat from Sierpe Town to Drake Bay. This crossing can get quite rough near the river mouth as you enter the sea via the river delta. Crocodiles are quite abundant!
This area is changing rapidly and many places now have electricity around Drake Bay. This is not the case for the other Corcovado entrances, with the exception of the odd part time electricity generator in an expensive tourist resort hotel.
If you want to see the real Corcovado and have more than 2 or 3 days, then only visit Drakes Bay at the end of the Sirena to San Pedrillo hike.
At time of writing the hike between San Pedrillo ranger station and Sirena Ranger station was meant to be closed to tourists. I believe this to still be true. However I was aware of a number of hikers who were allowed to hike in the other direction from Sirena to San Pedrillo ranger station!! Motto = check locally, as things can change overnight, and even the National Park office in Puerto Jimenez is rarely aware of the situation.
San Pedrillo is one of the most visited entrances to Corcovado Park. The nearest town and most accessible point is Drake Bay. Drake Bay is located on the coast, as the name suggests! This is also the end of the road, literally. A number of resorts have now been developed around Drake Bay and all the way down close to San Pedrillo ranger station. There is a footpath linking Drake Bay and San Pedrillo, but it is very narrow and steep in places, there are also some small rivers to cross. Most places collect tourists by boat, from Drake Bay, and take them to their resort, again by boat. This isolation means most places are very expensive and that there is not much else to do apart from eat on site. It depends what you want to do, where you want to stay and what you want to spend. Although Drake Bay is quite nice to visit I personally feel it is a waste of time if you want wildlife, wilderness, and few people. There are also a number of farms and stray dogs around here, which in turn destroys much of the bigger wildlife. If you want tourists, birds and insects fine, but thats not my idea of real jungle!
There are a handful of budget accommodation options in the area, which are good after a long hike or perhaps after visiting Los Planes ranger station, The Mirador hotel is quite a good hotel/ bungalows with a beautiful view, actually in Drake Bay. They also run the cheap hostel Bambu sol which looked a dive, unless your desperate. In the town of Los Planes (5km by road from Drake Bay but there is no public transport) there are 2 basic sleeping options, none are in the guidebooks yet, thank God. One is called "Tesoro Verde" and somebody called Aldomar offers a homestay type option on the edge of the jungle, about 20 minutes walk from the town of Los Planes. Ask locally for more info.
In my opinion, San Pedrillo is ruined by tourist daytrips, already, as most lodges do day excursions by boat and therefore you wont see much in the way of wildlife. I feel San Pedrillo is for the type of traveller who wants to be as close to luxury as possible, considering the remoteness of Corcovado National Park. This entrance has the most upmarket resorts and prices of all the Corcovado Park entrances. Tourists can also visit Isla Cano for the day, by boat of course. Again expensive and I believe very overrated. You need a lot of luck to see much.
To get to Drake Bay there is one bus a day during the dry season from La Palma and vice versa. During the wet season, Nature Air has flights between Drake Bay and Puerto Jimenez and Golfito. Often Nature Air has dirt cheap deals around Costa Rica so check them out!
Another option is by boat from Sierpe Town to Drake Bay. This crossing can get quite rough near the river mouth as you enter the sea via the river delta. Crocodiles are quite abundant!
This area is changing rapidly and many places now have electricity around Drake Bay. This is not the case for the other Corcovado entrances, with the exception of the odd part time electricity generator in an expensive tourist resort hotel.
If you want to see the real Corcovado and have more than 2 or 3 days, then only visit Drakes Bay at the end of the Sirena to San Pedrillo hike.
At time of writing the hike between San Pedrillo ranger station and Sirena Ranger station was meant to be closed to tourists. I believe this to still be true. However I was aware of a number of hikers who were allowed to hike in the other direction from Sirena to San Pedrillo ranger station!! Motto = check locally, as things can change overnight, and even the National Park office in Puerto Jimenez is rarely aware of the situation.
Corcovado National Park Costa Rica
Welcome to the best source of accurate information on Corcovado National Park, in the remote South west corner of Costa Rica, in Central America. This blog was started as there is so much inaccurate and outdated information - little of which is available in english.
If you speak spanish, a good source of information is http://pncorcovado.blogspot.com/. This is updated quite frequently and is run by some of the staff at The National Park office in Puerto Jimenez, Punta Arenas. Bear in mind that this is an official source and is great for an introduction to the Corcovado area and for booking permits/accommodation. However it only gives half the story!!
Check out my videos on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/corcovadopn for a feel of what an experience your visit could be like. Also see a selection of some of the digital photos I took when visiting Corcovado National Park, on the right side of the screen. Contact me for more information on costs/renting these images. None of these videos or photos can be used or reproduced or sold, in any way or form, without prior approval.
As far as guidebooks on the area, my advice would be do not bother with any of them! Just read the few pages on Corcovado before you go, then arrange your accommodation, and leave your guidebook behind! Also make sure you visit The National Park office by the Airstrip, in Puerto Jimenez, before you leave on any trip. They have quite good photocopies of maps available, along with other information. Their email is pncorcovado@gmail.com . Please note most staff only speak spanish, so if you send an email, try not to write in english unless you have to!
Please note I am in no way connected with The Corcovado National Park Service nor am I connected with http://pncorcovado.blogspot.com/ . I aim to give concise information, in English, from a tourist's perspective. This site is financed purely by visitors clicking on the ads shown opposite, so opinions given are not effected by funding or commissions!
If you speak spanish, a good source of information is http://pncorcovado.blogspot.com/. This is updated quite frequently and is run by some of the staff at The National Park office in Puerto Jimenez, Punta Arenas. Bear in mind that this is an official source and is great for an introduction to the Corcovado area and for booking permits/accommodation. However it only gives half the story!!
Check out my videos on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/corcovadopn for a feel of what an experience your visit could be like. Also see a selection of some of the digital photos I took when visiting Corcovado National Park, on the right side of the screen. Contact me for more information on costs/renting these images. None of these videos or photos can be used or reproduced or sold, in any way or form, without prior approval.
As far as guidebooks on the area, my advice would be do not bother with any of them! Just read the few pages on Corcovado before you go, then arrange your accommodation, and leave your guidebook behind! Also make sure you visit The National Park office by the Airstrip, in Puerto Jimenez, before you leave on any trip. They have quite good photocopies of maps available, along with other information. Their email is pncorcovado@gmail.com . Please note most staff only speak spanish, so if you send an email, try not to write in english unless you have to!
Please note I am in no way connected with The Corcovado National Park Service nor am I connected with http://pncorcovado.blogspot.com/ . I aim to give concise information, in English, from a tourist's perspective. This site is financed purely by visitors clicking on the ads shown opposite, so opinions given are not effected by funding or commissions!
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