Ocean & Rainforest Adventures

Typical Itinerary

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!!
Costa Rica is an amazing and beautiful place. We heartily recommend flying in early to better experience this wonderful country. SJO (San Jose International) is our recommended gateway airport. If you prefer to stay over in San Jose, our concierges can assist with a very good deal at the Marriott Hotel Hacienda Belen, and we will provide a complimentary afternoon shuttle van to Golfito on boarding day. However! We recommend heading immediately south towards Golfito upon arrival in SJC. Sensa airlines has multiple connecting flights daily, and once you are in Golfito, the hotels are terrific and there are loads of really interesting day trips.

Alternatively, we can assist with arranging a 3, 4, 5-day, or longer guided driving adventure through the national parks, ending up in Golfito. You could also rent a car and go off on your own adventure. Or, we can help with a private car transfer from SJO to Golfito, typically costing around $400 USD for a car and driver, including interesting stops along the way. Driving time from San Jose to Golfito is usually around 5 hours. Please note that there are luggage restrictions on Sansa Airlines’ Cessna Caravan aircraft if you choose to fly south with them.

Day 1: The Nautilus Explorer will be berthed in Marina Bahia Golfito. It’s beautiful. We imagine you will be excited to board, but please give our hardworking crew time to get the ship turned around, cleaned, fuelled, provisioned, and ready for you. We ask that you take advantage of the local facilities and not drop by the boat until 6:30 pm. We don’t mean to be rude, but it would be much appreciated if you could avoid coming by early to say “hi.” Boarding will begin after 6:30 pm, and we will sail by 8 pm to Corcovado National Park.

Day 2: Caño Island is an excellent visit and your trip starts out with a heavy day of diving or snorkelling, and kayaking. The island is a protected national park and it’s beautiful. In 2023 we had great luck with humpback whale encounters and we saw hammerhead, white and black-tip reef sharks, mobula and cow nose rays, southern stingrays, moray eels, schooling barracuda, sea turtles, and loads and loads of fish along with coral reefs and a mix of pinnacles, walls, and drop-offs.

Day 3-5: For the next 3 days, we will be based out of Drake Bay and the Osa Peninsula, mixing it up with a combination of cool shore expeditions plus more diving, snorkelling, and kayaking. Nearby Corcovado National Park is one of the most pristine parks in Costa Rica, including beautiful deserted white sand beaches, old-growth forests, and the chance for rarely seen animals. It’s wet, rugged and remote.

It’s the only place in Costa Rica where you can see 4 different species of monkeys, including the highly endangered red-backed squirrel monkey. Your naturalist is amazing at spotting nearby critters, which might include wild pigs, tapirs, flocks of Scarlett macaw parrots, sloths, and crocodiles in the largest mangroves in Central America. While we won’t see them all, the park is home to 40 species of frogs, more than 100 species of butterflies, and over 375 species of birds, including 16 species of hummingbirds.

Going ashore is like being in a fantasy where you land on the beach by inflatable boat for a hike in the rainforest and waterfalls to emerge onto another beautiful sand beach with your crew waiting with drinks and snacks at the ready.

Day 6: Arrival back at the Golfito marina by 5 am for those catching the early morning Sansa flight. Early breakfast and 7 am departure for guests heading back to San Jose in our courtesy shuttle (to arrive SJO by 1 pm latest). Or a more leisurely 8:30 am disembarkation for those who are staying on in Golfito or heading off for another adventure in one of the nearby national parks.