Gandoca - Manzanillo National Park

1.11.2026 Cahuita - Gandoca - Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge

Once again, the weather is better than expected or forecasted in the app, and after the delicious 'Tropical Breakfast' 🥭 with a fantastic view, we set off by car to Manzanillo, about a 60-minute drive from Cahuita.

During the drive, we learn the official rules for crossing 'one-lane bridges', which are largely ignored anyway. There are actually small 'yield' signs on stone pillars that I had never seen before. Sometimes there is also a large road sign. But generally, everyone drives however they like or patiently waits until it's their turn, while cyclists and mopeds squeeze in along the edge of the narrow bridge.

The town of Manzanillo and the beach along the road do not appeal to me, but we are just heading to the national park. The Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge protects a diverse combination of tropical rainforest, mangroves, and a vibrant coral reef.

In the last stretch to the park entrance, we bump along a pothole-filled road and are thankful for our Jimny. For a fee of 2000 colones, we can park the car in the lot. Entrance to the park is free in principle, but a small donation for maintenance is certainly appreciated and requested. It is relatively crowded with locals in flip-flops and beachwear, but we are already accustomed to that, and hopefully, it will thin out after the first photo stop. We walk over the swaying suspension bridge à la Indiana Jones, which marks the entrance to the national park.

The atmosphere is completely different from that in Cahuita National Park, hard to describe, much more intense, more of a rainforest vibe.

The first 15 minutes to the viewpoint Miss May Point lead along the coast, it is more open, and you can see much deeper into the intensely green rainforest than in Cahuita National Park. Magical. Additionally, there's the humidity and high air moisture, like in a sauna, everything sticks to the body. On the muddy paths parallel to the coast, the forest floor is noticeably punctured in places by the deep burrows of bright blue crabs. They quickly disappear into their holes if you come too close.

At the viewpoint Miss May Point, it is as expected full, the usual Instagram posing, in this case in front of the striking rock in the sea. There are no limits, and so even for the perfect photo, clothes are dropped, and people pose in swimsuits.

We continue walking, and shortly after we reach the wonderful Playa Pablo Mena, a golden sandy beach with palm trees extending far out over the sea, vegetation right up to the water, untouched, driftwood on the beach. Simply stunning.

The path now leads away from the coast and becomes quite muddy, it also gets hillier, making it somewhat difficult to walk, especially since the slippery clay often provides no grip when there are no sandbags available. We must climb a steep hill composed of slippery clay steps, and I wonder how we will ever get down safely. On the other hand... we are wearing solid hiking shoes, and if the locals can manage it in flip-flops and galoshes, we certainly can too.

By now, we feel as if we are in another world, pure jungle feeling, we are almost alone, the sounds around us are magical, the air humid and warm, the vegetation lush, green giant trees, red plants and flowers, butterflies fly along the path, aerial roots hang from the trees, and we are accompanied by the unique courtship call of the Montezuma Oropendola. It is simply indescribable.

Something falls to the ground right next to me, and I am quite startled. What do you think it is on the jungle floor: a severed sloth arm with a claw or something entirely different? If you guessed botany, you hit the nail on the head! It is, in fact, the extremely hairy protective covering of a magnolia flower bud, which has simply fallen from the tree after blooming. This dense