The Osa peninsula of South Pacific Costa Rica is blessed with the visits of the humpback whales. The strategic location attracts the marine giants in two phases, which make it almost the entire year. Uvita and the surrounding towns are a great base for the Whale Watching experiences due to the region’s proximity to the Marino Ballena National Park. This makes Uvita among the top places to watch the humpback whales in Costa Rica.
There are many ways that the tourism boards, hotels, restaurants, activity-owners might lure you to visit a place. But Costa Ballena has an advertisement created by nature itself.
The natural “logo”, the Whale’s Tail, is found at the tip of Punta Uvita. During the low tide, the strip of land separates the ocean and takes the shape of a ‘Whale’s Tail’. This is nature’s way of telling you what to look for when you venture into the ocean, the whales!
Best Time for Whale Watching in Uvita
The Humpback whales from the Antarctic region (South) move to the warmer tropical waters of Central America for breeding and raising the juveniles between July and November.
They go without food for months and the mothers stay calm in order to conserve energy but the kids can be playful. All these reminded us of the ‘Our Planet‘ (watch on Netflix if you haven’t already) visuals, the aerial shots of the water giants floating in the blue sea.
If you are traveling during December-April, there are fair chances to spot the Northern Humpback Whales. This gives a huge window of opportunity to spot these giant creatures in Uvita during most parts of the year.
Here we are primarily discussing whale watching in the Pacific. But for watching humpback whales on the Atlantic/Caribbean side, consider a trip to Dominican Republic between January and March.
How to reach Uvita?
The Osa conservation region is accessible by highways which are in good conditions. The marine national park does not require a 4X4 vehicle.
However, several hotel and stay options are in the middle of rainforests in the mountains where 4X4 is highly recommended. So make sure that you check with your hotel about the roads to avoid any surprise.
The distances from the major cities/ towns to Uvita towns are as follows:
- Juan Santamaría Int. Airport, Alajuela: 211 km / 131 miles
- Daniel Oduber Quirós Int. Airport, Liberia: 319 km / 198 miles
- San Jose: 223 km / 140 miles
- Tamarindo, Guanacaste: 357 km / 223 miles
- Monteverde: 237 km / 149 miles
- La Fortuna, Arenal: 288 km / 171 miles
- Quepos, Puntarenas: 61 km / 39 miles
How to book a whale watching tour?
Whale-watching is among the top things to do in Uvita. In fact, not just Uvita, it is the most popular activity of the Costa Ballena region. Look around and it is pretty evident.
There are tour providers that flock the road leading to the Marino Ballena National Park near Uvita. The itinerary, pricing and offers are similar though.
The cost varies between $75 – $90 depending on the operators and inclusions.
Based on our experience, we can recommend Ballena Aventura. The other good options are Bahia Aventuras or Dolphin Tours. You can either book in advance or directly at their office. It can get crowded in the high/peak seasons. So plan to reach their office early if you have not booked in advance.
What to expect on a Whale Watching tour?
Pay + Formalities + Introduction
The tour has broadly five phases. While you will definitely experience all of it, let us give you some details on what to expect, from the booking till the end of the tour.
The booking formalities are straightforward. We paid (as we booked at the office directly and not in advance) for our seats, filled up a form with normal personal details, signed that our life is our responsibility (obviously) and all set to go. Then we waited for our turn while watching the previous group gearing up.
The guide showed up after some sometime. He did a brief bilingual introduction with our group and led us to the Marino Ballena National Park entrance.
Tickets to the Marino Ballena National Park
The ticket counter had a small queue. But we didn’t have to buy the entrance tickets as those were taken care of by our guide. The entrance fee is already included in the whale watching tour price.
The tour begins
It was low tide and the whale’s tail was visible at a distance. We walked across the beach to reach the boat waiting for us in the shallow water. We walked in knee-deep water before embarking the boat. There were around 15 of us in a decent sized boat with ample room for everyone. Life jackets on, and here we go!
Our previous experiences that come closest to whale watching, have been watching dolphins. They are fun to watch with their agility and synchronised moves. While we were anticipating some differences between the two marine species, our guide briefed us about the behaviour of whales.
Our first encounter with the humpback whales
As we were looking around for any sign of unusual waves, the guide drew our attention to something in the water. It seems we are looking at a mother-baby duo. At first, we didn’t see anything, missed the chance. In the next moment, a fountain of water came out from the middle of the ocean! One of them released the water fountain expelling water from its blowholes, as it breathed. This creates a good chance for us to spot them. ‘Que Grande!’ exclaimed someone on the boat. No doubt, it is.
We watched the duo go up and down, spatting their famous tails (we have already seen the sand and rock reference, Uvita doesn’t let you miss whale’s tail anyway, there is Ballena everywhere!), creating water fountains, as if they are dancing to a song playing in the background. Or a Bellagio stunt.
More Whale Watching
Our boat decided to move to a new spot to watch more whales. This felt like a long ride from Uvita to somewhere closer to Dominical. The guide knew the possible spots and that helped us find 4 more whales during the trip at couple of places. All had been as fascinating as the first encounter. One point to remember, whichever side you get a seat, the captain turns the boat to give enough opportunities to people from both sides to have direct views.
Beyond whale watching
We did the whale watching on a cloudy day and the views of Uvita from the ocean added to the whale watching experience. The waves met the land at diverse places, beaches to huge caves formed by eroding rocks. The trees rolled from the shore to the mountains hiding in the clouds.
The rocky island of Isla Ballena that we passed during the ride were home to hundreds of aquatic birds of multiple species, looking like tiny Ballestas. Isla Ballena gets its name from the shape of the island – yes, that of a whale!
The other interesting cave formation was near the Playa Ventanas (windows in Spanish). The name is derived from the structure of the caves which looks like windows in the ocean (or as I felt – looking through the legs of a brontosaurus). The monsoon waves did not let us near the caves. But these are supposedly nice kayak places for calm summer days, one of the many reasons to come back!
A Dip in the Ocean
Do you want to experience the warm tropical waters after whale watching? The tour allocates some time for snorkeling (during dry season due to clear waters) or just relaxing (during monsoons) in the ocean near Isla Ballena, the whale shaped island.
We could feel why the whales love to visit the park.
Where to stay?
It is best to stay in Uvita or in the neighbouring towns – Dominical and Ojochal. Any of these towns gives easy accessibility to several tour companies that offer whale watching tours in the area.
Also, these are close to the Marino Ballena National Park and the surrounding areas which are the best for spotting whales.
Is the tour worth it?
If it is your first time, Uvita is just the right place to kickstart a whale watching experience. As the place of choice for the whales, the chances of encounters are high. Definitely check out the best times. If you have done it before, you already know the fun of observing the these water giants and looking out for the dives, the vanishing tales and fins and the sprouts.
Apart from the whales, enjoy the amazing visuals of the shore rolling into the rainforests and mountains that disappear in the clouds.
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