Costa Rica has lots of reasons to visit, from touring the famous cloud forests to epic beaches around Tamarindo and lush hikes to hidden jungle waterfalls. But if you’re a wildlife enthusiast, one of the main draws of visiting the country may be the high likelihood of spotting the country’s many whale species. Costa Rica’s waters boast an impressive whale population, with records indicating that up to 34 species of whales and dolphins call its coasts home.
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This Costa Rica Lodge Makes Sure Everyone Sees a Whale, or Gets a Free Massage
That’s especially true around the country’s Golfo Dulce, a vital breeding ground for humpback whales along the southern Pacific coast in the Puntarenas Province. The humpbacks undertake the longest documented mammalian migration on Earth, traveling from Antarctica’s frigid waters to the Golfo Dulce’s every year between July and November. During this time, females give birth in the sheltered water, and males hang out in the outer gulf, anxious for breeding opportunities. The region is so well known for whales that the World Cetacean Alliance declared it a Certified Whale Heritage Site in 2022.
Photo: nuriajudit/Shutterstock
That draws thousands of travelers to the region, many of whom stay at resorts like Playa Cativo Lodge, just across from the Osa Peninsula. While it’s hardly the only luxury eco-lodge in the region, it just introduced a selling point that may give it a leg up against the competition, at least when it comes to drawing whale-focused travelers: a “whale warranty.”
The lodge offers lots of wildlife-focused activities, but guests who book the Dolphin and Whale-Watching Quest tour can feel pretty good about their chances of spotting humpback whales. Between August and October, if guests don’t see a humpback whale on the tour, they’ll get the tour fully refunded. And on top of that, to make the pain of not seeing whales a little better, Playa Cativo will give guests a free 60-minute spa treatment, too. With the whale warranty, guests can have the money back in their pockets, or put it toward wildlife activities like another whale-watching attempt, a nighttime rainforest hike, or a wilderness tour in Corcovado National Park.
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Rates at Playa Cativo Lodge between August and October start in the high $400s per night. If that’s too steep, travelers can always stay somewhere less expensive and book whale-watching tours through local companies based around Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Penninsula. 