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, Dominical and Ojochal are a great base for the Whale Watching experiences due to the region’s proximity to the Marino Ballena National Park, a marine national park in Costa Rica.
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, on the Uvita Beach. 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!
Whale Watching in Uvita: Quick Resources
🐋 Best Season for Whale Watching: July to November for the Southern Humpback Whales (Best Chances in Uvita) and mid-December to April for Northern Humpback Whales.
🛥️ Whale Watching in Uvita: Book a Whale Watching Tour in Uvita. This is a boat tour in the Marino Ballena National Park.
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 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 Tour. We went with them and had a great experience of whale watching.
The other good options are Pacific Expeditions or Dolphin Tours. You can either book in advance online or directly at their office. It can get crowded in the high/peak seasons. So plan to book in advance to avoid a last minute rush.
What to expect on a Whale Watching tour?
Check In + 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. After we arrived at their office, and parked our car in the parking lot, we filled up a form with basic 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 did not 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 synchronized moves.
While we were anticipating some differences between the two marine species, our guide briefed us about the behavior 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 did not 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.
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.
Is the Whale Watching 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.
It is a wildlife tour, after all
What we sometimes fail to understand, is the uncertainty of watching animals in wild. Although the chances of watching a whale in Uvita is high during the season, however, it still CANNOT be guaranteed.
More often than we expected, we have heard people showing their disappointment (and anger sometimes, sadly) when they are unable to see the desired animal. A Whale Watching Tour is no different.
So set your expectations right and do not expect that a sighting is guaranteed.
Where to Stay in Uvita?
It is best to stay in Uvita or in the neighboring 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.
We have stayed in Uvita on multiple occasions and in all sorts of hotels (Yes, we love going back to Uvita!) and we have compiled a guide on where to stay in Uvita.
If you do not have time to read the entire post, our top recommendations are:
- Cristal Ballena Boutique Hotel & Spa – Luxury Boutique Hotel
- Uvita Paradise Hotel – Comfort Hotel with a swimming pool
- Shipwrecked Hostel – Hostel with excellent mountain views and yoga deck close to everything
How to Get to Uvita?
The best way of exploring Uvita and other areas of South Pacific Costa Rica is by renting a car.
For details on how to reach Uvita by car, public transport and shuttles, please check the ‘How to Get to Uvita’ section in our Uvita Guide post.
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.
✅ Recommended: Adobe Rent A Car, a 100% Costa Rican company with transparent pricing. Reserve here and get 10% discount and other freebies
🚗 Other options: Compare deals on Rentalcars.com by Booking.com
Read this: Should you rent a car in Costa Rica?
Plan Your Uvita Trip
Looking for other things to do in and around Uvita? Check out these articles.
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