Pacuare Lodge

Rooms

Pacuare's lovely grounds hold various thatched wooden suites and villas, all designed to make the most of the verdant natural surroundings.

The surprisingly elegant Garden Suites have spacious verandas and ochre-plastered bathrooms with copper rainhead showers; additional outdoor showers allow you to bathe in nature. Water is heated by solar panels. If you want river-front views, plump for a River View Suite.

Though we’re yet to personally view them, the Linda Vista Villas sound like the cat’s pyjamas. Perched on a ridge, each has awesome river and rainforest views as well as private spring-fed dipping pools.

Honeymooners might well be content with any of these, unless they see the huge Canopy Suite first. Right in the heart of the jungle, this extravagant cabin has a luxurious bathroom, a wonderful open deck with grand views and steps down to a private plunge pool. There’s even a secluded observation platform accessed via a private suspension bridge, perfect for declarations of love.

Newest of all is the super-luxurious Jaguar Villa, sitting on a treetop platform and accessed via a private suspensions bridge. It sleeps up to 4 (across a master bedroom and lounge / second bedroom), but the lofty setting means it's best suited to groups and families with older children.

Wherever you stay you'll get good towels, plentiful organic, biodegradable toiletries, and lots of candles. You’ll be given a torch too, to make wandering the (dimly lit) garden paths easier at night.

Features include:

• In-room treatments available
• Safe box
• WiFi

Eating

From the delicious iced lemon juice you’re handed on arrival, you know the food and drink at Pacuare are going to be good. And despite the fact that everything you eat has to be brought here on a raft like the one you were madly paddling, the chefs manage to produce meals of impressive sophistication. Plus it’s all organic. Meals are eaten in the main building: a tall, open-sided wooden palenque, right by the river’s edge, with tables on the terrace outside or inside where you can watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen.

Breakfast is a buffet of fresh fruit, warm homemade bread, and freshly made banana pancakes, then eggs, rice and beans, fried plantain and yoghurt with homemade granola. Help yourself to coffee and a large selection of St Dalfour organic teas. Each table is given a big jug of juice and this is a lovely time of day to linger, sitting out on the terrace, watching birds flitting around and the river below you.

Lunch is varied and fresh, and there's an entirely plant-based menu for non meat eaters. Our filo pastry parcels filled with goats cheese, pork tenderloin, and roasted vegetables were delicious.

Dinner is a real occasion here - and very romantic in the depths of the jungle. The whole palenque is lit by candles and waiters run around with head torches, emerging from the shadows to bring you a cocktail (the caipirinhas are superb) or serve dinner. We ate on the open terrace, the river lit by moonlight (you can request to dine al fresco). White linen on the tables, red napkins and pretty candle holders create a sense of formality. The waiting staff are friendly and attentive and the food is excellent. Our carpaccio of tuna was top-notch, followed by tilapia fish in a delicately spicy sauce, and the most decadent chocolate pudding imaginable. All washed down with a premium Argentine malbec - a far from rustic experience. You’ll certainly sleep well.

Those who want ultimate privacy and romance should eat dinner in The Nest, a wooden terrace attached to a ceiba tree. You get incredible views from the forest canopy, though as you are 60ft off the floor, and have to reach the platform via a zip wire, it is not for the fainthearted!

Features include:

• All meals included
• Breakfast
• Organic produce
• Vegetarian options

Activities

• Rafting is the means by which you arrive and leave (though you can ask for transfer by jeep, then cross the river in a basket suspended from a wire!). It’s Grade 1-2 on the way in, Grade 3-4 on the way out, depending on the time of year - low water can make the rapids more technically difficult. It’s great fun, even if you’ve never done it before. The guides are professional and take good care of you
  
• There are fantastic opportunities for bird watching. Many bird species are visible in this part of the rainforest and you'll see lots of them as you sit having breakfast on the terrace
  
• Canopy tours are available via 8 zip wires in a circuit connecting 12 platforms, which allow you to zip through the forest like a bird. There are also 2 rappel wires
  
• Plenty of hikes are on offer. Most popular is the 1 and 1/2 hour hike to waterfalls, with your guide explaining flora and fauna along the way
  
• Unwind in the Jawa Jüu Spa to the sounds of the forest around you. Couples should opt for the honeymoon package which includes a chocolate massage! You can also attend a yoga class
  
• Visit the Cabecar indigenous community, an unforgettable experience. It’s a stiff 2-hour hike through beautiful forest to reach the small remote group of traditionally built houses, and once there you’ll be greeted by the medicine man (curandero). It's a 6-hour round trip (ask to set off at 9 and you’ll be back for a late lunch)

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Birdwatching
• Cycling
• Hiking
• Kayaking
• Plantlife / flora
• Rafting
• Swimming
• Traditional cultures
• Trekking
• Wildlife
• Yoga
• Zip-wiring

Kids

Pacuare Lodge welcomes children aged 7+, but rafting is only suitable for those over 12 years old; younger children must arrive and depart the lodge by land transportation.

Overall, the entertainment on offer is best suited suited to families with older kids and adventurous young souls will have a ball here.

Family friendly accommodation:

Extra beds can be added to most rooms on request. The Jaguar Villa can sleep a family with up to 3 children, but its location in the treetops makes is best suited to older children.

Extra Beds Available

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Pacuare Lodge is set deep in the rainforest jungle alongside the Pacuare River in eastern Costa Rica.

By Air:
San Jose (150km) is the closest airport.

Travelling on to Pacuare:
It’s pretty much essential that you spend the night before you go, and the night afterwards, in or near San José - unless your flight leaves the next day after 8pm. Everyone is picked up at the rendezvous point by minibus in San José at 6.30am. The bus stops at the restaurant Ranchito Roberto’s at 8am for breakfast, 100km north of San José. The bus then continues to the ‘Put in’, which takes around an hour. You’ll get into the rafts at around 10.30am and rafting the 4 miles to Pacuare takes about an hour and a half, including a stop to wallow in an idyllic shallow pool by a waterfall. Lunch is served on your arrival.

Departure from Pacuare is around 9.30am. You continue rafting downstream for 14 miles, but make two stops, one to climb up to a spectacular waterfall, where you can wallow and swim, and another for an excellent lunch, also in a beautiful spot. You’ll reach dry land again at around 2pm and have time to change into your dry clothes, before getting back on the bus for the 2-hour journey back to San José. You’ll be dropped off around 5pm, though times change, obviously, with weather and different groups.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

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