Things to do in Uvita
Waterfalls, Swimming Holes, Beaches
Charlie spent in total three weeks in Uvita and most of that time was spent on a Yoga Teacher Training. She had some time though to explore the area.
Parque Nacional Marino Ballena
On the day of her arrival, Charlie met a fellow Yogi, Shelley, and they decided to check out the beach. Shelley had the number of a taxi driver and messaged him on WhatsApp to request a ride to the beach. It was USD 6 and they got dropped off at the gates to a wildlife reserve. At first, they were a bit confused, until they realized that this reserve was indeed the beach in Uvita. They had to pay USD 7 (8000 Colones) entrance fee which came as a surprise, but they accepted. The other beaches would have been too far away. It turned out that this money was not wasted.
They walked along an estuary in a palm tree-lined path until they reached a very spacious beach. It had something really special to it and reminded of the pictures of beaches in Southeast Asia. They walked along the beach towards the place where the sun would set about an hour later. More and more clouds started to gather in the sky, but they were still hopeful for the sunset.
From afar they saw people walking towards some rocks in the middle of the ocean. It looked like there was a bridge or a pier. As they came closer, they saw that it was a sandbank that only appears at low tide. Shelley wondered if that was the famous whale tail that many places in Uvita are named after. A look at the map revealed that she might be right. At low tide, the water recedes to both sides leaving a sand bank that takes the shape of a whale tail. Charlie was very happy that this spontaneous trip turned out to be the perfect timing. Any other time of day and they could not have walked there.
There were already quite a few people, some had even brought chairs, to watch the sunset from the tail’s end.
Charlie and Shelley walked a bit around, watched tiny crabs running through the sand, and noticed more and more clouds accumulating in the sky. The chances of seeing a sunset got slimmer every minute. They also watched a beautiful cloud fall and some really dark clouds rolling in. They made it back from the end of the whale tail towards the trees behind the beach and hid beneath the palm trees during the heavy rain that came down that afternoon. They still got wet, but at least they weren’t completely soaked.
Just before it had started to rain, you could see the line in the sand where the water would reach at high tide. The sand was still wet and unfortunately, the water had left other human traces. There was a lot of plastic trash that the tide had brought to the beach. Charlie was sad to see that in such a beautiful place.
Beaches around Uvita: Playa Hermosa and Playa Ventanas
Apart from the National Park, there are a few more beaches around Uvita and those are accessible without an entrance fee. You need a car though or should take a taxi to get there. The closest beach to Uvita is Playa Hermosa. It is also the main surf beach in town with a consistent beach break. There are some market stalls to buy souvenirs or beach accessories and surf hire trucks.
A bit further south of Uvita are Playa Arco and Playa Ventanas. The latter is about a 15-minute drive from the town and the last bit of the road is quite rough. You’d even drive through a small river. The beach is called Playa Ventanas, the windows beach because there are some tunnels that look like windows. You can only really see that they’re tunnels, not caves, at low tide. It is forbidden to swim through the tunnels because it is dangerous with the movements of the water. It is still beautiful to see and you can walk a bit inside the tunnels. If you want to check it out and not stay the whole day, you should check the tide times beforehand to be there at low tide.
There are some food trucks and souvenir stalls on this beach. The locals gather on both beaches over the weekends with big tents, cooling boxes with food, and tables to build their own living rooms on the beach. You’ll hear music from everywhere.
Waterfalls and rivers around Uvita
There’s more water floating around the town of Uvita that isn’t the ocean. Near Charlie’s accommodation, Hospedaje El Bosquecito, are multiple rivers and streams. Some of them even flow right across the property. Charlie could hear the water from her room, and she could comfortably observe all kinds of animals from different types of birds and lizards to squirrels in all shades of brown and grey and beautiful butterflies, some of them as big as the hand of an adult.
About a 15-minute walk towards the mountains is the most popular waterfall in Uvita. The way there is clearly signposted. There is an entrance fee of 2000 colones (approximately £3, $4). You can go for a swim at the bottom of this waterfall and there is also a ladder to climb up and either jump or slide down.
If you take a turn towards the right at about halfway towards the waterfall, you will reach a beautiful bamboo forest. It certainly is the highest-grown bamboo Charlie has ever seen before. It is beyond beautiful to walk through this bamboo alley.
There is a small path leading through the right that brings you directly to a waterhole that is popular amongst locals and invites for a swim.
If you, instead of taking the small path, continue along the road for another 25 minutes, you’ll reach a spot that is marked on Google Maps as “Waterfall and hidden natural pools”. It’s not very hidden, but worth a visit. This spot also invites for a swim and there are usually fewer people than at the other waterhole.
Uvita Farmers market: Mercado de Bahia Ballena
Part of the expedition schedule during the Yoga Teacher Training was a visit to a local farm to learn about permaculture and living with nature. The owner of the farm, Miguel, himself did the tour and showed Charlie and the others different types of palm trees, bananas, and plantains, provided tastings of heart of palm and fresh coconut water, and invited them for lunch at the house. On their way over the farm, they even spotted a crocodile and a toucan. Unfortunately, Charlie’s camera was broken, and she couldn’t get a picture of those.
Right across the street from the farm is a market on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. You find locally grown fruits and vegetables, fresh empanadas, and lots of artisan products, from vanilla to soap to woodwork, jewelry, and art. Charlie bought some fresh fruits, a jar of goat yogurt, and two bottles of kombucha.
