Forty minutes south of Manuel Antonio the development thins out and the Costa Ballena begins. Dominical is a surf town with dirt side streets, one of the best beach breaks in the country, and a rhythm that has more in common with the Costa Rica of twenty years ago than with the hillside up north.
Inland is the reason many people come: Nauyaca Waterfalls, a two stage drop into a swimming pool of a plunge basin, and the ridge road up to San Isidro through cloud and coffee. South is Uvita and Marino Ballena, where the sandbar forms a whale tail at low tide and humpbacks pass through twice a year.
Surfers, people who want jungle over polish, and anyone building an itinerary down the coast rather than staying put. It is a longer drive from San José, four hours, and worth it.
Between Dominical and Quepos, the Savegre valley houses put you in rainforest with rivers and waterfalls instead of surf, and our five-bedroom glass house there sleeps twelve.
Read more about the area on our Dominical guide and the neighbouring Uvita and Marino Ballena page.
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