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A bit of history

The multi-cultural village is the oldest of the South Pacific of Costa Rica. The Osa Peninsula is known to be the most original territory due to the confluence of various ecosystems. The mountain ranges populated with green forests of different shades, the sea, beaches, rivers and crystalline streams follow slopes that flow into the Golfo Dulce, giving a unique scenic beauty in Costa Rica and Central America.

The name of the peninsula seems to derive from a cacique who lived near Punta Burica, who was called Osa.

The Chiricanos, from Panama are the first colonizers, they arrived by sea around the year 1848. A colonization process began in those years, the presence of which remains to this day.

It remains a mystery why the Chiricanos and European colonizers did not find indigenous settlements when they arrived in these lands. The archaeological sites analyzed allow us to estimate their origin between 800-1500 after Christ. It is estimated that aborigines occupied the coasts, rivers and some mountains, both for agriculture, fishing, hunting, as well as to extract raw materials necessary in their residential settlements.

Puerto Jiménez has had three settlements on the Peninsula.

The first was Santo Domingo de Golfo Dulce, located in Puntarenitas. A part of the town sank because of a strong earthquake in 1853, and moved to the neighborhood located west of the mouth of the Platanares river.

This town continued to be called Santo Domingo (later it was called Old Town) and it also suffered the effects of erosion when the lands of the soccer field and the church sank. This is how the President of the Republic then Ricardo Jiménez Oreamuno responded to the population’s request to buy private land for the transfer to its current location; thus, in homage to this action, the town was renamed Puerto Jiménez and the original name was lost.

At the time, it was only field lands, some inhabitants established themselves to Matapalo, Piro, Agua Buena and Carate to work with livestock and do agriculture.

Making a living

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the colonizers discovered the presence of gold in the sands of the rivers, which they extracted using the alluvial technique. This was one of the reasons for attracting immigrants of different nationalities. During the 1930s and 1940s, there were people washing gold in the Madrigal river and beach (east of the Peninsula), without any state control. Later, in the 1950s, gold mining activity continued in other rivers such as the Tigre, Agujas, Rincón and Riyito, which flow into the Golfo Dulce.

Gold was traded in the area and became a currency of exchange, for the purchase of food, liquor, groceries, and agricultural and mining work implements.

There was no road coming to Puerto Jimenez, local people will get food supply coming by boat from Golfito, then it would take an additional 2 days by horse to reach Carate.

The practice of gold extraction persists even today by artisanal gold miners to obtain some income that they generally use for their subsistence. Most of them are unemployed or low-income people.

In the 20^th century, natural resources were extracted in the Osa Peninsula at low cost, cutting trees of hundreds of hectares, regardless of the environmental and social consequences for present and future generations. As a trigger for these conflictive events, two important protected areas were created: the Corcovado National Park and the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve.

It is only since the 1960s that the population of Jiménez has access to public education services, potable water, electricity and health, thanks to the organization of its inhabitants.

Multi-cultural Village

Since the beginning of the 21^st century, many young people on the Peninsula, with secondary schooling levels, have found new sources of employment in the hotels of Puerto Jiménez, Matapalo, Carate and La Palma, as well as in associated services such as tourist information, transport, restaurants, warehouses, grocery, among others. Other families have experimented with new productive alternatives with tourism rural, with a view to complementing and diversifying its economy and raising its low income.

For the last decades, there was a marina project to build a high-impact tourist and shipping development in Puerto Jiménez. Due to the resistance of a sector of the local population in alliance with national ecologists attesting the vulnerability of the area where the buildings and docks are projected and shops, the project could not start. In 2020, the construction started with the first phase of the project: Botanika Resort by Hilton. The luxury resort in the rainforest is planned to be opened in 2022.

Nowadays, Puerto Jimenez is a touristic beach town popular for its remote location, sustainable projects, renowned Eco-lodges and its incredible biodiversity. Its natural wealth and scenic beauties has become a shared value and aspiration Worldwide.

To learn more about the history of the Osa Peninsula, book our City Tour in Puerto Jimenez.

We are a team of avid adventurers always ready for a new adrenaline rush. Everything started with an immense curiosity of exploring Cerro Adam, the mountain behind just behind Golfito village. There is a back road that goes up to the top, passing different panoramic viewpoint, but our desire to explore deeper increased every day. In every excursion, Mother Nature always had surprises that blows our mind. It could be a stream full of shrimps, beautiful waterfalls, new view points, endemic and endangered animals, lagoons, natural swimming holes, underground caverns, old fruit trees indicating the presence of indigenous, centenary trees, vines waiting for us to play Tarzan, plants we’ve never seen before, etc.

Our desire to explore became an addiction. Soon enough, we started to travel with rappelling and climbing equipment and became the Waterfall Chasers of Golfito. Then we wanted to show the World our discoveries. Some places are just too beautiful not to show it with other adventurers.  We now dedicate ourself sharing all the most unspoiled hidden gems we had the privilege to discover in the last years. And obviously, we constantly go on exploration trips.

All year round you can enjoy the marvels Costa Rica has to offer.

In the South of Costa Rica, the climate is comfortable all over the year. The day temperature varies between 26 and 30 degrees, while at night it normally drops of 2 degrees. Although the temperature is stable, it is very humid and as Costa Rica is part of the tropics, the sun is strong no matter it is cloudy or not.

Costa Rica has two seasons: the dry season (December to April) and the rainy season (May to November). Most people visit the Country during the dry season, specially because it is the time snowbirders from the Northern Countries escape the cold or younger people need some vacations to have a break from the winter. During the dry season, you can appreciate a clear blue sky every single day while in the rainy season there are more clouds and normally about an hour of rain every day. It rarely rain all day long. The wettest months are October and November.

What About Activities?

Most activities can be done at any time, but some places are better to visit at a certain moment of the year.

Golfito and the main villages of the Osa Peninsula, Puerto Jimenez and Drake Bay, are never crowded with tourists, but if you like to go on a hike or to do any adventures where there is not a soul in sight, May, June, September, October and November and great months to visits. International and domestic fly tickets are cheaper too.

Out of the dozens of  waterfall hikes we offer, some are beautiful with crystal clear water in the dry season, others, look spectacular in the rainy season. According to Waterfall Rappelling and Canyoning Tours, we always recommend the best places to go according to your dates and location.

For snorkeling, free diving and scuba diving tours, even if these activities can be done during any months, the best water visibility is during the dry season.

Piedras Blancas National Park and Corcovado National Park remains open everyday unless they are not accessible due to the high precipitations, which may happen for a couple of day in October or November. In the rainy season, you may have the park only for yourselves, but you will get wet once in a while and need water boots, which is part of being immersed in the rainforest. Some trails may be inaccessible due to the high level of the rivers.

The Golfo Dulce is renowned worldwide for its unique bioluminescence, a phenomenon that occurs only with the perfect climatic conditions. To increase your chances to see a great light show, plan your visit between January and mid April.

Best Time and Places for Wildlife

There is wildlife to see all year round. However, depending on the animals you want to see and the places you want to visit, here is some information to consider to have all chances on your side seeing your favorite animals.

Many mammals move from one spot to another during the year. Sloths, for example, may stay in a specific spot for months because the trees they are on provide them enough food. Then, they might move deeper in the forest in the rainy season and come back the next year. Sometime they are trapped in small forests where they have no biological

Monkeys are often seen in forest trails, close to houses or the beach in the dry season because it is where they can harvest more fruits as they have been planted and receives more sun than in the middle of the rain forest where trees fight for life and produce less flowers, fruits and nuts. Monkeys will move in to farther in the rainforest when they have less to eat close to shore, but they still easy to see all year around.

Corcovado National Park is the number one destination to see a maximum of wildlife. You might see a biggest variety of mammals between November and August and of reptiles between May and November. Make sure to mention your interest to see a maximum of wildlife at the moment of inquiring a tour. Most people get wrong thinking the longest trails or the middle of the primary forest is where they might see more animals. The best trails to see wildlife are the ones around Sirena stations.

Bird Watching tours are a success all year around, but we count with a most important variety of migrating birds between November and March.

Schools of dolphins are seen all year, whales come to the Golfo Dulce between July and October, the whale shark between April and May, and offshore fishing is normally better between December and April. Turtles come to beaches specific times a year, you might find hundreds of them in Matapalo, Piro and Carate, but none in Pavones beach, they do not all frequent the same beach at the same moment.

Snakes, doesn’t like to have their house floating and they give birth and raise their little ones just like the scorpions in the rainy season, so they are more likely to be seen at that time. Spiders also show up more in the wettest months. As you may know, amphibians love the rain and the Osa Peninsula hosts an incredible variety of frogs including endangered and endemic species like the Golfo Dulce frog. No wonder why night tours are so popular in the rainy season.

Photographers

Unless you are looking to photograph something very specific, the best time of the year to capture the perfect shots is the dry season. The blue sky and best sunsets occurs between December and April. Our team counts with naturalist guides who specialize in photography. If it is the main interest of your trip, we will make sure you have the adequate guide for your tours.