Pacific Trail

Bosque del Cabo Private Reserve, Costa Rica

The Pacific Trail traverses the side of a cliff, descending 0.3 miles to a secluded and pristine wilderness beach—accessible only at low tide—complete with crashing waves, tide pools, spring fed waterfalls that cascade onto the beach, all of it fringed by a lush tropical rainforest. As you descend through the humid rainforest, enjoy the intermittent glimpses of the ocean and the cooling effect of its breeze—offered by gaps in the trees—and diligently scan the forest for a chance to see monkeys ( we saw several spider monkeys), toucans, agoutis, and pizotes. In about twenty minutes, you will reach the bottom of the steep trail and step out into the equatorial sun—beach stretches out in both directions as far as the eye can see, beckoning the intrepid hiker to explore its sandy expanse. A turn to the left leads to a small waterfall nearly hidden by the thick rainforest vegetation, and eventually to a rocky cliff where the beach dead ends—at this point, retrace your footsteps back past the bottom of the trail towards the right side of the beach. A right turn and a fifteen-minute walk will take you to several tide pools that double as natural Jacuzzis, a great place to cool off or investigate for sea life—we found fish, urchins, and comical looking sea slugs living within the depressions. Further exploration of the beach took us under towering palms, along wave-worn rocky outcrops, and over the beautiful sandy beaches of the Osa Peninsula and Costa Rica’s wild Pacific coast.