Mawamba Lodge

Everything was perfect

Mawamba Lodge is a truly special place. The location is incredible, surrounded by rainforest, canals, and the beach. If you enjoy wildlife, you honestly don't need to book many extra tours—just spend time exploring the gardens, observing your surroundings, and being curious. During our stay, we saw howler monkeys, scarlet macaws, 3 different types of toucans, a red-eyed tree frog, a juvenile boa constrictor, 3 different iguanas, a bare-throated tiger heron, a prehensile-tailed porcupine, leafcutter ants, dragonflies, and many other tropical birds and wildlife. It felt like staying in the middle of a natural paradise. One thing to keep in mind is that if you book tours that don't depart from the lodge, you'll need to walk for around 20 minutes along a trail between the beach and the jungle to reach Tortuguero village. After dark, walking back isn't recommended for safety reasons, so you'll need to take a water taxi, which adds both inconvenience and extra cost. The same applies if you want to have dinner in the village, as food and drinks at the lodge are quite expensive. There are a few areas that could be improved. The breakfast selection was quite limited. The food on our second day was almost identical to the first, and the third day was exactly the same as day one. Considering the price of the lodge, we expected more choice. The biggest disappointment was the checkout process. We were charged more than $200 for restaurant and bar items that weren't ours. Fortunately, we checked the bill carefully before paying, but it took time to sort out. What concerned us even more was that, while leaving on the boat, we spoke to two other groups staying at the lodge, and they had experienced similar billing issues. Hopefully this was just an honest mistake, but it's definitely worth checking your final bill carefully. Overall, Mawamba Lodge is an amazing place to stay if your main goal is to enjoy its beautiful grounds and the incredible wildlife right on your doorstep. However, if you plan to spend most of your time on tours and eating in the village, staying in Tortuguero itself may be a more convenient and better-value option.

Very friendly staff the grounds were spotless

Landscape should be one of the best in Tortuguero. You can see wonderful birds and even monkeys in the garden surrounding the cabanas. It has a really nice pool and really good restaurant. The breakfast service is excellent.