Being Responsible
Lapa Rios Ecolodge is more than just a beautiful rainforest hotel or an eco resort near the beach. Lapa Rios is a model Ecotourism project, demonstrating that No matter how you cut it a rain forest left standing is worth more. Lapa Rios has won worldwide awards for social and environmental excellence, and is a featured sustainable tourism pioneer in many international publications and research projects. The ecolodge employs only local community members, is committed to environmentally sound practices and has been warded Costa Rica’s highest sustainable tourism certification (CST).
Staying at Lapa Rios is not only a lifetime experience but also one that contributes to the locals. The lodge makes sure to showcase cultural and sustainable activities by hosting a local Costa Rican dance group, offering tours of a nearby local farm, promoting local Costa Rican cuisine and artwork as well as offering a tour that highlights the property’s sustainability efforts. It combines a true nature experience with the authentic Costa Rica.
How you will reside
All Lapa Rios’ bungalows have wooden decks with ocean and rainforest views. Alarm clocks are not necessary. The rising sun, scarlet macaws and the howler monkeys will wake you up in a charming, tropical manner.
How you will eat
Although you may find yourself in the remote wilderness, the excellent hotel cooks combine fresh fruits and vegetables with local fish, chicken and meat to provide delicious, hearty meals with a tropical flavour. A full-service bar mixes favourite beverages from fresh juices, wines and spirits. Enjoy gourmet meals in the middle of a rainforest with a window to the wild.
Amenities
There are many activities that will surely enchant your stay even more. You can choose between rainforest activities like hiking, bird watching, horseback riding, or ocean kayaking, catch and sport fishing, as well as surfing.
Rain forest and ocean activities bring together guests and the community. Daily guest experiences include a variety of staff naturalist led rain forest interpretive hikes, bird watching walks and sustainable/educational local project visits. Ocean-mangrove boating trips, dolphin and whale watching, kayaking and surfing are offered by neighboring guides, as well as massages and yoga classes. Some guests’ highlights include a day hike in Corcovado National Park (via small plane transfer) or a night spent on the overnight platform; others find relaxing at the pool or hammock napping most memorable.
About People
John and Karen Lewis first envisioned Lapa Rios a private nature reserve. The Minnesota couple was driven by a dream that required liquidating all their assets to finance the purchase of a large tract of rainforest and to build a small, supporting ecotourism project. A conservation easement elaborated by The Nature Conservancy and CEDARENA will ensure this primary forest be preserved in perpetuity, the land never to be developed. The 930-acre Lapa Rios Reserve helps buffer the Osa Peninsula’s Corcovado National Park and serves as a wildlife corridor.
