The Drake Bay Hiking Trail is one of the best hikes I’ve ever been on! I saw giant bamboo, pretty flowers, white-faced monkeys, and so much more!
This hike was hot, sweaty, and wet—possibly more wet than you’d expect with a treacherous river crossing included! But San Josecito beach is the payoff. It’s considered one of the best beaches on the entire Osa Peninsula. The calmer waters here make taking a dip a complete delight.
From the amazing plants and silly monkeys to the dense jungle and sandy beaches, this trail is packed with a variety of sights, sounds, and something for nature lovers and animal lovers alike!
How Long Is The Drake Bay Hike?
The hike from Drake Bay to San Josecito Beach is about 6 km (4 mi).
I began my hike at 8am. Google told me it was 1.5 hour hike but all the blogs I read said it would take 2.5 hours. I figured with photos and stops to take in my surroundings, I’d be to San Josecito Beach by 11am.
I took my time getting there, stopping to take lots of photos and observing monkeys for almost an hour. I arrive by 12pm, so the hike took me about 4 hours total.
How Difficult Is The Drake Bay Hike?
The hike isn’t difficult per se, just very hot! It’s a mostly flat walk, along paths through jungle and across sandy beaches.
The most challenging part of the hike, for me, was navigating high tide at Rio Claro. Just before reaching San Josecito beach, you will have to traverse across the river.
There are options: (1) Wade across, which is easier if you catch it at low tide; (2) Use the whistle across from the Turtle Conservatory and one of the workers will come across and pick you up by kayak for $2. So make sure to bring your wallet. I didn’t and had to find a way to wade across on my own without getting my stufg wet! Oops!
You can also take a kayak tour from here. That would probably be a great experience if you leave early enough in the morning to fit it in and not have to hike back in the dark.
Where Does The Drake Bay Hike Begin?
The hike begins west of the center of town. You can get to the start by road or by beach. Depending on which you choose, you’ll start the hike at slightly different parts.
Google led me along the beach path just behind Colorada Beach.
The end of this path curves to the left and its at that point that you can walk across a small hanging bridge. Once over this bridge is technically the start of the Drake Bay Hiking Trail, as it is marked on Google Maps.
Alternatively, walk along the beach until you reach mostly forest and denser groupings of rocks. You’ll head up a path from there and then reach a sign that clearly designates the path toward Cocolito Beach and San Josecito.
You’ll continue along a path through forest next to the coast. The path occasionally will take you through resorts. You’ll walk right along their stone walkways, passing by their restaurants and between their buildings. I enjoyed seeing the different accommodation options along this path!
I didn’t feel like I really started the trail until I passed through Aguila De Osa Inn. I crossed a larger hanging bridge shortly after that, which felt like the true start of the hike.
I was still passing by or across the occasional resort’s backyards along this trail. But generally I was immersed in nature mostly away from civilization.
Drake Bay Hike Flora
My first impression of the drake bay hike was running into Giant Bamboo (or Dragon Bamboo) on the path before Aguila De Osa Inn.
I was absolutely amazed by how big this bamboo was. Not only was each stalk super wide, it was also enormously tall!
I found all of the flora on this walk to be absolutely stunning. Even living in tropical Miami and seeing a lot of beautiful, jungle-like plants and trees here, I still loved the variety of Costa Rican flora.
Part of the experience was admiring the residences and resorts that displayed manicured gardens on their beach side backyards. So many beautiful tropical flowers!
Drake Bay Hike Fauna
The wildlife while walking the trail was constant. There were a variety of lizards, birds, and crabs.
I’m not sure if insects count toward the “fauna” category but I also saw for the first time in person leaf cutter ants! These amazing creatures carry up to 20 times their body weight. These tiny farmers feed fungus with the leaves they collect in order to harvest a food that the fungus produces for the colony.
I loved watching them march across my path, green leaf pieces of all shapes catching the light as they scurried along.
The most exciting moments with wildlife were when I came across monkeys, however. I saw white-faced monkeys, one of four species found in Costa Rica. I almost didn’t see them—I heard them up in the trees first. They were about halfway into my walk when I spotted them just after passing one of the resorts.
I believe I spotted some howler monkeys in the distance, too. They were just a bit harder to make out!
It was the white-faced monkeys that really stole the show, though. I caught them at 3 different points during my hike there and back.
Where The Beach Meets The Jungle
Another part of this hike that made it unique from many hikes I’ve been on were the beaches. I’ve done one great beach hike before, Abel Tasman in New Zealand. The Drake Bay trail definitely reminded me of this in parts.
But this was something else entirely with the jungle meeting so many beaches and rocky shores.
There are 25 sandy beaches along this hike including the first, Cocolito Beach, and ending with Playa San Josecito.
Playa San Josecito
Finally, arriving to this beach was an amazing reward to such a hot and sweaty walk. I could finally put my stuff down, spread out, have a snack, and take a dip in the ocean.
All along the walk, I saw huge waves that made me worry that it might be too much to swim once at San Josecito. Instead, I found the water to be much calmer than the other beaches. The waves broke further out and were not as intense close to shore.
The water was a bit too cloudy to see anything while snorkeling, however. The area over by the rocks was too a bit too rough for me to risk checking out the visibility there. I settled instead for swimming around a bit and then simply enjoying the water from the sand.
San Josecito is famous for its almond trees along the beach which the macaw loves to eat. So you can usually spot and get some nice photos of them there. I didn’t notice any during my 2+ hours hanging out and wandering around there.
After not too long, a boat showed up on the beach and dumped off a bunch of tourists. I learned later that all of the snorkel tours stop here for lunch.
I spotted one of the boat hands walking down the beach and he said hello to me as he walked by. I wondered if these tours are from Drake Bay or another part of the island? Would I see him or any of the other tourists again back in town?
Either way, I was glad to be here on my own. Solo travel, solo hike, and solo beach time. I was glad when they all boarded the boat again and left!
The Way Back
There are some options to getting back to Drake Bay. You can hire a private boat, which will cost you quite a bit. You can pay one of the snorkel tour boats to hitch a ride (about $10-20 is what I hear it is). Or you can walk back! Of course, I opted to walk back.
As I made my way, I came upon the Rio Claro again. This time, the river had flooded a lot. I couldn’t tell how much and was nervous to wade into the water on my own. I also didn’t have my wallet with me to pay the Turtle people to take me across.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I saw a couple of women swimming in the river upstream a bit. She didn’t speak any English but through hand motions, I was able to communicate that I didn’t know how to get across. She ended up wading across in the most shallow spot we could find to test out the depth for me! So nice!
I was able to hold my bag (with phone in it) on top of my head and get across that way. I am so grateful that she helped me test it out because the water came all the way up almost to my neck! Imagine if I had walked in with my bag on my back?!
The way back I was sopping wet, but it was welcomed in the heat of the afternoon. After getting passed Rio Claro, I only stopped for photos a few times. The trek back from there only took about 2 hours.
Upon return, I was feeling pretty wiped out! I showered, changes, and went for a bite to eat. Ultimately, I turned in early because I had a big day of diving ahead!
In Conclusion
The Drake Bay Hiking Trail enters into my top 5 hikes of all time! I saw amazing wildlife, beautiful plants and flowers, and jungle-meets-beach views. This hike was challenging without being overwhelming and I rarely came across another tourist hiking here during slack season in May.
I thoroughly recommend this hike and believe its the best in all of Costa Rica! But there’s still so much from my trip to share, including more amazing hikes both self-guided and guided. I look forward to sharing all of it with you!
