Parque Nacional Marino Ballena — Attraction in Bahía Ballena

An extraordinary location where you find low hanging clouds, rolling hills, greenery, sand and warm ocean waves, all in one frame !

The parking was a tad difficult to find and eventually we turned onto Rd. to Playa La Colonia and drove down to find the park’s bonafide lot next to Playa Chaman. The beach access is right next to the lot, and is lined with a region of dense coconut trees running right along the shore. During our walk to the Whales Tail, we spend some time walking on the sandy beach and some time through the coconut grove.

The sandy beach is full of marine diversity. We found myriads of crabs and mollusks running around. The crabs are bright red, small and rather shy, darting into their sand holes as soon as they feel human presence. The beach is also full of shells of bright and unusual colors like pink, purple, shades of yellow and bright orange, the kinds I have not seen elsewhere. We also found a lot of sand dollars (skeletons of burrowing sea urchins), milk white to deep grey in shade. Interestingly (and pleasantly), there are hardly any sea weeds anywhere, leading the beach to look a lot prettier than the ones that are strewn with weeds. We came across a couple of streams along the way, flowing cool and crystal clear water to the sea.

The coconut grove is majestic and though I have seen a lot of such trees before, never quite in this density and number. The tall ones reach way overhead and form a cool canopy to walk under when the sun is too strong. There are coconuts lying all along the path and there are some interesting species of endogenous plants with colorful leaves or flowers interspersed between the coconut trees.

The beach walk led us to the Whales Tail where during low tide the sandy land looks like a whales tail. The view is best seen aerially but walking down there is wonderful as well. As we waded down the “tail” toward the “tail fin”, there were waves rushing in from both sides and meeting along a center line creating a unique pattern in the water. The “tail fin” is made of large rock formations and homes countless marine lives in shallow tidal pools.

The walk to and from the Whales Tail was about 2.5 hours and worth every second of it. The unobstructed view creates an impression of vastness typical of Costa Rican beaches. Photographs hardly do justice to this stunning...

There are a few parking lots just prior to the park. It costs $6 for covered parking. Not all spaces within the lot are fully covered.

It costs USD$6+IVA per person to get in the park. My credit card showed a charge of $27 for three of us. Either the IVA charge is $3 per person, or I was overcharged.

It’s about 1.5 miles to the end of the “whale tail”. Check the tide schedule before you go. The whale tail is only accessible at low tide. It’s a pleasant walk. There are lots of shells (which you are not supposed to pick up). We didn’t see any whales, though. As the tide starts to come in, it’s neat having the water come up from both sides slowly covering this walkway.

The beach is very clean. There is lots of space and plenty of shade under the palm trees, but it is far from the water, especially at low tide. The water is a little rough and muddy - not as clear as other beaches nearby.

There are showers and a toilet station by the ticket booth. There is only one bathroom stall each for men & women. The women’s stall door doesn’t close – someone will need to keep it closed from the outside. They are not clean. The men’s room had pee all over the floor. All the tours came back at the same time - everyone was waiting for the 1 stall!. At that same location, there are plenty of places to rinse off the sand on your clothes and shoes/feet.

We came in February. It’s hot! The sun beats on your head. There is no shade on the walk to whale tail. Bring plenty of water. There is no place to refill. Make sure to wear sunscreen. The back of our legs got burnt.

We enjoyed the walk out to Whale Island. We enjoyed our time on the beach as well. We were advised never to leave our bags unattended so all 3 of us couldn’t go in the water at the same time. The beach was quiet and so peaceful. It was nice not being around crowds during...

Amazing park to visit. The beach is unreal. The whale tail at low tide is magical. Parking easy, 2000 colognes. Entrance fee is cheap 7 dollars for over 12 years of age. Try to hit whales tail at low tide in the early am if you can or during rain storms because there will be far far fewer people out there. If you go during the hot parts of the day or during the sunny parts of the day BRING WATER. Also UV protection it gets hot out there and it is deceiving in how far you think it is. Walking fast pace from the check in desk to the end of the Warhawk tail will take you about 30 minutes for an adult. There is no shade out there and the water is so warm on the tail it really doesn’t help to cool you off. If you have little ones with you just be prepared to keep the sun off them. Also if you enter and turn left away from the tail and walk down the beach to the very end, a very long walk you’ll find a beach that is nearly deserted. No one makes this walk because it long and only one entrance so you’ll be all alone down...