• Dominical beachThis is a strong beach break, not a sheltered swim. Watch several sets from the sand. Rip currents run along this stretch, so it is not a pool.
  • Nauyaca waterfallThe falls sit inland, up a path to a cold pool under two drops. Underfoot is slick. Leave early, because the walk back to the truck is uphill.
  • Hacienda Barú refugeAnimals are on the trails at opening, and heat pushes them off later. Enter with the first visitors. Stay on the marked path through the refuge.
  • Marino Ballena National ParkThe park beach is a short drive south, and the sandbar only exists at low tide. Pay at the ranger hut. It is a marine park, not a forest hike.
  • Uvita whale tailThe sandbar is a low tide walk, and from here it takes the morning. At high water there is no path out. Check the tide before you leave town.
  • Playa DominicalitoThe cove south of town is smaller, and a bit less violent, but it still breaks. Swim only if the sets look mild. It is not a sheltered bay.
  • Poza AzulA cold freshwater pool sits up the river, a short hop from the beach road. Stones are slick. It is not the ocean, and the shade is thin at noon.
  • Dominical surfPeaks here are powerful, and the outside is not where a first lesson belongs. Use the early glass. Once the sea breeze is up, the face gets bumpy.
  • Rainforest night walkGo after dark with a guide, in closed shoes. You are looking for frogs and insects the daytime beach walk never shows. Bring a light you can dim.
  • Barú riverThe river meets the sea at the north end of the sand. The mouth has a current, so walk the bank. It is birds and brown water, not a surf peak.

For breaks and seasons, see best surf spots in Costa Rica.

The landscape is beach, rainforest hills, and river mouth. You are likely to see scarlet macaws, sloths, toucans, howler monkeys and kingfishers. The plants around them are rainforest, heliconia, cecropia and palms along the Barú river.

Around Dominical, scarlet macaws cross at first light, between the hills and the beach. Sloths are in the trees along the river, and easy to miss once you are looking at the surf.

Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge and Marino Ballena National Park protect macaws, whales and the whale-tail sandbar.

In Dominical, stay on the trail and do not feed what you came to see. That is the rule that keeps this place the way it is.

The climate is tropical wet. It is hot, about 25–32°C. A shorter dry season from December to April. Heavy rain from May to November. Dominical sits at sea level.

In the greener months the morning is still usable, and the rain tends to wait until afternoon. The countrywide calendar is in the best time to visit Costa Rica.

Most people start at Juan Santamaría in Alajuela and continue by car. From the Central Valley, add time for the mountain roads.

The last stretch is slow, and often dirt. Leave while you still have daylight. Buses, shuttles, and rental cars are compared in getting around Costa Rica.