Today our next adventure down the Pacific coast begins…this time it’s Dominical…a cool little surf town just north of Uvita. On our way, we plan to stop at Nauyaca Falls, which is one of the more picturesque waterfalls in the country. The falls are located on private grounds and they offer a few different ways of getting to the falls at different costs. The trail is about 4km each way (out and back), so on a good day it would probably take between one and two hours each way to hike. Here are the options below:
Entrance + hike = $10pp – hike from office (12km roundtrip) / hike from parking lot if you have a vehicle (8km round trip)
Entrance + Economic 4×4 tour = $32pp – includes round trip transportation and admission
Entrance + Horseback Ride = $80pp – includes guide, horse, lunch, admission
Entrance + Tour 4×4 premium = $80pp – includes a guide, 4×4 car, lunch, admission
There was some serious rain the last few nights, so we opted for the economic 4×4 option and made an 8am reservation the night before. We made the reservation pretty last minute, so it didn’t seem like they sell out. After setting off, we were glad with our decision…the trail was pretty muddy (not to mention the horse poop as well).
Once our driver dropped us off, we were able to spend two hours at the falls, which was more than enough time. You do still need to do some walking to get to the falls…but only about 100 meters down some steps. There are two different falls, upper and lower (titled “one” and “two” respectively). We started with the upper falls, which you’re not supposed to swim in.
We then made our way down to the lower falls where you can jump in the water to cool off. The falls’ intensity differs based on rain…and like we said it had rained a lot the last few nights, so the falls intensity was strong!
The falls was so strong that just sitting on nearby rocks will soon get you soaked just from the mist! When the two hours was up and it was time to leave, we hopped back in our 4×4 that was waiting at the top of the stairs. On our way back we saw people doing the hike and saw how hot and muddy they were, and felt like we made the right decision.
When we got back to the main office, we continued our drive to Dominical where we’ll be staying at Villas Alturas for two nights. The resort’s located at the top of a mountain by way of dirt road…so 4×4 is almost definitely required. However once up there, the views were absolutely amazing! You could see Uvita to the south and Isla de Caño out at sea!
Our villa had its own private balcony with incredible ocean views. We were pretty sent on dropping our bags off and heading to Dominical or Uvita for some lunch, but we saw some people eating at the hotel’s restaurant and it looked delicious. We were pretty hungry, so it didn’t take much convincing to have lunch here. We ordered cheese croquettes and a chicken pesto sandwich…both were muy delicioso!
When we were driving up to the hotel, we noticed that just up the road was Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary. We’ve come to realize that no matter how much we plan for a trip, there are always little gems that are worthy of an audible. It was a pretty small nonprofit sanctuary, but their mission of saving animals rescued from illegal pet trade, cruelty, abandoned at birth and road accidents is unwavering.
After visiting the Sanctuary, we decided to head to a local brewery in Domincal, Fuego Brewing Company. We heard great things about this brewery, but were still surprised to see how expansive the grounds were…they even had coffee roasting on site! We obviously ordered a flight of beers because we can never settle on just one, and shared an order of Patacones as well…everything was great and we highly recommend it!
We grabbed a few cans to-go and made our way back to the hotel…only to find out that the power was out in the entire town! So what do we do? Head to the pool and enjoyed a beautiful sunset with zero light pollution!
The power finally came back on when we returned to our room. We were very thankful because we have a big day ahead of us and need all the sleep we can get. Tomorrow we’ll be spending the entire morning and afternoon out on a snorkel trip the famous UNESCO site, Isla de Caño…so stay posted!