Mawamba Lodge

“Location amazing, hotel tired and basic”

Hotel itself far too basic for the cost. Bathrooms awful, food disappointing. Breakfast dreadful - buffet covered in flies, eggs and omelettes not nice. Location amazing though Guides and local nature opportunities brilliant Saw turtles, sloths, monkeys, frogs, huge spiders and iguanas

“Embrace the experience!”

It is quite an experience and a privilege to be somewhere so remote. The public areas, bar, pool and restaurant are really good but the cabins themselves are where it takes a deep breath. No air con, no windows and you will share the shower with an array of lizards but that is effectively the deal … more

It is quite an experience and a privilege to be somewhere so remote. The public areas, bar, pool and restaurant are really good but the cabins themselves are where it takes a deep breath. No air con, no windows and you will share the shower with an array of lizards but that is effectively the deal to stay somewhere sandwiched on a strip of land between river and sea. Lots of wildlife everywhere including a caiman when we were kayaking, toucans and lots of monkeys. I would recommend it and I would go again but sleeping there is tough. All the staff are great as is the service - thank you guys!

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“Not as good as it used to be”

I had stayed at this lodge back in 2018 and also visited Tortuguero in 2021 but stayed in a different lodge that I did not like so decided to go for Mawamba again this time as I had great memories of it. The booking of excursions was already difficult and I had to pay them all extra, as well as any… more

I had stayed at this lodge back in 2018 and also visited Tortuguero in 2021 but stayed in a different lodge that I did not like so decided to go for Mawamba again this time as I had great memories of it. The booking of excursions was already difficult and I had to pay them all extra, as well as any food except breakfast, as the hotel newly caters to groups only and single travellers have to book it all themselves. The pickup in San Jose and drive to the restaurant and then boat was as I remembered. Unfortunately the “guide” , I think his name was Alberto, did not stop talking to his 2 colleagues from the moment we left the riverbank until we arrived at the Lodge, without even bothering to spot wildlife for us, which we did on our own and got dismissed by him when asking what we just saw. Once at the lodge we got drinks, cold towels and then our keys. I had a bungalow all at the end as this was all that was available, but it was nice and big with a comfortable bed, 2 fans (the ceiling fan did not work), bottled water, hairdryer in the bathroom. The lighting was a bit faint with made it hard to read in bed. There was no vanity mirror in the bathroom. The food was fine, lunch options were great, breakfast was a bit limited. The first afternoon excursion with the boat was unfortunately guided by Alberto again who did not really seem to be interested in spotting wildlife. And what was different this time from my previous visits, was, that the motorized boats are no longer allowed to go into the side channels. The side channels are the places where you see animals and in itself are beautiful to look at. In the afternoon we simply drove up and down the main channel and of course, since there is one lodge next to the other as well as private homes, there were no animals to spot, except a bird here and there. I booked a Canoe tour the next morning, hoping to see more animals and more of the channels I remembered and even though we went into the underbrush at one point it was just a swampy space with no way through, just in and out the same spot. It was however more of what I remembered. We also saw a bit more with this tour and as well on the afternoon “normal” boat ride, with thankfully another guide, we saw a bit more and not only went up and down the main river. On the grounds I saw a big lizard and a sloth but high up in a tree. A Toucan also liked the fruit in the tree right in front of my cabin. What I missed this time was the Butterfly garden and Frog enclosure they had when I first visited and the green leaf frog. All this was gone. And also unfortunately missing were the really dedicated guides that you can tell love and life their job. Thus this visit was a bit disappointing and will probably be my last to Tortuguero if I ever go back to Costa Rica.

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“Mixed feelings”

It is a mix. The lodge is very beautiful and close to the village. We stayed in rooms 34 and 36 which were recently renovated so they had great beds, air con and WiFi but we didn’t have hot water. We had to ask and ask to have it fixed which they finally did only for it not to work again the next d… more

It is a mix. The lodge is very beautiful and close to the village. We stayed in rooms 34 and 36 which were recently renovated so they had great beds, air con and WiFi but we didn’t have hot water. We had to ask and ask to have it fixed which they finally did only for it not to work again the next day. They don’t care because most visitors won’t return so there is no need to try and resolve the problem or even apologize for the inconvenience.

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