La Pavona (Embarcadero a Tortuguero)

Our hotel in Tortuguero (Budda Home) recommended a specific boat and when we pulled up to the parking lot they already knew our name and where we are going - super smooth and easy. The cost is not cheap but the parking lot is very secure and safe. Overall - a great experience.

Didn't eat there, just had a drink. Organization has been perfect! You arrive at the parking lot (can't miss it!), you buy both tickets (10$/night parking and 15$/person for the boat for both ways) from the guys over there right before entering the parking lot. It's secured there and has a lot of space (we haven't been there in high season...). Then you wait for the next boat. If you take something from the restaurant or bar the toilets are FOR FREE, otherwise it's 1$. When the boat is ready for departure, some guys come to pick you up from the restaurant. Covered motorboats to Tortuguero (about 1-1,5h). On your ticket you recieve at the entrance of the parking lot there are also the daily times of departure back to La Pavona. Very easy, very very well organized.

We stopped here before hopping onto a boat ride to Tortuguero National Park. Growing up in Bangladesh it felt like home. The mud the rain and the boat ride through narrow and wide rivers turn. Wear comfortable foot ware and enjoy the authenticity. This is the last place that you can travel by bus or vehicle. After this point if you want to go deep in the national park you need to use the boats.

At 1st I was a bit scared after reading the Google Reviews for this place, but it seems that they took note of the complaints.
We only encounter just the people from the parking of the La Pavona dock there. They requested 6000 CRC per car per night and 3000 CRC one way ticket per person from La Pavona to Tortuguero (only your big backpack is included in the price, no trolley - I think the trolley is 1000 CRC more to the initial price). Yes they charge for everything (bathrooms too) but the place is clean and the staff is accommodating.

Most common way to get to Tortuguero !
Come here and trust the process 😎
10$/ parking
8$/one way to Tortuguero
No surcharge for heavy luggage on my experience.

Regarding tours : DON’T RUSH
They try to sell you tours while waiting for the boat at an higher price than on Tortuguero. Do you research in advance, find WhatsApp numbers on the island, whatever, but don’t rush and pay more here.

Know that the trip to Tortuguero is like 1h when water is high (2/3h in very dry season).

This "Embarcadero" has a pretty restaurant decorated with furniture carved by local artists. I was really impressed by the beautiful designs and the service they provide. There is also a small souvenirs store within the same restaurant so you can do some shopping and have a nice "Casado" or a hot coffee while waiting for your boat to take you to the adventure through the Tortuguero Canals. The place is pretty safe, you leave your vehicle by the restaurant area and then everything is about small boats.

This spot is as close as you can get by car to Tortuquero & San Francisco. Any other spot which google maps shows as car access to Tortuquero is WRONG!! (only other option is a 4h speed boat ride from Puerto Limon)

From here u get in 35 min to "San Francisco" village or if u proceed another 10 min to "Tortuquero" on a very fun jungle boat ride. Public longtail speedboats boats depart every 2-3 hours for 5$/p.P but private operators take customers for the same price if they gather enough people (minimum 5) which normally doesn't take long in high season. The road to here is newly paved & very good condition 👌
The (covered&guarded) car park is 10$/day and kind of a rip off. You might consider to just park outside the marked area, like locals do.

if u find my post or fotos helpful, pls give a thump up as google will rank it higher for next viewers, thank you 🙏

We were dropped off here and escorted to our hotel, by boat.

We didn't have any food here, but other people were eating and it looked delicious. The Establishment was clean and well kept.

After a long bus ride, There's an opportunity to use the bathroom here. However, it costs $1 USD for each person. I think that's a fair price in this case. Essentially, this is a rendezvous point for tourists going to tortegero by boat. This place manages the Rendezvous point and there's an opportunity to get lunch or to look in the gift shop. But, in most cases, it looks like people are dropped off here and picked up for their boat ride. I imagine that every person wants to visit the bathroom before they start their trip up river. It would be difficult to maintain the bathroom without charging, since most of the traffic benefits the hotels in the area or the bus companies that rendezvous here.

So, I happily paid my dollar and use the restroom. It was clean, not very modern, but I was super happy to have it.

I was dreading catching the boat from LA Pavona to Tortuguero as I didn't know what to expect. I'd read reviews that there was nothing there. Well this is a very well organized boat service. We paid $10 per night for our car and purchased return tickets for the boat. I worried too that we had 2 large suitcases but the guys who operate the boats put them on board for us. The boat ride to Tortuguero was beautiful. We were actually staying at San Fransisco (just before Tortuguero) and the guy from the boat walked us straight to our accommodation. The cafe was really good too and worth a mention.

Recommend Capitán Luis Gomez with Transportes Gómez for boat transport to and from La Pavona and Tortuguero. He offered to take us back to La Pavona for free when we discovered we had purchased a return trip from an unofficial operator who may or may not have returned for us.
We were also impressed when he stopped to help another boat driver - he let some passengers move to his boat so the other boat was light enough to get through some challenging spots in the canal. Contact him at 506 7082 7411. Good-hearted guy.

It's not easy to get to Tortuguero, but we had a rental car and this made the process cheap and enjoyable. We drove 3 hrs from San Jose and it would have been better if we had booked a night in Tortuguero, but we'll have to do that next time. La Pavona is well staffed and friendly. The public transportation boat ride worked well and took a bit over an hour to get to Tortuguero from La Pavona. The beaches are unique and sprawling. We made the visit during Holy Week in April and it did not feel crowded. The canoe trips and other tours look nice, but we just enjoyed the beach.

Final loading dock before you get on a boat to Tortuguero. There are some small food and shops here as well as bathrooms with a fee. Kind of like your "last chance" before getting on a 30-50 min. ride along the river.

Ok so this is transportation at it's most basic but what a way to head off on a jungle cruise! Our tour provider, Road Scholar, took care of getting our bags to the boat so it was easy for us. We saw others dragging ther bags themselves so good to ask if porters are part of the package. The snack bar and snack shop have all the junk food and soda you could want but there is a charge for the bathrooms. But this is really a cool way to head off into the forest.

Attached schedule is what my Airbnb host sent me. I was able to get on the 1pm boat today to Tortu ( Monday.) the boat ride was very pleasant.

Very helpful people and a safe place to leave your car when traveling to tortuguero.DONT take the shuttle they tell you and chose the public shuttle .it’s in the half price.

Really efficient way to get to Tortuguero

We had Captain Goldenboy take us to Tortuguero. $6/person. Friendly experience. WhatsApp contact #8323-5672.

We did not eat at this restaurant, but the pushy and helpful atmosphere around this place was a great help arriving there last min for the last transportation to Tortuguero. Thank you all around there to made our visit memorable.

Last stop before the jungle. The bus trips were deserving of a cold beer and the guy in the bar had exactly that.

Great place to eat if you're waiting for a boat.