Mawamba Lodge Tortuguero

We had a great stay at Mawamba Lodge and it‘s a good place to explore the Tortuguero area. It is located beautifully between the beach and the river, and is close enough to Tortuguero village to walk. Check-in / check-out was super smooth. We arrived late in the evening outside of the official reception opening hours but they still made sure we got our room keys.
Decent restaurant with good food. Bar serves good drinks. Can definitely recommend.

My husband and I recently finished a two night stay at the Mawamba Lodge. We are so glad that we started our journey through Costa Rica by staying at this lodge after our arrival night in San Jose. We were on a package stay so our transportation, starting with the hotel pick up in San Jose, to our arrival at the lodge was prearranged. If you are able to, I would highly recommend the bus and boat transport to the lodge on your arrival, but flying out to your next stop if possible. We do wish the bathroom had either a brighter light or a second light above the mirror. We thought the rooms would be too warm for sleeping at night with just the ceiling fan, but it did indeed cool off enough for us to sleep comfortably. The bed itself was very comfortable. Our interactions with all of the staff was fantastic. The waitress, Jemi, was great, remembering our favorite beverages every time we saw her. Make sure you book a dinner reservation on their floating restaurant that Katonga, as it was amazing. The food was excellent and offers you a change from the main dining room menu. The included activities are all highly recommended. On the botanical garden tour, we saw more animals than we have seen in our other days in Costa Rica. That combined with the included canal tour gives you the opportunity to see an amazing part of Costa Rica and learn so much from the guides, Julio and Eric. We hope we are fortunate to be able to return some day. Note to the gift store - please start selling the tshirts the staff wear each day, we liked them so much better than those you carry in the store, the bright colors and graphics truly represent your hotel and grounds.

Stayed 3 nights in a bungalow. Beds comfy. Room very basic but clean. Bathroom has a mixer style shower open to the elements at the top with mosquito netting up to save you getting eaten. No plug for sink ..don't know if this is in all the bathrooms.

Walls are very thin in the bungalows. Beware lol!!

The restaurant was nice but very dimly lit in places. So if you like to see your food make sure you are by a light.

Food itself was very nice. Menu is very repetitive. Fruit juices are delicious here. Bar drinks are also good. Small shop selling souvenirs also on site. Nice pool area. Always seemed to be enough sun loungers for everyone.

Recommended that you go on a tour of the grounds. Plenty of wildlife to see and also tour of the canals with Erik as your guide. Would also say go on the floating restaurant too. Its an experience!!

Staff here are efficient and friendly.

We had a fantastic 2 night stay here. Location wonderful, cabin lovely, helpful and friendly staff plus very knowledgeable guides. We engaged in many of the activities and really made the most of our visit. Would def recommend!

Such a magical place, would come back again. We booked the tours through the hotel and they were very good, guides were informative and kind. Had the best time sitting in the pool watching all the wildlife go by. One of my fav places in costa rica.

We were on an Odyssey Tour. This was our home for three days and it was truly the highlight of our 14 day trip! We experienced everything you could ever want to in a rainforest and jungle with 5 star accommodations and meals. Thank you!

The hotel has an insane location. Walking through the huts is like a dream. The pool area is very nice designed and offers lots of places to relax. The nature trail on the property is a very nice addition and there are lots of places to sit in privacy all over the hotel garden. The huts are very simple but absolutely sufficient. The breakfast and dinner were absolutely delicious, but too expensive.

I can not say enough good things let me begin by saying if you like rustic but comfortable nature and good service this place is for you! The best tour guides I have ever been on Steven and Brian or very knowledgeable and speak very good English. Excellent tours saw many animals amphibians and insects. The Mawamba lodge is beautiful very comfortable areas to relax and enjoy nature. The restaurant is delicious with excellent service. The rooms are very clean with acces to the beach. You can schedule many tours. To see tortillas and. Even the town is just a walk away. The pool is very nice and and has a separate bar this place is a must visit again.

Top hôtel in Tortuguero !
Lost in the Middle of no where. Staff is so friendly , food is correct. Tour guides of the hôtel are great. Special mention for Erick. All activities should be done. Special mention dor night walk.
Environnement is crazy ❤🔥
Highly recommended !

This place is our paradise. We lived out stay. Short walk to the ocean on one side. Big beautiful garden of tropical plants, iguanas, sloths, toucans. 20 min, easy access to downtown and national park. They offer lots of great tours throughout the day. It was just phenomenal in every way: staff, food, drinks, environmental, rooms etc.

We stayed two nights at Mawamba Lodge at the end of May. We were in a standard cabin. Because it was right next to cabins being constructed, the manager asked if we wanted to move to a different upgrade room. We said yes. The cabins are rustic, but clean. They do get very warm during the day. Afternoon rain cooled it off some.

The grounds are lovely; we saw lots of birds and reptiles on our own and even more on the short morning eco-hike offered by the lodge. We enjoyed morning and afternoon boat tours into the Parque Nacional Tortuguero. Amazing experience. The pool is smallish but very lovely, beautifully landscaped, and is surrounded by comfortable cabana areas and a bar. The restaurant serves excellent food. A drinking water filter cooler is located next to the bar.

Great location with great people. We booked a night hike in the rainforest and a canoe tour the next day. You could feel the guides like what they do. Lots of animals around. The lodge is between the Caribbean sea and the lagoon

I severely sunburned my back and when the owners daughter found out she came and put frozen milk on my back which was remedy her mother used. She was so concerned and caring!! Her dad was also super thoughtful and checked up on me!! They truly want their guests to be comfortable and happy!! Locals they don't have AC on the island but she brought it an extra fan because my back was hot!

Fantastic hotel, clean rooms ,great restaurant, and bar. Stunning location, beautiful grounds. Nice pool lovely staff and brilliant nature tours
.

Don't get scared at the 'bus/boat terminal' in La Pavona. It's chaotic there but once you're on the boat, you'll have a fantastic time! Beautiful lodge with great pool area and pool bar with great drinks, food is à la carte for breakfast, lunch & dinner and it's very good! Staff are friendly. We did the night walk with Umberto (great, knowledgeable guide!) where we saw many frogs, spiders, a sleeping bird etc. Also the boat ride through the canals is just amazing and so enjoyable! Rooms are a little dated but we slept very well all 3 nights! The garden is beautiful and full of wildlife (toucans, iguanas, frogs).

Friendly welcome on arrival. Professional and efficient service throughout.
Professional guided tours on conservation ecosystem, flora and fauna.
You must visit.
FOREVER ISN'T LONG ENOUGH

I can’t say enough good things about our stay at Mawamba Lodge. The photos don’t do justice to just how beautifully designed the resort is, with verdant and sprawling gardens (get up early to spot toucans, aracaris, hummingbirds and occasional monkeys!), ponds humming with frogs, and pockets of secluded seating areas dotted throughout. At night, subtle lighting and flame lamps make it an enchanting experience to wander around, soundtracked by bullfrogs and nicely-selected downtempo music. We found the food to be some of the best we had in Costa Rica, with a good amount of variety, quality ingredients, and decent gluten-free options. But best of all were the staff, who couldn’t have been more kind, helpful and good-humoured — booking us onto tours, helping us out with breakfasts before hours, arranging water taxis (₡2000pp to most places in Tortuguero), and sharing tips and stories. As others have said, the rooms are simple and free of technology, but with such a relaxing, nature-packed resort to spend time in, we appreciated the nudge to disconnect. Mawamba Lodge was one of our highlights of Costa Rica, and I can’t wait to return someday.

We stayed here as part of the first leg of a travelling trip throughout Costa Rica. Arranged with a tour provider, we didn't get to choose our hotels, but looking through Mawamba Lodge reviews on various platforms made me a little anxious before arriving.
You may find many reviews moaning about the rooms, facilities and staff. Sure, the beds are uncomfortable and the rooms lack air conditioning, but everything else offered by this place is incredible. I can only imagine the negative reviews were left by old and miserable travellers who spent too much time in their rooms instead of being enthralled by what was outside of it.
The location is amazing and truly unique. Between the beach, the lagoon and their forest, you will never stop being amazed by the abundant wildlife. The morning chorus of the nesting Montezuma's will be a lasting memory. Moses, the resident guide was great and we would've missed so much without his eyes on our night walk and boat trips with him.
There was a couple of hiccups with our itinerary, but I think that was our providers fault rather than theirs.
I could be wrong, but their website doesn't indicate all the facilities/activities they offered. They have their own collection of kayaks to hire to use direct from the site, which we didnt know. As a result, we booked a kayak tour with another provider in the town before we arrived there. Would've been useful to know this, but it wasn't a real problem in any case.
When we moved on to the next destination, we were both experiencing withdrawal blues from Mawamba. We only wished we had more time there.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Mawamba Lodge. The service was great, the food was tasty and plenty and the offered day tours showed us a great peak into the jungle and wildlife in this area. Our favorite was the morning kayak tour - experiencing the jungle in the quiet with a light warm summer rain felt just amazing!

Our first destination in Costa Rica and man are we glad it was at Mawamba! Everything from our transit pick up to the accommodation, food and the staff interactions were nothing short of satisfactory. The rooms are basic but fit the overall theme of the stay. Wifi is available only in the common areas but we had no issues with that as we’d hoped to spend more time outside the room.

Special mention and kudos to Piero and his team of informed guides and naturalists who made the experience even more special. A big shout out to the restaurant staff - had some of the best local flavours.

Overall, 5 stars!