KRITAJNA SAFARi LODGE

Fourteen surf breaks within a short drive of Dominical make Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast a year-round draw, and Kritajna Safari Lodge positions guests inside the coastal rainforest above this small town where the Barú River meets the sea.

The surrounding Osa corridor offers day access to Marino Ballena National Park's whale-tail sandbar to the south and Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge — a 330-hectare canopy reserve — two kilometres north of the town centre.

Dominical sits 45 kilometres south of Quepos along the Costanera Sur highway, with Manuel Antonio National Park reachable in under an hour and the Nauyaca Waterfalls trailhead eight kilometres inland.