Baird's Trogon (Trogon bairdii) Baird's Trogon

Hotel Cristal Ballena, on the hill above Bahía Ballena

Cristal Ballena is the Uvita hotel you bird on foot, from the door down to the national park. The guided morning leaves reception at six, takes the hill trail to the edge of the rainforest, comes back through the gardens past the river and the tilapia pond, and finishes at the entrance to Marino Ballena National Park.

The guide is a biologist, and keeps a list of what you saw. Then a car brings you back up the hill for breakfast.

The hotel has recorded more than 200 bird species on its land, and 30 acres of gardens, between the sea and the forested mountain behind, bring a lot of them into the open. It is the comfortable stop in the south between the forest lodges, with a big pool for the afternoon.

At a glance

Zone: Central and Southern Pacific Lowlands
Habitat: hillside gardens, a private patch of rainforest, a river and pond, the coast of Bahía Ballena
Nearest hotspot page: Marino Ballena National Park and Bahía Ballena · 6.3 km

Birding on the property

The hotel has its own jungle trail, a private reserve of tropical rainforest near Marino Ballena, and the 30 acres of gardens round the pool. You can walk the trails on your own, or book the birding tour with one of the hotel's guides: about two hours from 6 a.m. at reception, led by a biologist who prepares a list of the birds seen. The hotel is one of nine properties in the Costa Rica Birding Hot Spots group.

Photo: Hotel Cristal Ballena

Uvita

Hotel Cristal Ballena

Breath-taking Southern Pacific Ocean Seascapes in Your Paradise Oasis

★★★★

Nineteen suites on a hillside with a 180-degree view of Bahía Ballena, 30 acres of gardens round a 1,300 square foot pool, a spa, and Marino Ballena National Park within walking distance. The comfortable night in the south, between the forest lodges.

Plan a trip with this lodge

The birds to look for

The Fiery-billed Aracari first, the regional endemic of this stretch of the Pacific, and the hotel names it among its birds along with the Scarlet Macaw, the King Vulture, which it calls the Central American condor, and the Three-wattled Bellbird, another regional endemic. At dusk, the Black-and-white Owl.

Round the gardens, the Clay-colored Thrush (the hotel says robin), and in the northern winter two migrants it names, the Summer Tanager and the Baltimore Oriole.

In the lowland forest round the bay a short walk away, the coast's other regional endemics: Baird's Trogon, Golden-naped Woodpecker and Orange-collared Manakin.

English	Scientific	Spanish	Status
Fiery-billed Aracari	Pteroglossus frantzii	Tucancillo Piquianaranjado	Regional endemic
Scarlet Macaw	Ara macao	Guacamayo Rojo
King Vulture	Sarcoramphus papa	Zopilote Rey
Three-wattled Bellbird	Procnias tricarunculatus	Campanero Tricarunculado	Regional endemic
Black-and-white Owl	Strix nigrolineata	Lechuza Blanco y Negro
Clay-colored Thrush	Turdus grayi	Mirlo Pardo
Summer Tanager	Piranga rubra	Tangara Veranera
Baltimore Oriole	Icterus galbula	Bolsero Norteño
Baird's Trogon	Trogon bairdii	Trogón Vientribermejo	Regional endemic
Golden-naped Woodpecker	Melanerpes chrysauchen	Capintero Nuquidorado	Regional endemic
Orange-collared Manakin	Manacus aurantiacus	Saltarín Cuellinaranja	Regional endemic

Staying at Hotel Cristal Ballena

Cristal Ballena is built on a hill, so the suites and the pool deck look down the coast over Bahía Ballena. The main building holds the suites: 50 m² Junior Suites with four-poster beds and a balcony to the sea, two 90 m² corner Master Suites, and two Family Suites with a king and two twins. All have air conditioning, a ceiling fan, Wi-Fi and a hot shower, and morning coffee is in the room. About 200 m away in the garden are two Adventure Lodges, each with a king bed, a terrace into the trees and a fan instead of air conditioning. The restaurant, pool and spa are at the centre, and evenings tend to start with the sunset from the deck.

Rooms

Junior Suite: one king or two queen four-poster beds, about 50 m², private ocean-view balcony, AC; 15 rooms
Family Suite: one king and two twins, 75 m², private ocean-view balcony, AC; 2 rooms
Adventure Lodge: one king, own terrace in the rainforest garden, ceiling fan only, about 200 m from reception; 2 units

Meals. Restaurant and bar on site, plus a pool bar; meal plan not stated. Morning coffee is provided in the rooms.

Good to know

Adventure Lodges have no air conditioning and are about 200 m from reception, restaurant and pool.
The hotel is on a hill; paths and steps between buildings are not described on the site.
Family Suites (king plus two twins) are the only rooms set up for four.

Perfect for: a couple who want a big ocean-view suite near the whale-watching coast, with a pool for the afternoons.

Hotspot pages near the lodge

Marino Ballena National Park and Bahía Ballena
Bahía Ballena and the Marino Ballena park at Uvita: over 200 species on our lodge's hill, the Fiery-billed Aracari, whales from December to March.
See the place

Trips that stay here

Want to add a luxury stay to your trip? See every hotel we represent on CostaRica.Org (opens in a new window). We plan birding lodges and beach resorts in one trip.

Which of these fit your list?

Tell us the birds you want, your dates and how you like to travel, and we will come back with a first itinerary: the lodges in the right order and how many nights each one really needs. That first version is just a place to start.

Plan my birding trip

Or call us: 1 (800) 996-1139 from the US and Canada, +506 4052-2140 in Costa Rica.