Marino Ballena Sea Kayaking Tour
On this active tour of Marino Ballena National Park, you’ll get to visit a popular snorkeling spot and have a fun kayaking cruise around the coastline. This excursion comes with great views and the chance to see colorful wildlife.
- Duration:
- 4 hrs
- Available Days:
- Sun Mon Tue Thu Fri Sat
- Schedule:
- Any time between Thu Jan 01 1970 07:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) and Thu Jan 01 1970 14:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
- Hotel Transport Included
- Mobile Ticket Included
- Offered in English, Spanish
This tour sets out when the tide is low, to make it easy to get the kayaks into the water. Your guide will point you in the direction of a sandy formation called the Whale’s Tail. Your guide will take you to the part of the Whale’s Tale with the best snorkeling. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to paddle there. From your kayak, you’ll have an incredible view of Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, with the mountains that surround Uvita looming in the distance.
Once you arrive at the snorkeling spot, you’ll get to explore the underwater world for about an hour. While you’re down there, some of the species of sea life you might see include conch, starfish, parrotfish snapper, and eels. There are also a couple of different species of coral that grow in this area.
As the tide rises, the tour will return to shore. To make the return trip extra fun and a little bit faster, your guide will show you how to angle your boat to do some kayak surfing. This type of surfing doesn’t take any special skill, and you’ll have the hang of it in no time.
Once you’ve almost reached the shore, the tour will make its last stop at a mangrove forest. Keep an eye out for the toucans and small reptiles that live in the partially submerged trees.
Most people can take this tour, but it is best suited for people who are in relatively good physical condition.
Attraction Visited

Encompassing 270 acres of land (110 terrestrial hectares) and 13,300 acres of ocean (5,400 marine hectares) is the Marino Ballena National Park (Parque Nacional Marino Ballena). Positioned just 10 mi (16 km) south of Dominical and 112 mi (180 km) southwest of San Jose, Marino Ballena is one of the newest national parks in Costa Rica. Established in 1990, the park contains the largest coral reef on the Pacific side of Central America. The park&s waters are also great vantage points for viewing the humpback whale as it migrates (Dec. to April) from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii down to Cano Island, just off of the Osa Peninsula.
Read more:Marino Ballena National Park
What to Bring
Bathing suit, comfortable clothes (to wear over bathing suit, if desired), sandals or flip-flops, sun block, camera, and a towel.
What's included
Guide, helmets, life vest, snorkeling equipment, dry bags, bottled water, tropical fruit, and entrance fee.
Transportation
Many of our tours and activities offer transportation pick up & drop off options from several locations and destinations. Options vary by tour, see “BOOKING REQUEST” for full details.
Traveler Comments
The guide made it for us.
Rony was amazing! Entousiastic, knowledgeble and helpfull. We enjoyed so much our day! As a side note, maybe the compagny could provide him with a better kayak trailer!