Hacienda Baru
At a Glance
- Private wildlife refuge
- Hiking trails, a canopy tour
- Turtle nesting area
Hacienda Baru's ecolodge is settled among curtains of twisting vines, gnarled roots and lush rainforest canopies ensconcing sloths, monkeys and toucans.
read more closeThe ecolodge is just part of its 800-acre wildlife refuge that includes an orchid garden, butterfly enclosure and sea turtle nursery with four main hiking trails weaving through pastures, marshes, mangroves and rainforest winding up mountainside and down to Baru Beach – a protected nesting area for olive ridley and hawksbill turtles.
Just a mile north of Dominical, Hacienda Baru has its own guided nature hikes, canopy, a tree climb, and bird watching tours.
Rooms
Colorful flowers line the gravel trails between the 12 cabins offered at Hacienda Baru. Simplistically designed with tall ceilings, white-washed walls and front decks overlooking the lodge's pool, the superior rooms, $68 in wet season (April-Nov.) with breakfast, include a king-size and single bed, desk, dresser, hot water, coffee maker, minifridge, safety deposit box, fan and screen windows.
Restaurant
Hacienda Baru's restaurant, El Ceibo, is named after one of the tallest trees in the rainforest, the Kapok tree. A small outdoor restaurant with Wi-Fi, El Ceibo serves breakfast, lunch and dinner to hotel patrons. The menu focuses on Costa Rican traditional food like its giant plates of casado served with chicken, $10, or mahi-mahi, $11, curry squash, rice, beans, salad and fried plantains.
Services & amenities
Nearby the restaurant, you'll find the butterfly garden that houses between four and eight species endemic to the refuge. Behind the restaurant, the orchid garden includes 30 to 40 species, most of which, come from Hacienda Baru and the surrounding area.
Hacienda Baru offers more than 10 different tours exploring the refuge from high-flying tours like the Flight of the Toucan Canopy and the Tree Climb tour, to guided hikes where you'll learn about and see some of the more than 70 species of mammals and 360 bird species living in and around the refuge.
Visit during July to November for the special opportunity to walk Baru Beach at night looking for nesting Olive Ridley and hawksbill turtle sightings with experts and guards who protect the beach and run the sea turtles.
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