Much of this trip to Costa Rica was a repeat for me and my husband, but part of the reason I really wanted to go back to Manuel Antonio was so that we could stay at Tulemar Resort. On our first trip our splurge hotel was Nayara Gardens in Arenal, and this time our splurge was Tulemar.
Although Tulemar is an award winning luxury resort, I was most attracted to it because of its reputation for abundant wildlife on the property. I had seen so many pictures and videos of sloths hanging from the trees, monkeys playing on the balconies, and macaws flying overhead. I knew this was the perfect place for our nature-loving family to stay.
The resort itself is slightly confusing, as it is not a hotel but a collection of individually owned bungalows, villas and casas. There is a lot of confusion in the booking process because there are two different companies that list and rent the properties, tulemar.com and tulemarresort.com. Both are completely legit and there are even properties cross-listed on both sites. And to make matters even more confusing, some places are also listed on vrbo and airbnb! We actually ended up renting our casa through vrbo. The price was slightly cheaper but the cancellation policy was much better. (The Tulemar sites do not allow cancellations or refunds, only rebooking based on available dates.) No matter where you book, you get full access to all of the resort’s amenities, including a personal concierge to book all your tours, make dinner reservations, arrange transportation, and help about with absolutely anything that you need.
We stayed in Salty Breeze, a 2 bedroom villa perched on a hillside with views of wildlife in the jungle and of the ocean in the distance. The main floor had a full kitchen, a living room with two day beds (and an arcade machine!) and a half bathroom. The two bedrooms (with ensuite baths) and laundry were downstairs.
The house was beautiful but there were definitely a few quirks to it. In order to accommodate more guests, the living room had two day beds. These were great because we shared the villa with another family and had 8 people sleeping there, but the day beds were the only seating in the living room. This was awkward because it felt strange to sit on someone’s sleeping space and because the beds didn’t fold up so they were very oversized to actually sit on. It was odd to not really have a sitting area for everyone to relax in.
The other strange feature was that the two bathrooms attached to the bedrooms were outside. The sink was inside but was open to the bedroom so there was no privacy and no way to turn on the lights in the middle of the night without waking everyone. The door off the sink area led to a toilet and shower… both of which were outside. They were completely under cover and had high walls with screens around the top, but man was it hot and humid out there. It didn’t make for a refreshing shower, and it did make for a sweaty toilet seat every time you sat down. Plus the main balcony was directly above the bathrooms so it felt really awkward and not private. I really disliked this setup and didn’t get used to it the whole time we were there. Looking at the other villas, they all seemed to have the same design and I just don’t get the appeal of it.
But the casa had one amazing feature that made it easy to overlook the quirks. The deck was absolutely incredible. The views were stunning and the daily visits from the monkeys were the highlight of our trip. The first morning we were all up early for our fishing/horseback riding/snorkeling adventures and we were greeted by a group of squirrel monkeys. They jumped from the trees to our balcony and played around on the deck, completely unphased by our presence. It was amazing.
One of the mornings the monkeys had a wrestling match on our swing and then went for a dip in the hot tub. It all seemed a little rough but still playful. And if you really let yourself think about it, it is a little gross that they rolled around on the swing cushion and swam in the hot tub. But we just enjoyed witnessing the amazing wildlife show and ignored the sanitary concerns.
In addition to the squirrel monkeys visits, we saw so much wildlife both from our balcony and around the grounds of Tulemar. The birds were amazing. Green honeycreepers, motmots, parakeets, scarlet macaws, toucans, and aracaris flew through the air and hung out on tree branches.
There were so many monkeys on the grounds. The squirrel monkeys were the most playful, jumping around on the roofs of the buildings (and on our balcony!). The howler monkeys preferred to be heard and not seen. They hid high in trees further away but you couldn’t miss their load roars. And the white-faced capuchins were somewhere in between, lurking around the trees of the pool hoping to get an opening to steal some food. It was amazing to be surrounded by monkeys so often!
The monkeys were awesome but probably the cutest thing we saw at Tulemar was a baby sloth sleeping on his mama. It made my heart melt. Neither of them moved at all but we still stayed for 20 minutes just watching them… and then came back later for more. So sweet! We had hoped to take a sloth tour through the Sloth Institute (located on Tulemar’s grounds) but couldn’t fit it into our schedule. So we were so happy to find this pair on our own!
And of course there were lots of lizards hanging around, and we even spotted a few agoutis as well! The wildlife at Tulemar definitely lived up to its reputation.
But there is more to Tulemar than just wildlife! The resort covers 33 acres of jungle that has the added bonus of being beach-front! Tulemar is super hilly but if you keep walking down, you will eventually make it to the beach. Located in a protected cove, the beautiful beach is a great place to relax on the sand or play in the water. Kayaks and boogie boards are available to use for free, as are beach towels. There are lounge chairs and umbrellas, as well as tables and chairs to sit and eat at. Food and drinks can be ordered from the restaurant, although I heard that delivery can be slow. When you are done enjoying the beach, I recommend taking the shuttle back up because those roads are steep! The staff on the beach will call the shuttle for you.
The ocean was actually a little rough and rocky when we were there but with four pools, we had lots of other options for swimming. There is a family pool, an adult pool, the cafe pool and the jungle pool. We didn’t make it to the adult pool but enjoyed all three of the others. The family pool was right next to our villa so super convenient. The cafe pool was great because we could order lunch from the restaurant and eat poolside. The jungle pool was a little hidden and difficult to get to but worth the effort. With nobody else down there, it felt like our own private, secluded pool.
The Tule Cafe Restaurant is located next to the cafe pool. You can sit down and eat in the open-air dining room or order pool-side for a more casual experience. We had one sit down dinner in the restaurant and several lunches and snacks by the pool and found the food to be very good. If you are staying in a casa with a kitchen, you also have the option to have a private chef come and cook for your group. We did this one night in our villa for our entire group. The experience was wonderful and the food excellent but we wish we had been warned about the price. We were told the set price for 16 people (which was very reasonable) and then knew that we would pay the grocery bill on top of that. What we didn’t know was how expensive groceries in Costa Rica are! After we picked our menu, our concierge told me that she would give us a rough estimate of what the groceries would cost. She never did. We were providing the fish (thanks to the catches of the deep-sea fisherman in our group), so I didn’t really worry about it because I figured the most expensive part of the meal was already covered. I was absolutely stunned when we saw the grocery bill. Who knew asparagus cost $85 in Costa Rica!?! Definitely not me. My husband had to go out to an ATM to get more cash to cover the bill. It put a little damper on what was an otherwise fantastic evening so I would just warn you to make sure your concierge gives you an estimate of the grocery bill.
We loved our stay at Tulemar Resort. The wildlife, the jungle surroundings and the pools were definitely the highlight for us. Be warned that the grounds are VERY hilly. We left Los Lagos in Arenal happy that we wouldn’t have to hike up the hill to our room there again. And then we got to Tulemar and it was somehow even hillier. There is a shuttle that can take you around the property, but even then not everywhere is accessible to the shuttle so you will likely wind up climbing up hills and steps at some point. My younger son has declared that he wants to retire in Tulemar but wisely noted that he would have to retire early enough that he can still get around the property. But I’m certain that the idea of living with monkeys right outside his door will motivate him!
