I liked that its in the jungle. I needed this type of environment for serious rest and relaxation. Even tho most days were spend at one of the many awesome virgin beaches (mostly Playa Negra) the natural pond is absolutely wonderful, relaxing, refreshing and a must for travelers to experience! The Manager, Tiana, was attentive, with a warm personality and just such a pleasure to be around - she welcomed and put us at ease immediately! She is a treasure at La Shamana! Enjoyed the free breakfast of fruit and coffee con leche in the morning and the 2 dinners we had there were good full of love fare - the Cooks are cooking for real! I did also; however, like that I had the room with the kitchen especially because of having some food restrictions on my diet so it helped to have the option of cooking some meals, snack for myself. I enjoyed going to the tourist places and hanging out in Cahuita, BriBri and Puerto Viejo yet really appreciated La Shamana's 2 waiting jungle kittens, the peace and quiet found here. For the truly tired I would definately recommend this place. Come here to unplug, recharge, renew!

I loved fresh fruit in the mornings and always having a good salad included for dinner at La Shamana. I am a diabetic and know my diet is retricted (believe me it's not by choice but due to health issues); however, found it just a little confusing to have Flan (ususally served as a desert in US) as breakfast fare, and to have white rice along with mashed potatoes for dinner? The typical diet for the area - while tasty - seemed to be heavy on the starches with a lot of starchy tuber vegetables in the local restaurants and sodas as well. As the week ended I found myself longing to add my familiar southern greens, kale, collards, string beans, spinach.

Fantastic location in the jungle and wild life. The staff is super friendly and helpful. You need a car to make it easier to get to. No 4x4 required. The natural pool is awesome. It is all pure nature. Specious apartment with kitchen. Great fresh beast in the morning. Stayed for 3 nights. Easy to get to all the places around it. Again you need a car.

Nothing

This place is very unique and nothing like anywhere we ever stayed before. Especially if you book the room with the jungle views, it’s pretty incredible. Beds were quite comfy and the best part was the jungle shower! Extremely clean room. Very modern and stylish room, and the natural pool was very enjoyable. Jess gave us a super warm welcome and was incredibly helpful throughout our stay!

While we overall enjoyed the experience, there are a few things to be aware of before booking here: 1) The location while amazing, is not easy to navigate without a car. We didn’t have a car and read that it was walkable into town. But the place is so hidden up on an extremely steep hill and a long way away from the town with no footpaths to walk on, it’s not a very doable walk in the heat. Uber worked really well for us as a way to manage this, but it’s an additional cost to consider. When we arrived with a shared shuttle, he refused to drive us all the way up because it was too steep, so we had a not so great start chugging our big backpacks up to the location on an extremely steep road and in the heat. When we checked out we needed to get to the main road to take transport to our next location, and asked if someone was available for the short drive to help us with our bags so we didn’t have to carry them down the steep hill, but they weren’t able to help. 2) This accommodation is zero sound proof. Due to how it’s built, you can hear everything that happens in your neighbours room, including toilet visits, snoring, and conversations. Don’t expect a restful sleep here. 3) You are in the middle of the jungle so be aware there a plenty of creepy crawlies around. Our room had two lizards when we arrived, a few bugs throughout the stay, and there are huge spiders everywhere around the lodge (those were not in our room). For us this was okay, and the room has a big screen at the window and mosquito nets, but for someone who is scared of spiders this might be an issue. 4) Just highlighting the rooms have no aircon for environmental reasons. The fan isn’t very powerful so doesn’t help much. Just be prepared to be very hot and sweaty for the duration of the stay, and bed linen to be moist/ clothes not to dry due to the humidity. Again, totally okay for us, but something to be mindful of.

The location in the middle of the rainforest was cool, allowing you to hear and see many animals. (We do recommend having your own vehicle that is able to drive on rural gravel roads.) The staff were really helpful, especially Gustavo. He provided helpful recommendations and responded to questions/concerns quickly. Gustavo set up a night tour for our group on the property, and the guide and tour were excellent. The daily breakfast was modest, but tasty, and the rooms were tidied daily. The rooms appeared as pictured.

Although this stay had the potential to be great, our group had significant safety concerns with the facility. There are wooden boardwalks and stairs that move throughout the property, and every single member of our group experienced the wooden boards breaking (even with 2 of our group falling through the boardwalk and injuring our legs). This is due to the moisture of the area impacting the wood. We think this should be improved with replacement of the faulty wood and additional structural support to prevent people being able to fall through before we can recommend others staying at this property.