If you’re looking for a luxury, family friendly resort in Drake Bay, consider Copa de Arbol Resort for your stay.
If you already know you want to book Copa de Arbol Resort, save 5% with our promo code mytanfeet on their website Copa de Arbol!
This post has affiliate links which we may earn a small commission from if you choose to purchase, at no extra cost to you. Listed prices are quoted in USD and are estimates. This review is part of an exchange we did with the hotel. All thoughts and opinions are our own. More info: Disclosure
Copa de Arbol Resort, Drake Bay What to Know
- Boat access only, beachfront
- 10 cabinas total (8 luxury and 2 deluxe)
- Family friendly for children ages 4 and older
- Daily rate is per person based on double occupancy
- Minimum of 3 nights booking
- Holiday season requires a minimum of 4 nights booking
- Daily rate includes 3 meals, juice, coffee, filtered water, welcome drink and use of kayaks, paddleboards, boogie boards and snorkel gear
- Air conditioning and Wi-Fi available
- Hotel set on a 70 acre (28 hectare) property
- Rate does not include transportation, tours and activities, soft drinks, bottled water, and alcoholic drinks.
Read on below for our personal thoughts, opinions and recommendations about Copa de Arbol Resort, an all inclusive resort in Drake Bay.
Prefer to watch video? Check out our video review of Copa de Arbol Resort.
Location of Copa de Arbol Resort, Drake Bay
Copa de Arbol Resort is located just outside the main beaches of Drake Bay, in an area known as “Caletas”which is between Drake Bay and Corcovado National Park.
Drake Bay is in the Osa Peninsula, one of the most biologically diverse places in the world!
How to Get To Copa de Arbol Resort, Drake Bay
Copa de Arbol Resort is boat access only. They do not have a parking lot or direct road access.
Once you are in Drake Bay, the resort can help arrange the transportation from the Drake Bay Airport or Drake Bay beach to the hotel.
If you plan to go to Copa de Arbol Resort in Drake Bay as your first or last destination of your itinerary, you should fly in and out of San Jose International Airport.
How to Get to Drake Bay
There are three main ways to get to Drake Bay. Below is a summary.
For details, check out our how to get to Drake Bay guide.
Flying to Drake Bay
The fastest way to get to Drake Bay is to take a domestic flight. Domestic flights are available from San Jose with the local airline Sansa Airlines.
This flight is around 50 minutes and costs between $150-200 USD per person one way.
Once you land at Drake Bay Airport, Copa de Arbol Resort can help you arrange a boat taxi to the resort.
Driving to Drake Bay
It is possible to drive to Drake Bay, leave your car and get picked up by boat to get to Copa de Arbol Resort, Drake Bay.
A 4×4 is required between the months of June through December and a high clearance 2wd SUV is required between the months of January through May.
Get our Costa Rica car rental discount here!
We do not recommend to drive to Drake Bay directly from San Jose or San Jose International Airport in one day, as this drive takes around 6.5 hours without traffic or stops.
It will be best to break up the drive and stay in a couple places along the way. Places to stop for a few nights along the way are Jaco, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal.
From Uvita, the drive to Drake Bay takes around 3 hours.
You can check a sample itinerary we made that stops at Jaco, Maunel Antonio and Uvita and then you can add Drake Bay at the end.
Where to Park in Drake Bay
Once you arrive at Drake Bay, you have to leave your car somewhere during your time at Copa de Arbol Resort as they do not have a parking lot.
There is no official parking lot in Drake Bay, but many people leave their car at a local lady’s house. On Google Maps, it is right where the “Osa Divers” is.
She charges around 3000 CRC per day – cash only. Make sure not to leave ANYTHING in your car, roll up your windows and double check that your doors are locked.
Save money on your rental and get our Costa Rica car rental discount here!
Boat to Copa de Arbol
For our visit, we drove to Drake Bay, parked our car, and then called the resort to send their boat to pick us up from the beach.
The boat ride to the resort is around 5 minutes.
Taking the Boat from Sierpe to Drake Bay
Another fun method is to take the boat from Sierpe to Drake Bay.
When you purchase your boat ticket in Sierpe, let the boat captain know you require drop off at Copa de Arbol Resort and they will take you there.
For your return, you can ask the hotel to help you arrange your boat taxi back to Sierpe.
Our Experience at Copa de Arbol Resort, Drake Bay
Don’t forget our 5% promo code “mytanfeet” and use it on the Copa de Arbol website!
We stayed four nights and three full days at Copa de Arbol Resort.
This Drake Bay luxury eco-lodge is a fantastic place for older families, couples and solo travelers to experience the Osa Peninsula.
Accommodation
All ten casitas are spread out throughout the property, giving the ultimate feeling of privacy.
We stayed in casita 3, Cacao, a two story cabina with two queen beds, a deck, and lower area seating and hammocks.
Our cabina was located a little further away from the beach, more in the rainforest.
The cabinas have a ceiling fan and air conditioning. Since Drake Bay is SO humid, it was really nice to have the air conditioning during the day.
Each cabina at Copa de Arbol Resort is different, no two cabina are the same, though they could be similar.
Some are one level, one had a Japanese soaking tub, others have one room, some have two rooms.
I love that all their cabinas are different, so they can accommodate all different group and party sizes.
Dining
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included in the daily rate. I didn’t find the food to be the best I’ve ever had, but it was pretty good. Some meals were much better than others though.
Menus change every day and the waiter will ask you what you would like between two or three options. They were helpful in accommodating food allergies and diet restrictions.
Facilities
The hotel property has a really nice pool and offers free use of boogie boards, stand up paddle boards, snorkel gear and kayaks.
You can walk the trails to Agujitas town, walk the other trail to Playa Las Caletas and Playa Iris, walk their on-site trail in the frog garden, get an in-room massage, birdwatch at the open air dining hall or swim and relax at the pool.
Wildlife
One of the perks in staying at a place like this, surrounded by the rainforest, is all the wildlife. From our cabina, we saw white face monkeys and howler monkeys.
We heard Scarlet Macaws and toucans (hard to see) everyday and frogs and crickets all night long.
During our stay, a puma was wandering around the nearby trails. Although we didn’t see the puma, we saw a sloth close to the resort, on the beach trail to town.
Additional Info
Copa de Arbol Resort can book tours for you and it’s much easier than trying to book your own individual tours, especially due to its remote location.
They offer tours such as Corcovado National Park, Caño Island snorkeling/scuba diving, birdwatching, night walks, Rio Claro, horseback riding, massages, Sierpe boat rides and much more.
We did a birdwatching tour and night walk with their in-house guide. During our stay, we saw a bunch of trogon birds.
They can offer packages with tours and transportation included.
Mytanfeet Discount (Copa de Arbol Promo Code)
Ready to book your stay? Save 5% with our promo code mytanfeet on their website.
Need an itinerary to plan your trip with Drake Bay included? Check out our 1 month Costa Rica itinerary.
You can cut this itinerary down to fit your trip, whether it’s like two weeks or three weeks.
Some people even stay in Drake Bay for their entire vacation in Costa Rica, especially those that just want to get away from the stresses of life, the city, people and need an escape into nature.
We had a very nice and relaxing four nights at Copa de Arbol Beach & Rainforest Resort in Drake Bay. Thank you for a great time!
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