Crocodile Bay

Google maps will not take you to Botanika at crocodile bay. Use WAYZ because it is off the side road from the airport. Also, the hotel and amenities are good, not exceptional. Rooms are exceptional, pool and restaurants exceptional. Service from staff is spotty- dinner poorly executed for reasons I don’t actually know, probably poorly staffed, paid $1750 for a fishing trip that had to be last minute because we tried to set up through online (as directed) and they never responded so when we arrived at hotel and able to talk to Diego (head of fishing charters) he said he didn’t respond because he didn’t have a boat available but then as we are standing there walah! He finds a captain and we get him but no first mate which was strange. The food and drinks on the boat excellent picnic lunch and plenty to drink but boat ride out was about an hour after an hour of fishing for bait by the pier. The boat ride was fast and slammed us about 972 times, then because there is no first mate the captain has my husband drove so he can set up (with no live bait 😜), the when we get a bite the captain calls my husband over and hands him the reel so my husband attempts to “set the hook” and the captain GOES OFF on him for not letting the fish run for 5 seconds, literally, his words!, THEN tells him it was a Marlin (he has a xcellent underwater vision), and just chews him out for not fishing correctly and asks if he has ever caught a marlin (of which he has, with me, too many times to count) and finally my husband says “you’re supposed to do the work, that’s what I’m paying for- so my wife and I can sip our drinks and reel in fish” and for the entire trip the captain sits behind his wheel and tells my husband “how to fish”, literally “use your finger, go to the bottom, reel slowly” complete BS. I choose not to fish because I DONT KNOW how so I definitely don’t want this guy going off on me but as luck would have it, he never asks me nor sets me up. When we ask to do inshore fishing he goes 972 miles an hour to the beach after arguing why we shouldn’t (it’s 24 miles away! You’ll lose time!), about 100 yards off, and drops two lines and sits back in his chair. Mr personable. Then of course as soon as we are inshore he says “now the other boats are getting fish!” and I walk up to the fish finder dash and ask “do you see fish?” And he has to fiddle with it for a minute then shows me a small area in the corner where there are fish. YHEN he gets on the radio to tell his buddies about us/me and doesn’t realize I can understand and mostly speak Spanish so now I am appalled that he is complaining about the American and his gringa! We choose not to kiss him off and go in and we ask “since we still have an hour and we are not only 5 miles away could you drive slower and let us enjoy the boat ride?” Of which he complies. ( maybe he heard me tell my husband that the other captains are getting nada on the radio and that he just bad mouthed us to them). At any rate the fishing wasn’t great, and the boat ride miserable and the captain, 86’d for us. As far as customer service goes, the local staff very pleasant but certainly not the “Curio collection” we’ve experienced. I set up a massage for my husband and I, NOT a couples massage and not the same but requested same time. My husband and I were done at same time in same room but since his ended a half hour before mine, he had to get up in the middle of my massage and get dressed and leave all while I’m getting mine. Though we would both say the therapists were great and did well. I also scheduled one at the front desk for the day we went fishing so I could get a head neck and back after fishing (being proactive) and scheduled for 3:40. I repeated the time three times to her and even said isn’t that too close to fishing if it ends at 3? She assured me it would not. So, I get back from a f’d up fishing trip and shower quickly and head to massage. The therapist )whom I had the day before) says he doesn’t have me down and “someone” didn’t show for the 3 o’clock slot and he has a massage at 4 🤡

Amazing fishing with Capt. Oldemar at Crocodile Bay Truly amazing expereince fishing at Crocodile Bay. We did 2 days of fishing with goal to catch roosterfish and Tuna. Captain Oldemar was AMAZXING. We caught multiple roosterfish, snapper and jacks on day one inshore. Day 2 we went offshore and caught 11 tuna ranging from 40 to 75 pounds. Oldemar was excellent about sustainability and encouraing us to only keep what we needed - day one we kept a large snapper and day 2 we kept the smallest Tuna. We ate them for dinner - WOW! All the others were handled carefully and released alive. Amazing views of dolphins and a mom and baby humpback whale. Truly one of the top 10 life experiences. Don't keep more than you need to so the fish are there for our children! July 2025

To remove any confusion I am reviewing the Crocodile Bay Eco tours. (Crocodile Bay is an older resort property that is now part of the Hilton Botanika resort. In addition to the amenities at Botanika, you can still use the pool, restaurant, walking trails that were a part of Croc Bay. Additionally, this is where the Evo Tours are run from.) The tour desk is located in the reception area of Botanika, however, I booked our tours weeks of not months in advance. The tours run directly from the resort, therefore, making it EASY!. We did the zip lining, chocolate making, fishing, and Sirena station (Corcovado National Park) by boat tours. All were exceptional!!!! Each your was a private tour starting with Jose as our guide for the Zipline and chocolate tours. Great guide and person. Recommend the zip lining for ages 8 and up. The chocolate tour for any age, however, this is more of a "plantation, nature tour" the chocolate part is a very small part of the tour. The fishing charter (half day) was amazing and Eduardo, made the Corcovado tour unforgettable. Recommend teens or above for both fishing and Corcovado tours. A good 4-5 miles of walking for the latter. However, slow paced. DO NOT miss out on these tours. Best I've ever done, anywhere!