Dry season The Hiking Expedition · Dry Season
The mountain at its greenest with the rain switched off: cold, clear mornings on the páramo and a valley drying by the day.
- 4 – 12 December 2027 Now booking
03 The Hiking Expedition
Walk from the páramo
to the Pacific.
Nine days on foot down the Camino Playa El Rey — from the high páramo of the Cerro de la Muerte, down the valley of the Río Savegre lodge to lodge, to the wild sand of Playa El Rey.
There is a route in the south of Costa Rica that follows one river from the continental divide to the sea. Local people call the country it crosses the Camino Playa El Rey: it begins in the páramo of the Cerro de la Muerte — tropical alpine grassland that exists only above three thousand metres — and it ends on a beach with no paved road to it, where the Savegre lets go of the mountains. This expedition walks it in nine days, one lodge at a time.There is a route in the south of Costa Rica that follows one river from the continental divide to the sea. Local people call the country it crosses the Camino Playa El Rey: it begins in the páramo of the Cerro de la Muerte — tropical alpine grassland that exists only above 9,800 feet — and it ends on a beach with no paved road to it, where the Savegre lets go of the mountains. This expedition walks it in nine days, one lodge at a time.
The structure is simple and honest: every night is lower and warmer than the last. High cloud forest, then a village of twenty houses, then a clearing in the mountain, then a refuge on the riverbank, then a community in the mid-valley jungle that owns its own forest — and finally the coast. The Savegre is one of the cleanest rivers in Central America, and for three days it is also the trail: you cross it twice in a day — on a hanging bridge, then on a cable strung bank to bank — and once more the day after, on a hanging bridge a hundred and twenty-seven metres long at Los Campesinos.The structure is simple and honest: every night is lower and warmer than the last. High cloud forest, then a village of twenty houses, then a clearing in the mountain, then a refuge on the riverbank, then a community in the mid-valley jungle that owns its own forest — and finally the coast. The Savegre is one of the cleanest rivers in Central America, and for three days it is also the trail: you cross it twice in a day — on a hanging bridge, then on a cable strung bank to bank — and once more the day after, on a hanging bridge 417 feet long at Los Campesinos.
This is walking country we have known for years — the same mountains our Queen Stage runs through, taken at a pace that lets you accept the coffee. Six to eight hikers, two professional guides, one dedicated photographer, and kitchens that open their doors as you pass. And know this before you book: the nights here are not our luxury line. They are family homes and community lodges — simple, spotless, warm — with the Hampton and the Parador holding the comfortable bookends. We think that trade is the whole point. You finish on the sand at Playa El Rey, with people who started as strangers and end as the only ones who understand what just happened.
Two editions.
The dry season or the rainy season — same route, same lodges, same price. Choose the sky you want. What the seasons mean →
Dry season 
Rainy season The Hiking Expedition · Rainy Season
From the páramo to the sea in the wet: cloud forest at full saturation, the Savegre high under the crossings, and a coast with almost no one on it.
- 19 – 27 June 2027 Now booking
8 moments that stay.
The kind of details no itinerary line-item captures, but every hiker remembers the morning after the flight home.
Begin in the páramo.
The first steps are above the treeline, on the spine of the Macizo del Cerro de la Muerte — grassland, dwarf bamboo, and volcanic light at three thousand four hundred metres.The first steps are above the treeline, on the spine of the Macizo del Cerro de la Muerte — grassland, dwarf bamboo, and volcanic light at 11,200 feet.
A sea of clouds.
Dawn from the high ridge, before the descent begins — the Pacific invisible below a white ocean that burns off by nine.
The valley wakes singing.
Two mornings in the Dota Valley, where the dawn chorus starts before the light — and the aguacatillo trees outside your window are the reason the resplendent quetzal lives here all year.
Down the Savegre.
The long descent from Providencia — ridge, cloud forest, the first clearing at La Chaqueta, and the river growing louder below.
Across by cable.
The Savegre is crossed the way the mountain families cross it — a hanging bridge and a hand-pulled andarivel in a single day, a bridge a hundred and twenty-seven metres long the day after, cold clean water the whole week.The Savegre is crossed the way the mountain families cross it — a hanging bridge and a hand-pulled andarivel in a single day, a bridge 417 feet long the day after, cold clean water the whole week.
Kitchens of the mountain.
Armonía Ambiental, La Chaqueta, Los Campesinos — family and community lodges where dinner comes from the garden and the trapiche, and the hosts sit down with you.
Lapas at the river mouth.
Scarlet macaws work the beach almonds where the Savegre and the Naranjo meet the Pacific — the loudest possible welcome to the coast.
One night above Manuel Antonio.
After six nights of mountain lodges, the Pacific from the cliff-top pools at Parador — and, if you want it, sloths and three monkey species in the national park next morning.
9 days, told slowly.
The route in outline. Each edition tells it day by day — with its dates, and what that season adds to every stage.
- 01 San José Arrive in the capital.
- 02 The páramo Above the treeline.
- 03 Cloud forest Over the ridge to Providencia.
- 04 The descent The descent begins.
- 05 Savegre canyon The river is the trail.
- 06 Mid-valley jungle The village that stayed.
- 07 The Pacific The mountain meets the sea.
- 08 Return Salt water, then the capital.
- 09 Departure Until the next one.
Read it day by day: Dry-season edition →Rainy-season edition →
The lodges that hold each night.
Chosen for the way the morning light falls across the bedroom — not for their star count.
Hampton Inn by Hilton
Your comfortable base for the first and last nights. Strategic, quiet, and minutes from the airport.
Lauráceas Lodge
A family-run cloud-forest hideaway in the Dota Valley — trout and apples from the farm, quetzals in the trees the lodge is named after.
Armonía Ambiental
A family conservation project turned mountain lodge — simple rooms, some sharing a bath, food straight from the organic garden, and the Mora family, who have protected this valley for decades.
La Chaqueta
A mountain family's home in the first clearing below the treeline — a few beds under a tin roof, a wood-fired kitchen, and the loudest silence on the route.
Refugio del Río Don Hernán
The Granados family's refuge on the bank of the Savegre — a simple house, unpolished on purpose. The river runs a few metres from your bed.The Granados family's refuge on the bank of the Savegre — a simple house, unpolished on purpose. The river runs a few feet from your bed.
Los Campesinos Eco Lodge
Community-owned cabins — clean, simple, hot showers, porches over the river — above waterfalls and a 127-metre hanging bridge. The village that stayed, and the forest it saved.Community-owned cabins — clean, simple, hot showers, porches over the river — above waterfalls and a 417-foot hanging bridge. The village that stayed, and the forest it saved.
Hotel Parador
A hilltop boutique resort overlooking the Pacific, ten minutes from the national park. The celebration night.
What is included.
And what is not.
Included in your fare
- All accommodations (8 nights, boutique, family and community lodges)
- All in-country transportation and transfers
- Two professional guides & one dedicated photographer-videographer
- Full board on mountain days 3–7 (breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner); breakfast on day 2; plus welcome, celebration and farewell dinners
- Snacks and hydration support on every walking day
- Full safety support: Wilderness First Responder–led, with certified local operators for technical activities
- All park entrance fees, community trail fees and permits
Available on request
- Guided birdwatching in the Dota Valley
- Coffee finca visit in Providencia
- Guided Manuel Antonio National Park visit on day 8
- Chocolate-making and craft beer workshops in San José
- Private transfers from a different arrival airport
- Extended stay before or after the expedition
Not included
- International flights to / from Costa Rica
- Travel insurance (required, available through us)
- Lunches and dinners not marked in the day-by-day itinerary
- Personal hiking gear and clothing
- Tips for guides and lodge staff
- Alcoholic beverages (except welcome, celebration and farewell dinners)
Hold your place
The expedition is 6 – 8 hikers wide.
A 30% deposit reserves your place. Final balance due 60 days before departure. We reply to every enquiry personally within 24 hours.
Per person · single occupancy
USD 7,700
Single is your own private room. Double is one room for two who book together — partner, friend, training companion. We never pair you with a stranger. All taxes included; pricing locked at booking. Reserves the 19 – 27 June 2027 departure, rainy season. Other dates are on the edition pages — two editions.
In summary
9 days. 6 – 8 places. One country.
- Next departure: 19 – 27 June 2027 (rainy season)
- Two editions a year — dry season and rainy season
- Boutique & eco lodges every night
- Founder-led, photographer-supported
- Wilderness First Responder–led on every trail
Booking is handled through our trusted partner WeTravel. Your information stays private; we never share contact details with third parties.
Quietly answered.
The questions we hear most often, with honest answers.
What level of fitness do I need?
This is a walking expedition, not a race — but it is a real one. Expect five consecutive days on foot with sustained descents, river crossings, and mountain terrain between roughly 3,400 m and sea level. If you can comfortably hike six hours a day on consecutive days, you will be at home here. Poles are welcome; nobody is timing anything.This is a walking expedition, not a race — but it is a real one. Expect five consecutive days on foot with sustained descents, river crossings, and mountain terrain between roughly 11,200 ft and sea level. If you can comfortably hike six hours a day on consecutive days, you will be at home here. Poles are welcome; nobody is timing anything.
How is this different from your trail running expedition?
Same mountains, different pace, different line. The trail running expedition runs six point-to-point stages and moves by van between regions; the Hiking Expedition walks one continuous story — the Camino Playa El Rey, following the Savegre watershed from the páramo to the Pacific, sleeping in the mountain lodges along it. If your idea of luxury is having time to accept the coffee, this is your trip.
How small are the groups, really?
Six to eight hikers, never more. Two professional guides, one dedicated photographer-videographer. Small enough to share one long table at every dinner — a logistical commitment that shapes every booking decision, not a marketing claim.
What are the lodges actually like?
Honest ones — and this matters, so read it twice. Hampton and Parador bookend the trip with full comfort, and Lauráceas is a beloved cloud-forest lodge. But the heart of the route is Armonía Ambiental, La Chaqueta, the Refugio del Río Don Hernán and Los Campesinos: family homes and community lodges. Clean beds, hot food, cold rivers, warm hosts — and in places, a shared bath or a bunk. If your trip depends on thread count, our trail running and gravel expeditions are built for that. Here the luxury is different: the access, the safety, the photographer, and kitchens no hotel can book you into. That authenticity is not a compromise — it is the reason this route exists.
What happens if I get injured during the expedition?
Your lead guide is a certified Wilderness First Responder, and every technical activity is run with licensed local operators. We carry a full medical kit and satellite communication, and we have evacuation protocols established with regional partners. Comprehensive travel and medical insurance is required for participation; we can arrange a policy through our partner if needed.
What does 'single' or 'double' occupancy actually mean here?
Single is a private room wherever the lodge allows it — sold to solo travellers. Double is one room shared between two guests who already know each other: a partner, a friend. We never pair solo travellers with strangers. In the smallest mountain lodges rooms may be shared by the group; we will tell you exactly where before you book.
What is the cancellation policy?
Deposits are refundable up to 90 days before departure. Final balance is due 60 days before. Cancellations within 60 days are subject to a portion of the trip cost; comprehensive travel insurance covers this in nearly all cases and is required for participation.
What is the difference between the dry-season and rainy-season editions?
The dry season, December to April: December still drying, then clear days, hard sun and falling rivers, with the country in high season. The rainy season, May to November: mornings mostly dry, rain most afternoons, full rivers, the coast at its greenest and the country at its quietest. Same route, same lodges, same price; each edition has its own page, dates and booking.
Prefer this journey privately — your group, your dates, your pace? Explore bespoke Costa Rica itineraries, designed from a blank page.
6 – 8 places. 9 days. Two editions.
The next expedition departs 19 – 27 June 2027, in the rainy season. 6–8 hikers. Founder-led, photographer-supported.