A reef-sheltered cove calm enough for small kids and boat launches.
Blue Flag beach Protected area
Marino Ballena National Park
Playa Piñuela is a small bay within Marino Ballena National Park where coral reefs and sandbars mute the ocean swell, making it one of the calmer swimming beaches on this stretch of coast. Local fishermen favor it for launching boats without fighting heavy surf, and it is well suited to children. Services are a short drive away in Uvita or Ojochal rather than on site.
Enter through the Piñuela sector of Marino Ballena National Park on Highway 34, between Playa Ballena and Playa Ventanas; this sector has had periods of closure, so check current access before visiting.
Ojochal
Local mangrove boat tour company based about one kilometer south of the Ojochal entrance, running wildlife tours through the Terraba river mangrove system. The company is reachable by phone and email and maintains active Facebook and Instagram pages for booking and updates.
Ojochal
Osa Jet Ski runs guided jet ski tours out of Ojochal, with an ocean route past sea caves and the islets of Isla Ballena and Las Tres Hermanas, and a calmer mangrove route suited to first-time riders. Both tours are guided and include stops for wildlife such as sea turtles, rays, and seasonal whales on the ocean route.
Ojochal
Non-profit research and education center founded in 2009 that protects the olive ridley nesting beach at Playa Tortuga, moving threatened nests into a guarded hatchery and releasing hatchlings. On weekend mornings the reserve runs a public guided walk of its trails and hatchery led by biologist Oscar Brenes, and it also runs a longer-running volunteer program covering night beach patrols during the July-to-December nesting season.