Casa Dos Rios faces the beach, and is surrounded by established landscape
Location: Cabo Matapalo, Osa Peninsula, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America (Near Pto. Jimenez [11 miles], at Cabo Matapalo, Osa) View Map
Accommodations: House, 4 Bedrooms + Detached Unit, 2 Baths (Sleeps 8-10)
Keywords: Beachfront vacation house with sea view in rainforest environment. A Treehouse feel! Now offers WiFi.
Located in a tropical rainforest, and on a quiet beach, this vacation beach house offers a close relationship to rainforest flora and fauna plus beachfront privacy at its best! Monkeys visit the property daily while macaws eat almonds in the treetops at eye-level from Casa Dos Rios. The lockable house is lovingly hand-crafted by its owner, an American builder, and displays local area hardwoods. The floors are almond wood, the walls are teak, the rafters are monglio, the countertops are cristobal and the furniture is quanicaste. We now have WiFi!
The four bedrooms have queen beds with bamboo posts and 'no-see-um' netting, and the house is well-ventilated with many windows and a breezeway. We attended to airflow with a cupola and large openings all around the house. The open-air porch downstairs houses hammocks for your relaxation, and the kitchen and living room were positioned upstairs to take advantage of the lovely view to the water and tree-tops.
Enjoy the natural wonders just outside the windows, as there are four kinds of monkeys in the region, and the wildlife includes toucans, macaws, sloths, blue morpho butterflies and iguanas to name a few. Mature trees feature fresh fruit including guava,bananas,mangos,papayas,coconut,cacao, and avacados. The beautiful landscaping of our grounds can be viewed from the house or by strolling the paths that lead to the beach just a few yards away from the house. The property is located between two rivers. The closest river provides a refreshing pool of sparkling clear gurgling water for your enjoyment after swimming and surfing.
The casa is totally off the grid, with solar power, well water, and propane tanks for cook-stoves and hot-water heaters. Our on-demand hot water is available in sinks and showers. We have walk-in showers and deluxe linens for your comfort. The owners, Melanie and Kim Norman live on-site in a manager house, and are available to help make your stay comfortable. They can book tours, do some cooking, baby-sit the kids, or take you on jungle-waterfall tours. "Soul Rhythms" dance-exercise classes are offered by Melanie. and...we now have WiFi! For your security, this house has doors that lock.
Vacation Rental Features
- Amenities
- Washer : We can arrange washing of your laundry by our cleaning staff for a reasonable charge. The clothes are hung out to dry in a covered deck area.
- Linens Provided : We use at least 400 thread count, cotton sheets, and body length bath towels, plus hand towels and wash cloths.
- Off Street Parking : We have a small gravel parking area that can accomodate 4 vehicles
- Beds
- Queen Bed (4) : Our beds are 4-post high beds with no-see-um netting in a tent-like arrangement with zipper. Light and fan is in the bed.
- Double Bed : Two cabinas are located close by on a neighboring property, and can be used by us for over-flow, to accomodate a larger group. These each have a double bed.
- Child Bed : We have a small mattress for children, and mosquito netting for surrounding it.
- Crib : The mattress for children can also be used for infants.
- Kitchen
- Full Kitchen : Owner enjoys cooking, so has equipped the kitchen for a variety of cooking options. Blender and pressure cooker included.
- Cooking Utensils Provided : We have very nice pots and accessories for cooking.
- Refrigerator : Ours is a solar (12 V.) refrigerator. It does not make ice.
- Catering Available : We have people standing by to be hired for cooking for our guests at an extra charge. Please indicate your desire to have cooking services at time of reservation.
- Outdoor Features
- Gas/Electric BBQ Grill : We have a gas grill for our guests to use.
- Charcoal BBQ Grill : We have a charcoal grill
- Deck/Patio : We have a yoga or movement deck with beautiful almond wood floor over the manager house. Our lower porch is a great napping place with its two hammocks.
- Balcony : Balcony off the Kitchen and Living rooms provides a nice vantage point of waterview while having cocktails before dinner.
- Lanai : The lower porch is about 3 feet off the ground and is large and comfortable.
- View/Location
- Beachfront : Our beach area also enjoys the mouth of a clear-water river where there is a 3 ft. deep sandy lagoon to cool off in, and wash off the salt from the gulf.
- Beach View : A view of Gulf Dulce is exquisite from the balconies of our home.
- Communications
- Cell Phone : A cell phone is available.
- WiFi (Wireless Internet) : As of May, 2011, we now have WiFi, so bring your computer and hook up wirelessly.
- Other Amenities
- Linens and Towels Provided, Hammocks, Beach Chairs, Adult and Children's Games, Reading Material, Water-Color Art Supplies, Wet-Bar, Blender, Coffee-Making Equipment and yoga deck, ocean kayak. Just down the lane there is an open-air bar and restaurant serving excellent cuisine, and offering board games and social interaction. We also have horseshoe pits and croquet.
- Suitability
- Pet Friendly
- Kid Friendly
- Activities
- Shelling
- Hiking
- Restaurants
- Kayaking
- Sailing
- Boating
- Swimming
- Surfing
- Biking
- Mountain Biking
- Wildlife Viewing
- Fishing
- Horseshoes
- Horseback Riding
- Other Activities
- Birdwatching, Waterfall Tours and Rapelling, Jungle Tours,Zip-line tours, Dolphin Tours, Tours to Animal Rescue Center, Fishing, Horse-Back Riding, Bird-Watching Tours, Local Jungle Bar with Board Games, massage, yoga lessons, Spanish lessons, surfing lessons, river clay masks, and yoga deck, horse shoes and croquet on site. We have a sailing yacht and offer day sailing tours with lunch provided.
Rate Details (In US Dollars)
$155/night - 2 people (4 day minimum); $25/night per additional adult (8 maximum).
Children - $10/night (each).
Christmas and New Years: $2150/week (for capacity of six people)
Spring Break requires 1 week minimum. See daily rates
Sep 01-Nov 15 .......... $115/night; 2 adults, $25 per additional adult.
and $10/night per additional child.
Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.
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Credit Cards Accepted:
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Map & Owner's Profile
Year Purchased: 2003
Why the Owner Chose Cabo Matapalo
We first went to Matapalo on the Osa Penninsula in 1999 as a couple. Kim, my husband, had visited Costa Rica with his best friend in 1990, traveling with the goal of finding the "best fish soup". Though the best soup turned up in Pto. Viejo, they were taken by the unspoiled Osa Penninsula and the great surfbreaks of Cabo Matapalo.
When Kim and I arrived there in 1999 I was awestruck at how beautiful this coast is, and how much wildlife there is to see! All four kinds of monkeys could be seen in a given day and the sunrises were so spectacular, so many layers of contrast formed from the mountains across the Golfo Dulce and the ever-present scatterings of clouds, surf and birds.
We knew that this place was the right area for us to establish a vacation home to enjoy for ourselves and to offer for the enjoyment of guests.
As on-site managers we are excited about the opportunity to meet and enjoy our own guests, to offer meals, sailing excursions and a movement-exercise class called "Soul Rhythms" to those who are interested.
We are so happy to have so much support (people from our former community are planning their stay with us in the next year) and good times ahead with our guests.
We hope that you will be one of these guests, and we intend to make this vacation one of your most wonderful and memorable ever!
The Unique Benefits at this House
At first arrival to Casa Dos Rios we marvel at how simply exquisite our environment is: the house, with its rich wood surfaces, the view of the Gulf from our balcony, the lush landscape, so meticulously maintained, the sea breeze and sound of surf, the abundance of fruit and the welcoming faces of our greeting managers!
We love the netted 4-post beds (that you zip yourself safely inside of), with reading light right over our heads, and personal fans at our feet. We love having the living area up high, (on the 2nd floor), giving a tree-house feel to the home. The big walk-in shower with rain-water spicket and a large open window (yet private) is a real pleasure to bathe in.
The hammock porch is a special place for relaxation with a book, or napping in the afternoon, enjoying a sea breeze channeling through the breeze-way design of the downstairs.
The Carbonera River to the right of our beachfront is such a gem. We might swim, boogie board, kayak or surf in the gulf in front of the house; then, go over to the cool, fresh-water river, where there is a 3 ft. deep lagoon, and rinse off the sand and salt, in the ever-moving waters that empty into the Golfo Dulce. The second river, to the left is about 1/4 mile away, and forms a deep and wide mouth, feeding the gulf with enough fresh water to make this a very good beach-fishing site.
We also enjoy the hiking areas that are all around us. Bird-watchers hike out on the road nearby; the two largest waterfalls on the Carbonera River are a great hiking destination, reachable by walking approx. one hour from our house; the jungle path all along the beachfronts is a way to discover the many varied beaches of Matapalo.
One of the best things about Casa Dos Rios is that we often see all four kinds of monkeys from the windows of the house. Macaws are so plentiful, we see many pairs every day and sometimes right in the trees outside the house. We find the wildlife still so abundant there, even today!
A short hike up the river canyon and one will see amazing waterfalls.
Owner's Map of Cabo Matapalo
Kim and Melanie Norman: We are people who live for happiness and adventure.
We have enjoyed being beacons of successful coupling in our community for years. We are happy people, and take much pleasure in sharing it with others. We have found that we can share our happiness though offering Casa Dos Rios for others to enjoy.
We are proud of having dreamed big: stretching ourselves and our abilities to buy and build on the fantastic property we discovered in a very special part of Costa Rica. Away from the hustle and bustle of large human populations, our little haven has become our place of sanctuary, helping us balance out the fast-lane careers that we have engaged in over the past 30 years. Kim is a builder and actually lived in Costa Rica for eight months in 2005, building our beach house rental. I have just completed 30 years in the real estate brokerage business. Now, 4 years into the vacation rental venture, we are paying off the last of debt and heading down to live our dream! We recently bought a sailboat because, looking out on Golfo Dulce from Casa Dos Rios, we know that there is so much to discover and enjoy out on those waters teeming with ocean life. We manage our vacation rental from the manager house on-site. We know that we will meet wonderful people from all over the world. Being a Southern Louisiana native, I will fit right in providing "hospitality" and "good cooking" (upon request) for our guests.
Our interests and hobbies include: Sailing, fishing, gardening, cooking, yoga, soul-rhythms exercise to music, water-color painting, wood crafts and traveling.
Property Photos
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- Casa Dos Rios faces the beach, and is surrounded by established landscape - Costa Rica, Vacation Rental
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- The lower porch with its hammocks, is a very comfortable place for napping. - Costa Rica, Vacation Rental
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- Enjoy lots of counter space plus island, and experience a solar refrigerator! - Costa Rica, Vacation Rental
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- Going to bed at night in the queen-sized netted beds, is a pleasure in itself!
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- Casa Dos Rios shines with the use of local area hardwood, including almond floor
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- The front yard at Casa Dos Rios, leads right out to the beach.
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- Our Dr. Suess tree sillouettes the sunrise beyond it, (as viewed from the house)
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- This photo was taken just outside the manager's house, in the guava tree.
Traveler Reviews (19)
A Glorious Place
Guest: Sue
(Ottawa - canada )
Date of Stay: 12/17/11
Review Submitted: 01/05/12
This place is a little piece of heaven - jungle and ocean right at your door - fabulous bird watching at the end of the lane - lovely rivers to bathe in - helpful hosts - magic mornings full of monkey calls - flocks of parrots - and the sound of the sea. We will definitely go back to Casa Dos Rios - it was perfect
Recommended for:Families with teenagers, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children.
Paradise on Earth!!
Guest: dr mommy
(SC)
Date of Stay: 08/11/11
Review Submitted: 08/31/11
Never before have we had such a wonderfully enjoyable vacation!! The house was beautiful and each night we were lulled to sleep by the sounds of the crashing surf. Our mornings began with the cacophany of Rainforest animals waking up-howler monkeys, macaws, and all of the myriad of other birds. Our days went quickly by playing in the surf, kayaking, hiking, swimming in the nearby waterfall and enjoying mud masks by the river. We could have enjoyed these at many local rentals, but no other would have provided the hospitality of Kim and Melanie!! We felt as if we were leaving old friends as we made our departure. Melanie's meals were phenomenal and both have a wonderful knowledge of the area. They were accurate in their tour recommendations for Everyday Adventures and Changing Tides Tours and also took us for a wonderful day of sailing on the Golfe Dulce aboard their sailboat Sorrento. We could not have asked for a better vacation!! Thank you, Melanie and Kim!!!
Recommended for:Families with teenagers, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with young children.
Loving it will miss yall
Guest: Sophie
(South carolina)
Date of Stay: 08/11/11
Review Submitted: 08/28/11
Great will miss u all so much I loved costa rica and Cas dos rios and can't wait till next time love y'all love Sophie.
Owner response:Sophie, You are such a darling girl. It is so thoughtful, and uncommon for a nine year old, to have given us this review. We know how much you loved our home and this wild and wonderful area, and we look forward to seeing you and your family here again some time. Meanwhile, enjoy the great education you are getting by traveling, and being home-schooled! We see how much character and world wisdom you are getting from these things. Much love back at ya! Melanie and Kim Norman, owners, Casa Dos Rios.
Recommended for:Families with teenagers, romantic getaway, adventure seekers, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with young children.
Guest: Glenn DAVIS
(St. Augustine, FL.)
Date of Stay: 05/18/10
Review Submitted: 05/18/10
Just got back from my second stay at Casa Dos Rios. A dream house in a dream location. You don't have to leave the house to see three types of monkeys and Scarlet Macaws, and all sorts of wildlife. The surf was great and right in the front yard! You can do as much as you like, surf, hike, fish, yoga or as little as you like. This is Costa Rica!
Recommended for:
Guest: Rusty Calder
(Manhattan Beach, CA)
Date of Stay: 04/14/10
Review Submitted: 04/14/10
We had an absolutely great time at Casa Dos Rios. It was a wonderful experience. Cabo Matapalo is a beautiful place with lots of wildlife, great hiking, and surfing. I was sad to come home. Kim and Melanie were extremely helpful with anything we needed and all around good people. The only thing that was possibly questionable was Kim's horseshoe throwing skills, ha ha. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.
Recommended for:
Guest: Holly & Todd
(Chicago, Illinois)
Date of Stay: 03/15/10
Review Submitted: 03/15/10
We would recommend Casa Dos Rios to anyone who wants to experience true Costa Rican living in a beautiful, relaxing environment. It was the perfect setting for our vacation. Just a short way off a slightly beaten path, Cabo Matapalo is visitor-friendly without being too touristy. We were able to truly experience the tropical rainforest and the local lifestyle. Casa Dos Rios provided the perfect balance of tropical living with some modern luxuries, like indoor plumbing and a refrigerator. We loved that it was nestled in the rain forest right on the beach. We had an ocean view on a very private setting. The local wildlife visited daily. We saw howler monkeys, capuchins, and mccaws right from the porch. To top it all off, Kim, Melanie and Maddie were fabulous hosts. They made sure we had everything we needed, gave us great advice on tours and activities and handled all of the details if we wanted to set anything up. Casa Dos Rios MADE our vacation and we will go back whenever we can.
Recommended for:
Guest: Chris & Craig Patten
(Vista, CA)
Date of Stay: 08/08/08
Review Submitted: 08/08/08
Casa Dos Rios is truly a most wonderful and special setting. After gazing for months at the beautiful photos on the website in anticipation of our trip, we were pleasantly surprised to find that it exceeded our expectations! The house is so lovely, with warm wood throughout, large open windows to the tropical garden, and a very comfortable layout. We loved the view of the beautiful ocean just beyond the garden, and the sound of the waves. And, we so enjoyed seeing and hearing all the wildlife that came through the garden--all 4 kinds of monkeys, scarlet macaws, squirrels, a coati, two different hawks, hummingbirds, frogs, lizards, hermit crabs, leafcutter ants, blue morpho butterflies, and even fireflies at night! The Osa is a magical place and Casa Dos Rios is the perfect home from which to enjoy it!! We can't wait to return!!
Recommended for:
Guest: Janet & Rod Rhoades
(Bellingham WA)
Date of Stay: 03/28/07
Review Submitted: 03/28/07
Casa Dos Rios by far is one of, if not the best house on the Osa Peninsula. This was our 4th visit to Costa Rica and we have stayed in a variety of amenities all offering their own touch and style of Costa Rica. BUT we must say that this house is absolutely perfect for everyone. This trip included my parents who are in their late 70's as well as our daughter and her twin 7 year olds. The spaciousness of the house allowed everyone to live comfortably and provided just the right amount of privacy. We took advantage of two fishing trips, snorkling, surfing and a waterfall hike, all arranged by onsite managers: Gretchen & Oldemar. Each event was memorable for all family members. The twins even got up on their surf boards. I could go on and on about the beauty of the house, the perfect setting and the great food but the fact that we are returning should be testimony enough as to the quality of this vacation! Rod & Janet Rhoades Kelly, Hannah & Angela Rhoades Keith & Jean Ash
Recommended for:
Guest: Reid Dennis
(New Orleans, LA)
Date of Stay: 02/21/07
Review Submitted: 02/21/07
This was the most amazing vacation we have ever taken. All 4 of the monkey species passed by the house daily. The chi chi's trusted us enough to leave their small ones behind in a tree right next to Casa Dos Rios while the adults foraged. The howler alarm woke me up in time to photograph some anmazing sunrises. Probably the most memorable event was being within the middle of a pod of Spotted Dolphins during the "swim with the dolphins" tour. We also saw a spectacular display by a huge group of Macaw's playing in a tree. Surfing was fun as well as hikes up the rivers in the area. Accomodations were perfect for a paradise excape "off the grid". We'll be back!
Recommended for:
Guest: Julie & Darrel Peeples
(Olympia, Washington)
Date of Stay: 01/21/07
Review Submitted: 01/21/07
Our family of 6, 2 adult sons and their partners and this very lucky Mom and Dad, spent a memory making Christmas holiday together at Casa Dos Rios. It only took a few days to feel at home and relaxed. We woke up with the sunrise streaming into our bedroom as the howler monkeys announced a new day in paradise. With a fresh cup of Tico coffee, brewed in the traditional Costa Rican way and with binoculars in hand, it was a contest to see who would spot the first wildlife of the day. Renting a vacation home from the owners was a very positive and personal experience. We always felt well cared for by Gretchen and Oldemar the onsight caretakers. Their willingness to lend a hand and share their knowledge of the area was invaluable. Since we are not resort people, we felt very lucky to stay in a place that allowed us to experience the local culture and life more as residents then like tourists.
Recommended for:
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Vacation Rentals by Owner Listing #78314
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