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 with two levels, 4 Bedrooms + Convertible bed(s), 2 Baths (Sleeps 8)
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 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.
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 to take advantage of the lovely view to the water.
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.
Vacation Rental Features
- Amenities
- 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 would 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.
- Child Bed: We have a small mattress for children, and mosquito netting for surrounding it.
- Crib: The mattress for childrent 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.
- 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.
- Communications
- Cell Phone: A cell phone is available for emergencies only. (Usable at the beach).
- 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.
- Suitability
- Pet Friendly: We discourage bringing pets that would chase or attack monkeys and other wildlife.
- Kid Friendly: Many families with small children visit our house, and just watch their children around the door and balcony areas upstairs.
- Smoking Allowed: Smoking allowed only outdoors, on balcony, porch or in yard.
- Activities (on site and nearby)
- Sightseeing
- Restaurants
- Kayaking
- Sailing
- Boating
- Shelling
- Swimming
- Snorkeling/Diving
- Surfing
- Biking
- Mountain Biking
- Wildlife Viewing
- Hiking
- 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 on site
Rate Details (In US Dollars)
$155/night - 2 people (4 day minimum); $25 per additional adult (8 maximum).
Children - $10/night (each).
Christmas and New Years: $2850/week (for capacity of eight 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.
Credit Cards Accepted:
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 as a couple 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 Gulfo 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 upcoming managers on sight 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 present 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 with two levels
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 Gulf 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 sight.
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.
In our present community of Fayetteville, Arkansas, we have enjoyed being beacons of successful coupling. 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 & actually lived in Costa Rica for eight months in 2005, building our beach house rental. I, a real estate broker, have just completed 30 years in the 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 Gulfo Dulce from Casa Dos Rios, we know that there is so much to discover and enjoy out on those waters teeming with ocean life. Our plan is to manage our vacation rental from the manager house on sight. 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
- Casa Dos Rios faces the beach, and is surrounded by established landscape - Costa Rica, Vacation Rental
- The lower porch with its hammocks, is a very comfortable place for napping. - Costa Rica, Vacation Rental
- Enjoy lots of counter space plus island, and experience a solar refrigerator! - Costa Rica, Vacation Rental
- Going to bed at night in the queen-sized netted beds, is a pleasure in itself!
- Casa Dos Rios shines with the use of local area hardwood, including almond floor
- Watching a surfer in front of our house, from the balcony
- Another fantastic sunrise!
- This photo was taken just outside the manager's house, in the guava tree.
Guest Comments (13)
First (10) of (13). View all comments
Vacation Rentals by Owner Listing #78314
There have been 19710 visitors to this page since the counter was last reset in 2005.
This listing was first published here in 2005.
Date last modified - October 30, 2009
Positive Rating
Chris & Craig Patten , Vista, CA
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Janet & Rod Rhoades , Bellingham WA
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Reid Dennis , New Orleans, LA
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Julie & Darrel Peeples , Olympia, Washington
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Words and photos are dismal failures at describing this place. It is, of course, a spectacular setting – with helpful taxi drivers, friendly caretakers and beautiful landscaping. But what we cannot stop talking about is the house that Kim built and Melanie outfitted – perfect in every detail – so well conceived. I could go on and on but will wait to do so in person. You have created a wonder and thank you. Susan L. Kim & Melanie, This is really fantastic. The design, construction, decoration and attention to detail. You guys really did an incredible job of it and should be very proud of what you’ve accomplished here. Tim L.
Positive Rating
Fell completely in love with the Osa Peninsula and were privileged to stay at this beautiful, breathtaking location. Casa Dos Rios caters to all needs; everything thought through to the last detail. Well done Kim and Melanie for such a lovely, lovely place. We will both take home very happy memories and hope to return sometime soon. Thank you so much!
Positive Rating
Having built our own home in California, we know what it takes to create a place like this. You have been meticulous down to the very last detail... even the trim on the shutters and Casa Dos Rios sits so perfectly in its environment. What a triumph. We had a fabulous time – you looked after our every need. Thank you.
Positive Rating
“... charming, loving, a siesta for the soul, Casa Dos Rios is a place to refill , refresh and re-create…”
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Once again the Osa called us back and we came! And again we were lost in the beauty of the Osa, the music and the moment. The surf lessons with Oldemar (“Pollo”) were a blast! You can teach and “old dog” a new trick. Andy’s nature walk was very informative about the area. Caught fish out front Costa Rica style while the kids played for hours in the waves and streams. The “howlers” alarm clock at 4:30am was perfect for my husband that checked the waves early. Thank you Melanie and Kim for sharing this beautiful home with our family, so we could relax, recharge and fill up on down time!
Positive Rating
Casa Dos Rios is perfect for our family vacation! Plenty of room for the grandson, daughter and son-in-law, son and ourselves. This is our 4th trip to the Osa, the first to Casa Dos Rios. Younger folk enjoyed surfing lesson, tree climb and waterfall repelling. Older folk liked the view, breeze and ocean water, even braved a hike up the Carbonera. The “howler” alarm clock is unique!