BUILDing our dream

The Pura Vida Ecolodge concept started as a large chunk of wild jungle reserve with almost no local infrastructure and an incredibly bumpy road up from the nearby village of Tres Rios. 12 years ago we moved into a little wooden shack down in Coronado and over the next 9 months, day by day with our brilliant team of workers from up the road in Dominical, we started crafting our dream of many years into a reality. We first opened our doors in November 2012 but our dreaming didn’t stop there. Pura Vida Ecolodge started as a large chunk of wild jungle reserve with almost no local infrastructure and an incredibly bumpy road up from the nearby village of Tres Rios. 12 years ago we moved into a little wooden shack down in Coronado and over the next 9 months, day by day with our brilliant team of workers from up the road in Dominical, we started making our dream of many years into a reality. We first opened our doors in November 2012 but our dreaming didn’t stop there.

Day by day, we continue to grow sustainably, improving the facilities and often life-changing experiences we can offer our guests at the same time as reducing our impact on the surrounding environment and continuing to support some incredible conservation projects in the area. Since Pura Vida Ecolodge first opened, we’ve been blessed with two adorable children, but in many way our little jungle retreat down in Costa Rica will always be our first little baby, so much more than just a vacation rental, but a home away from home that we have nurtured from afar, a sacred space where nature enthusiasts from all over the world can reconnect and experience their very own version of peace, plants & pura vida.

Mission & Vision

Our mission at Pura Vida Ecolodge is to offer first-class sustainable accommodation & hospitality based on principles of space, nature, sustainability and pure relaxation. Through the Biophilic design and location of the retreat, along with the re-wilding amenities available, we aim to provide our guests with a unique experience that focuses on living in harmonious alignment with the natural environment, enabling our guests to fully unwind and let go, enjoying whatever level of privacy and independence they wish for while embracing the eco-luxury on offer. We’re also very proud to be one of Costa Rica’s first Certified members of  1% for the Planet a global network with thousands of businesses and environmental organizations working together to support people and the planet. We give 1% of our annual revenue back to environmental nonprofits working on climate issues and conservation for People and our Planet here in our beloved Costa Rica.

Our Philosophy

When we were first scouting out the perfect location and conceptualizing the ecolodge project, we always had our backbone philosophy very clear. We wanted Pura Vida Ecolodge to be a retreat, a lifestyle and a real experience for our guests. Having travelled the world extensively as both a professional lifestyle & editorial photographer and advocates for a greener & cleaner way of living, we realized it was time to create something special, luxurious (yet affordable) that cares just as much about the environment as they do about their guests. The Zona Sur of Costa Rica provided us with the platform to make it possible to travel in style without feeling guilty.

Hard to find, but even harder to leave

At Pura Vida Ecolodge, our guests soon find out that organic is just as important as stylish and as Costa Rica leads the pack towards becoming the world’s first carbon-neutral country, we wanted to follow suit, recognizing that travellers are looking for something new and unique, ready to leave the brashness & bling of hotels behind, only to find a more personal, natural and understated approach – and everyone benefits.

Now more than ever, we need to re-think how we live on this earth, reframing the seemingly dated ‘living with nature’ to ‘living as nature’. It’s something we’ve really been exploring and experimenting with up at our little jungle retreat, a rather unique concept perhaps not for everyone, but when the shoes fits… it’s a potentially life-changing experience and as both founders and managers of the Ecolodge Retreat, its been an empowering process allowing us to integrate the surrounding elements into our home and to support a sustained and harmonious relationship with nature. Providing our guests with a unique opportunity to engage with the elements of the natural environment all day, every day.

Our dream has always been to provide guests with a private ocean view rewilding retreat, located amongst a tropical jungle environment. Everything has been designed and created to harmonize our facilities with the surrounding natural beauty the Pura Vida Ecolodge reserve has to offer. Dawn is greeted by sounds of playful howler monkeys, toucans, parakeets and many more potential visitors. All this only minutes from the charming villages of Ojochal and some of the most pristine beaches in the world. Less than 5% of the Pura Vida Ecolodge reserve is used for architectural structures, all of which have a particular emphasis on natural & locally sourced materials, which have a minimum impact on the environment and really fit in with the lush surroundings. 

Our vision is clear, to both embrace ourselves and inspire others towards a greener and cleaner way of living. To re-wild our minds, bodies and souls as we recognise the symbiosis of us and nature. One simply cannot thrive without the other. Simply put, we are nature.