A blanket on the beach with food and pillows on top

Gastronomic Experience

The ultimate fusion of Costa Rican heritage and coastal luxury. Savor a farm-to-table culinary journey featuring the freshest local produce during your private boat tour.

Start Building Your Menu

Snacks on the
Boat

A light food moment on the water.
This is our simplest culinary experience on the water. Fresh food shared naturally while navigating through Golfo Dulce — between wildlife encounters, hidden coastlines, calm water, and long tropical afternoons.

View Example Menu & Details

Example menu — every day changes with the season, the catch, and the rhythm of the Gulf.

No formal setup and nothing overly heavy. Just good ingredients, simple preparations, and flavors that fit the environment around us.

For this experience, you might find things like fresh sashimi with lime and herbs, mango ceviche, warm homemade pita bread with hummus, tropical fruit, smoked fish spreads, cassava chips, cold salads, and small seasonal bites served throughout the exploration.

These are simply examples of what is included at the starting price. The food experience can always be customized further depending on what guests are looking for — from fresh oysters and lobster to champagne, extended setups, and more elevated culinary moments on the Gulf.

Light, fresh, and easy to enjoy — food that becomes part of the day rather than the center of it.

Female client enjoys fresh snacks on Rio Leon Private boat tour
A plate of food over a rug on a private beach for a picnic overlooking the open sea

A Beach
Picnic

Ready to step ashore?
On one of our favorite quiet beaches, lunch becomes a little more complete. Once on land, we can serve warm dishes prepared for the day. There is time to swim, stretch your legs, and settle in by the water while lunch takes its own pace. Private, unhurried, and often with nobody else around.

View Example Menu & Details

Example menu — every beach lunch changes with the desires of our clients, the season, local ingredients, and the rhythm of the Gulf.

A relaxed tropical food experience served on one of our favorite quiet beaches in Golfo Dulce. More time ashore, warm dishes prepared for the day, and shared plates designed to be enjoyed barefoot by the water between swims, conversations, and slow tropical afternoons by the beach.

You might find things like:

  • Fresh fish tacos with lime, cilantro, cabbage, and homemade sauces
  • Catch of the day ceviche with passionfruit, onion, herbs, and crispy plantain
  • Grilled shrimp skewers with garlic butter and charred vegetables
  • Warm homemade flatbreads with hummus, smoked eggplant, and avocado dips
  • Tomato salads with basil, olive oil, cucumber, sea salt, and local cheese
  • Garden salads with tropical greens, herbs, avocado, roasted vegetables, and citrus vinaigrettes
  • Roasted sweet potatoes with garlic yogurt and fresh herbs
  • Grilled mahi mahi with garlic butter and charred lime
  • Tropical Shrimp-Mascarpone pasta
  • Garlic potatoes served hot from the grill
  • Fresh breads, olives, dips, pickled vegetables, and small plates spread across the table
  • Seasonal tropical fruits served to share on the beach

These are simply examples of what can be prepared for this experience. Menus can always be customized further depending on the atmosphere guests want to create — from simple tropical beach food to more elevated setups with lobster, oysters, champagne, and longer lunches by the water.

Private, slow, and shaped around the feeling of spending the afternoon on a hidden beach in Golfo Dulce.

A table by the
Water

A fully private dining setup on a quiet beach.
A table on the sand, individually plated courses, warm dishes prepared for the day, and enough time to let the afternoon unfold naturally between the beach, the Gulf, and the food.

View Example Menu & Details

Example menu — every experience is shaped by the season, the catch, and the atmosphere guests want to create.

More refined than our picnic experience, but still relaxed, tropical, and deeply connected to the environment around us.

First Plate

Tropical sashimi of the day with mango, passionfruit, cucumber, avocado, lime, sesame, coconut, and fresh herbs from the farm.

Second Plate

A trio from the sea — grilled octopus, garlic shrimp, and wood-fired mahi mahi served with roasted vegetables, charred lime, garden herbs, and warm butter sauces prepared for the day.

Third Plate

Homemade seafood lasagna with shrimp, creamy roasted tomato sauce, fresh herbs, local cheese, golden baked layers, and a fresh garden salad with tropical greens, cucumber, basil, and citrus vinaigrette.

Fresh breads, small seasonal bites, and garden salads can always become part of the experience, and menus can be customized further with oysters, lobster, and champagne depending on what guests imagine for the day.

Private, slow, and designed to feel like your own hidden restaurant on the edge of the Gulf.

A table and chairs on a secluded beach with a Rio Leons Tour boat in the background
Chef Hazel prepares stands over a table preparing lunch as a couple awaits on table in distance

The Chef Hazel
Experience

An evolving menu guided by the harvest, the sea, and the rainforest surrounding us.
The Hazel Experience is our most elevated and ingredient-driven culinary experience in Golfo Dulce. A fully private chef experience on the beach where organic produce, forgotten tropical ingredients, delicate herbs, edible flowers, and exceptional seafood come together in a slower and more refined setting.

View Example Menu & Details

More than a beach lunch, this is designed as a true private chef experience in nature.

Influenced by Chef Hazel's vegan culinary background, the experience approaches seafood differently — balancing it with fermentation, tropical fruits, garden elements, roots, flowers, and organic vegetables to create plates that feel lighter, more creative, and deeply connected to the environment.

Example Menu

Plate One

Stuffed jaiba (tropical native vegetable) served with crispy, batter-fried prawns, paired with a bell pepper and chive sauce. It sits atop a creamy sweet potato purée drizzled with passion fruit citrus and finished with crunchy carrot chips.

Plate Two

Pistachio-crusted fish fillet served over a rich Morón pepper aioli, accompanied by organic mixed greens freshly harvested from the garden.

Plate Three

Seared yellowfin tuna served over a bed of crisp, fresh garden greens, resting on a unique, creamy pejibaye (peach palm fruit) and roasted garlic purée.

Plate Four

Crispy panko-crusted yuca croquettes stuffed with Swiss chard, caramelized onions, and candied walnuts, tossed in a house-made citrus mojo and garlic infusion.

Plate Five

Farm-to-table Costa Rican style: Sweet corn chorreada "tacos" stuffed with fresh guacamole and flame-grilled calamari, topped with charred pineapple, crisp cabbage, and pickled onions.

Every menu evolves naturally with seasonality, harvest cycles, weather, and the creative rhythm of the kitchen that day.

Organic, tropical, highly personal, and designed to feel like a hidden fine dining experience on the edge of the Gulf.

* Seasonal note: The table by the water and the Chef Hazel experience are available during the dry season, from December through April. If you already have dates in mind, it is worth planning ahead.

The Culinary Experience

food on plate for private beach lunch
Close up shot of two plates with organic food
food on plate for private beach lunch
close-up shot of corn on a plate
Close up shot of plate on a table with food with beach in background
Close up shot of two plates with colorful food

Ready to design your coastal dining experience?

A culinary upgrade pairs perfectly with a long morning of virgin beach hopping or exploring the hidden reefs on a private snorkeling tour.

Looking for a different experience?

A boat leaves a wake as it pushes through blue water dividing turquoise seabed

Planning Ahead?

If you’re still exploring ideas, our notes from the gulf can help. Seasonal wildlife, hidden corners, and small observations from life in one of the most biodiverse places in Costa Rica.