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An Osa Peninsula elopement La Jungla del Jaguar was exactly what Rebecca and Pascal wanted: just the two of them, surrounded by rainforest, far enough from civilization that getting there was part of the experience.
They weren’t looking for a large wedding or a place where they would have to find a quiet corner away from tourists. They wanted to disappear into Costa Rica for a few days.
La Jungla gave them that.
Their ceremony happened beneath the palm trees just outside their room. Later, they changed clothes, got on horses and rode toward San Josecito Beach. They put their wedding clothes back on for sunset, had dinner back at La Jungla, and the following morning we went out again for a hike and photographs on the almost untouched beach beside the hotel.
There were no guests. No audience. And very little civilization around us.
Getting to La Jungla del Jaguar Is Part of the Experience
You don’t simply drive up to La Jungla del Jaguar.
I drove south to Sierpe, where I left my car at Don Jorge, a restaurant that also offers parking beside the boat dock.
There I met the officiant, Marcello Galli, an old friend I’ve worked with at weddings before, and we took a private boat together.
The journey from Sierpe took about an hour and a half.
First we traveled along the Sierpe River. Then the river opened into the Pacific Ocean and we continued along the coast, passing the Drake Bay area before eventually reaching La Jungla del Jaguar on the Osa Peninsula.
There is no road access to the property.
That fact tells you quite a lot about the experience before you even arrive.
Once you’re there, you’re there.
The hotel staff, the other guests and the people you’ve arrived with are essentially your little world. During my stay, I would estimate there were fewer than 40 people around in total.
For couples choosing this place specifically because they want to get away from civilization, that’s not an inconvenience.
That’s the point.
The Story: A Ceremony Under the Palm Trees
Rebecca and Pascal didn’t want their getting ready photographed, so there was no reason for me to manufacture that part of the story.
We began with what mattered to them.
Their ceremony took place just outside their room at La Jungla del Jaguar, beneath the palm trees.
It was only Rebecca and Pascal, the officiant and me.
That suited them.
They are relaxed, humble and loving people who weren’t interested in showing off for the camera. My job was to follow that rather than turn their elopement into a photoshoot.
After the ceremony, they changed out of their wedding clothes.
And then we got on horses.
Horseback to San Josecito Beach
The horseback ride toward San Josecito Beach was one of those experiences that makes an Osa Peninsula elopement fundamentally different from simply choosing a beautiful ceremony location.
We weren’t driving from one photo location to another.
We were actually doing something.
The route takes you through the landscape, with a beautiful perspective before descending toward San Josecito. For a couple who likes adventure, I would absolutely recommend it.
Photographing it was another story.
I normally work very simply. One camera, one lens and as little equipment between me and what is happening as possible.
On this day, however, I was producing both photography and video.
Trying to ride a horse while carrying two cameras on a HoldFast MoneyMaker, making photographs and capturing video was considerably more difficult than I expected.
But that’s also why I don’t want to turn an elopement like this into a production.
Rebecca and Pascal were there to ride horses through the Osa Peninsula, not to wait while I constructed shots.
I had to work around what they were doing.
That’s a big part of my documentary training: being able to photograph and film what is actually happening while interfering as little as possible.
Changing Back Into Wedding Clothes for Sunset
After the horseback portion of the day, Rebecca and Pascal changed back into their wedding clothes.
Then the light gave us exactly what we wanted.
The sunset was beautiful.
One of the advantages of an elopement like this is that you aren’t committed to wearing wedding clothes from breakfast until dinner. You can treat the day as an experience first.
Have the ceremony.
Change clothes.
Get on a horse.
Explore.
Then put the wedding clothes back on when the light and location make sense.
For Rebecca and Pascal, that gave the day a rhythm that felt natural rather than scheduled around photography.
After sunset, we returned for dinner.
Photographing Photo and Video Alone in the Osa Peninsula
I photographed this elopement with a Leica SL and Leica Summilux-SL 50mm f/1.4.
For video, I used a Sony A7 III with a Sony 35mm f/1.4 GM, and I also carried a DJI Mini 2 for aerial footage where conditions allowed.
I was working alone across both photography and video, which is something I do frequently.
My background in documentary and editorial photography and video has shaped the way I work in situations like this. I don’t want a couple’s elopement surrounded by equipment and people simply because I need to produce different types of coverage.
The equipment needs to follow the experience, not the other way around.
That becomes even more important somewhere like the Osa Peninsula.
What Happens When You’re Far From a Camera Store
Being remote changes the way you prepare.
La Jungla uses solar electricity with battery storage, and power availability is limited. I didn’t have a charging problem because I arrived with everything charged and didn’t use all of the battery capacity I carried.
For the cameras, I had two bodies with two batteries each. For the drone, I carried three batteries.
The important part wasn’t having an enormous amount of equipment.
It was redundancy.
If one camera had failed, I could have completed both the photography and video coverage with the other one.
That’s how I prefer to prepare for remote weddings. The backup should be something I can actually continue working with, not just something that technically exists in my bag.
Humidity also wasn’t a problem.
I’ve worked in Costa Rica long enough to know how to manage equipment in tropical conditions. Overnight, rather than sealing the cameras inside a bag, I left them open in the room with the fan running so air could circulate and moisture wouldn’t sit around the equipment.
Nothing failed.
And that’s the ideal outcome.
Preparation isn’t supposed to become part of the wedding story. It’s supposed to make sure the story can continue when something unexpected happens.
An Insider’s Look at La Jungla del Jaguar
The beach immediately beside La Jungla is one of the things photographs don’t completely explain.
It feels almost untouched.
There aren’t rows of chairs, buildings along the shore or crowds to work around. It has the kind of tropical landscape that can look almost unreal because there is so little obvious human alteration.
And then there’s the wildlife.
Birds, monkeys, anteaters and the constant sounds of insects and animals remind you that you’re staying inside a much larger ecosystem.
At night, it becomes especially noticeable.
It gets dark, and instead of hearing traffic, bars or a resort outside your room, you hear everything happening in the forest.
This is also where the Osa Peninsula feels fundamentally different from some of Costa Rica’s more accessible jungle destinations.
In places such as Arenal and La Fortuna, beautiful locations often mean thinking about other visitors and finding ways to photograph around them.
Here, there was nobody to avoid.
You really can feel alone.
The Tide Matters More Than Your Timeline
There is another practical reality couples should understand: access is connected to the ocean and the tide.
Because La Jungla is reached by boat rather than road, transportation doesn’t operate like arriving at a conventional resort whenever you choose.
During my trip, there was a morning boat and an afternoon boat.
That affected my own schedule. I needed to stay overnight rather than leave immediately after the elopement.
Instead of treating that as dead time, I asked Rebecca and Pascal if they wanted to go out again the following morning.
I offered the extra coverage to them at no additional charge.
We went for a morning hike and then photographed on the beach immediately beside La Jungla.
It became another piece of their story that hadn’t originally been planned.
That’s something I like about working this way. Not every good photograph has to exist on a timeline before you arrive.
Sometimes being somewhere longer creates the photograph.
What I Would Tell a Couple Considering an Osa Peninsula Elopement
My first reaction would be:
Yes. Do it.
But you should know what you’re saying yes to.
I would stay at least three or four days. Getting married the day after arriving is perfectly reasonable, but don’t treat the Osa Peninsula as somewhere you squeeze between two other stops on a Costa Rica itinerary.
Give it time.
You don’t have to be extremely fit or turn the elopement into an expedition. La Jungla can be surprisingly easy if you want it to be. But you can also add hiking, horseback riding and other adventures if that’s part of what brought you there.
You should also be comfortable with nature being in control.
It can rain.
It is hot.
There are mosquitoes.
Boats depend on conditions and tides.
You may occasionally be uncomfortable.
If you need predictable temperatures, polished luxury at every moment and immediate access to everything, this probably isn’t the right place. La Jungla is an amazing place to stay, but it isn’t the Four Seasons.
If you’re adventurous, easygoing, comfortable with a little unpredictability and excited by the idea of experiencing nature in one of its purest forms, it’s difficult to imagine a more appropriate place to elope.
La Jungla del Jaguar and Corcovado
Part of what makes this location exceptional is its relationship with Corcovado National Park.
La Jungla del Jaguar sits on the edge of this extraordinary part of the Osa Peninsula, with access to the deep rainforest that defines the region. The experience isn’t simply looking at jungle from a hotel balcony. You’re living beside it.
The property can even serve as a starting point for deeper experiences in Corcovado, including overnight camping excursions into the park.
That’s why I wouldn’t describe an Osa Peninsula elopement as simply another version of a jungle wedding in Costa Rica.
It is a different commitment.
You take a boat to get there. You organize your days around the environment. Wildlife is part of everyday life. The beach can feel almost completely untouched. And civilization is roughly an hour and a half away by boat.
For Rebecca and Pascal, that was exactly what they had come looking for.
The Kind of Elopement You Remember as an Adventure
Rebecca and Pascal didn’t travel all the way to the Osa Peninsula because they needed a beautiful background for wedding photographs.
They wanted to go somewhere remote together.
The photographs came from that decision.
A ceremony beneath palm trees.
A horseback ride toward San Josecito.
Changing back into wedding clothes for sunset.
Dinner in the jungle.
A night surrounded by the sounds of the forest.
And, because the boat wasn’t leaving until morning, an unexpected final chapter walking and photographing together on an almost empty beach.
That’s what I think an adventure elopement should be.
Not a photoshoot dressed up as an adventure.
An actual experience that happens to leave you with photographs.
Planning an Osa Peninsula elopement La Jungla del Jaguar?
If the idea of getting married somewhere genuinely remote sounds more exciting than inconvenient, tell me what you’re imagining.
I photograph elopements throughout Costa Rica with a documentary approach, using photography and video to follow the experience rather than interrupt it.
