Monoloko Lodge Popoyo

Four Bungalows, One Pool, and the Monkeys That Came With It

The Tola coast is a string of surf beaches with very little built between them, and Monoloko sits six hundred metres back from one of the best of them, Playa Santana, which locals still call Jiquilite. There is no lobby and no reception desk. There are four wooden bungalows arranged in front of an eight metre pool with steps at both ends, a tropical garden left long enough to attract birds, iguanas and howler monkeys, and a shared kitchen with a dining table under cover. Total capacity is eight adults, and that number explains most of what follows.

Why It Works

Eight beds is the whole argument. A group of friends or two families can take the entire property and use the pool, the garden and the kitchen as their own for a week, which is a rare thing to arrange on this coast without renting a villa and organising everything yourself. Here the structure is already in place: instructors for the surf, horses for the beach and the jungle, a boat for the breaks you cannot walk to, a massage therapist when the shoulders give out. And if nobody wants to cook, Claire does, with French training and whatever the local market gave up that morning.

Why This Location

Six hundred metres is a few minutes on foot to Santana, and the surf around Tola is spread rather than concentrated: some breaks are reachable walking, others need the car, and the best of them are a boat ride away. The lodge keeps a map of the spots, which saves a day of guessing. Popoyo village, with its restaurants and rental shops, is the practical centre of the area and close enough to be the evening plan. What you do not get here is a beachfront room. What you get instead is a garden that is genuinely quiet and a pool nobody else is using.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Barefoot, green, private, surf

• Rooms: 4 wooden bungalows facing the pool, each with its own bathroom and hot shower, fan and dressing area, for up to 8 adults in total

• Best For: Groups taking the whole lodge, surfers who want a base rather than a camp, travellers happy with a garden instead of a lobby

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The eight metre pool with steps at both ends, which all four bungalows look onto

• Dining: Fully equipped shared kitchen with a dining area, and optional catering cooked by Claire with fresh local produce

• Amenities: Pool, tropical garden, surf lessons and adapted boards, boat surf trips and fishing, horseback riding on the beach or through the jungle, yoga, massage

• Attractions: Playa Santana six hundred metres away, the Tola and Popoyo breaks by foot, car or boat, the restaurants and shops of Popoyo village

The Bungalows and the Shared Kitchen

The four units are identical in intent: wood, a fan rather than air conditioning, a private bathroom with a hot shower, and a dressing area so that two people’s luggage does not end up on the floor. They face the pool, which is where the day happens. The kitchen is the other shared room, fully equipped, with a dining area attached, and it works the way a good rental kitchen works: someone makes coffee early, someone else cooks dinner, and the fridge fills up with what the group bought in Popoyo. The WiFi is reliable, which matters if one of you is working the trip around a deadline.

Surf, Horses and Claire’s Menu

Lessons come with instructors and boards chosen for the level. Beyond the beach in front, boat trips reach breaks along the coast and double as fishing outings, and on land the horses go along the sand or into the jungle behind it. Yoga runs daily or on request, and massage with optional cupping is there for the second half of the week, when it is usually needed. Catering is booked in advance rather than switched on at the door, so decide before you arrive whether you intend to cook.

Before You Book

The bungalows have fans rather than air conditioning, which suits the sea breeze and is worth weighing against the season you choose. Transport matters here: some breaks need a vehicle, so agree the transfer and the car with the lodge in advance. French, Spanish and English are spoken.