Coco Bar has the easy, unpretentious quality that suits Cahuita well. It sits at the social centre of the village, with an open-air layout that catches whatever breeze is going, and a soundtrack that leans on reggae and dancehall without being aggressive about it. The drinks menu is rum-heavy — coco loco, rum punch, and straight rum with something cold are the standards — and the prices are low enough that an evening here does not require a budget revision.
This is where you come to find out what is happening in the village: who is running a turtle tour that night, which guide is worth hiring for a snorkelling trip, whether the swell is good at Playa Negra. The clientele mixes travellers with local residents in a way that feels natural rather than staged. On weekend evenings it gets lively, and occasional live music nights draw a bigger crowd from up and down the coast. On a weeknight it is quiet enough to have a genuine conversation, which is its own kind of appeal.