Golfito is a former banana company town with a duty-free zone, and its value to a visitor is as a gateway: the Golfo Dulce in front of it, Corcovado across the water, and Pavones at the bottom of the gulf with one of the longest left-hand waves in the world.
The gulf is a tropical fjord — one of only four anywhere — with resident dolphins and humpbacks in season, and everything on it is reached by panga.