The beach here is spacious and pleasant, but average at best by Costa Rican standards. The surfing and swimming here are both very good, with smaller waves than other areas along the coast. What Jaco does have that sets it apart from the numerous coastal towns along this stretch of the Pacific is modern apartments and stores, a strong selection of good restaurants and hotels, and other modern conveniences that have made it a popular choice with expats and retirees.
Accommodation: Where to Stay in Jaco. Tortuguero National Park. For something a little different and a little off the beaten path, visitors may want to head to Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean Coast. This area, accessible only by boat or plane, is one of the wettest areas in the country and offers something different than the rest of Costa Rica. The park is an important breeding ground for the green sea turtle and as a result, turtle watching is the main activity here.
While there are many beaches, the coastal area is not suitable for swimming as the surf and currents are rough and strong. Sharks are common. Hundreds and even thousands of green and leatherback turtles can be viewed guides are necessary nesting and laying eggs on the beaches overnight.
Recent conservation efforts have increased the number of turtles nesting in the area. From the hiking trails or boat rides along the canals, it's possible to spot monkeys, sloths, and kinkajous. Peccaries and tapirs are also present but more difficult to see. Freshwater turtles, lizards, snakes, frogs, toads, and other amphibians are also common.
Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park. The park, established in , protects what is considered to be the best remaining stretch of Pacific coastal rainforest in Central America. It has an extensive trail system and is popular with travelers who enjoy long-distance hikes.
In addition to surfing, other popular activities in the region are diving, snorkeling, and fishing. The National Theater in San Jose. In the s, the ruling coffee barons voted for a tax on coffee exports in order to fund the construction of the theater, and European artisans were imported to design the building. Inside, the pink marble foyer features allegorical figures of Comedy and Tragedy, and painted murals depicting themes in Costa Rican life. The most famous of the paintings is one showing coffee harvesting and export painted by Arturo Fontana in Milan in Accommodation: Where to Stay in San Jose.
Irazu Volcano National Park. The summit of the volcano is a lunar-like landscape with craters. Marked trails lead to these craters and two other smaller ones, one of which also contains a lake. A pyroclastic cone can also be seen, which has been formed from fragmented volcanic rock.
From the summit, it's possible to look out to the Pacific and Caribbean on clear days. Braulio Carrillo National Park, a minute drive from bustling San Jose, encompasses rugged mountains, waterfalls, canyons, dormant volcanoes, and virgin rainforest.
The park's proximity to the country's main gateway means it is an easy way to see some of Costa Rica's unique plants and wildlife. Many different habitats exist in the park due to the variety in elevation, which ranges from the top of the Barva Volcano 2, meters to less than 50 meters in the Caribbean lowlands. The park is home to mammals such as jaguars, pumas, tapirs, sloths, and monkeys, but easier to see and hear are several species of birds including the Quetzal national bird , toucans, and eagles.
One of the most popular things to do is a hike to the summit. This 9. The views are spectacular. You can see the the Nicoya Penisula, and on a clear day, right into Nicaragua.
Other less strenuous trails lead to waterfalls and hot springs. The park is also home to a wide variety of wildlife, with tapirs; sloths; monkeys; and large cats such as the jaguar, puma, and ocelot inhabiting the park. La Paz Waterfall. This privately owned nature park is a must-see attraction in Costa Rica. Spread out over 70 acres, the park is home to a wide variety of wildlife including monkeys, butterflies, hummingbirds, and others. Grab a cup of your favorite Costa Rican coffee — here are 11 facts that will totally surprise you.
Yep, Bambi. Fret not. Wildlife, that is. Costa Rica is big on biodiversity and environmental conservation. Rehabilitation centers have sprung up across the country, nurturing a variety of animals from anteaters to sloths to jaguars back to health and releasing them into the wild.
Spend your morning with the Caribbean sunrise, surfing the Salsa Brava the infamous long right wave , and then hightail it to Manuel Antonio for a sunset on the Pacific and some downtime with a party of white-faced monkeys — all in the same day. Photo: Negative Space. Costa Rica was built on coffee. In the s, prospective farmers even got free land if they planned to use it to cultivate coffee. The most traditional and best, in my opinion method of preparation is to brew using a chorreador, a pour-over that utilizes a fine mesh filter pouch hung from a wooden frame.
Coffee varieties differ in flavor nuance depending on elevation and soil composition, though most have a characteristic silky body, running the gamut from crisp fruitiness to smoky chocolate. There are five active and inactive volcanos in a long chain down the spine of the country.
Although sometimes temperamental, the volcanoes in Costa Rica are popular tourist attractions, especially the Volcano Arenal. Arenal is a live volcano, but it is surrounded by a ring of extinct ones as well. The Cerro Chato, a popular hiking trail at Arenal, leads up the side of an extinct volcano to stunning vistas over the rainforest.
Sweaty exhausted hikers are rewarded for their efforts with an enormous turquoise lake to swim in, in a volcano crater. Climbing to the top will give you a stunning view of its smoking crater and sulfuric lake. Costa Rica is a pioneer of green energy. Because Costa Rica is a tropical country, it gets an extreme amount of rainfall, with torrential downpours almost every day. This mass of water is turned into power with huge turbines at several important and massive hydroelectric dams.
Costa Rica is famous for breaking the world record for using only green energy for consecutive days. They also now generate enough to sell energy to their neighbors! Costa Rica is home to many indigenous groups, and the Bribri people make up the voting majority in the Talamanca region. Many of the Bribri have maintained their heritage and culture.
They are known for being a matrilineal society, and women are the only ones permitted to brew Cacao. Cacao sacred chocolate is central to their religion. Bribri shamans have an in-depth knowledge of herbal medicine from the rainforest which has been passed down for generations. Previously marginalized, local traditions and ideas are once again being embraced. If you would like to learn about local customs, you can canoe downriver to the Bribri Yorkin reservation.
Spend a day learning how to brew cacao, shoot bows and arrows and digest some of the myths and legends native to Costa Rica. Not many people spend time in the city when they visit Costa Rica understandably so , but if you do, you must visit the Pre-Columbian Gold Museum in San Jose.
The museum gives visitors a better understanding of life before the Spanish invaded. It houses some truly beautiful objects including a vast collection of indigenous artworks made from pure gold. The peoples of Pre-Columbian Costa Rica used Cacao beans rather than gold as a currency, and so were generous when using gold to create a variety of decorative and ceremonial objects. They learned fine metalworking techniques never developed in the West, including the ability to create paper-thin strands of gold and turn them into any number of delicate animal totems.
The museum features, lizards, spiders, snakes, and jaguars, so intricate and finely wrought as to be truly breath-taking. The controversial shamanic medicine from the Amazon jungle is legal in Costa Rica. Regulated in a way it is not in other places, people come to Costa Rica to experience this ancient form of indigenous medicine. As Ayahuasca has become fashionable among new-age seekers and Silicon Valley body hackers, spiritual tourism in Costa Rica has boomed.
There are now a number of resorts where you can drink the shamanic brew in style, surrounded by luxury comforts and an on-staff medical team. Costa Rica has an abundance of beaches and wildlife, so picking between places to visit can be difficult. The Isla Tortuga however, ranks with the best. These uninhabited islands have been largely untouched and left to grow wild, and make an excellent stop-off point to immerse yourself in nature.
Take a day-trip from the mainland to snorkel or play volleyball on the white sand beaches of a true desert island. A natural habitat for nesting sea turtles, visitors here can grab a boat ride from the hip bohemian beach town of Montezuma.
Many people choose to take glass-bottom craft out to see the fish and manta rays that lurk beneath the azure waves. If you are a keen scuba diver, there are three prominent shipwrecks on the seabed around the island. For those who prefer dry land, the thick untouched jungle features several rugged hiking trails. These unusual and brightly colored animals are usually hard to spot outside of the tropics.
Costa Rica is one of the best places in the world to see them. There are 54 species of Hummingbird native to their shores. One of the best spots to see them is the La Paz waterfall. Home to 26 species, visitors can feed them here by hand, a truly magical experience. Costa Rica is an international hotspot for surfing and its national team has won the world championships multiple times over.
Both the Pacific and Caribbean Coast are great for surfing, although the Pacific coast is best for catching waves. Both feature prominently in the famous surfing movie Endless Summer II. They are now important places of pilgrimage for serious surfers. On the Caribbean side, Playa Cocles is a popular little surf town. Many beaches along both coasts offer surf lessons for absolute beginners. The amount of people seeking location-independent work has boomed in recent years.
Costa Rica has become one of the most popular places for wandering nomads. Digital co-working spaces for foreign workers have sprung up across the country including in popular beach towns such as Tamarindo.
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