Costa Rica: a delirium of nature to live a thousand and one adventures

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• In the Lonely Planet guide to Costa Rica

Costa Rica

has become one of the first

safe American destinations

in 2021

, and that has resulted in a rapid recovery in tourism after long months of the pandemic.

This

peaceful corner of Central America

, where

respect for nature

and

outdoor adventures

are its hallmarks, it reopens to the world with a multitude of attractions. There are many things that can be done in Costa Rica: from getting on a surfboard —it is one of the most sought-after destinations for the practice of this sport— to relaxing on a yoga mat; going down to caves full of bats, climbing volcanic peaks, walking, pedaling or sliding down zip lines… Endless adventures that even involve discovering the charms of a stopover in its unnoticed capital,

San José

.

Most tourists come to Costa Rica to visit the

central volcanoes

(Poás or Arenal, for example) or

national parks

that never disappoint, such as

Manuel Antonio

(the closest to the capital),

Tortuguero

, El from

Corcovado

(on the Osa peninsula) or to the fantastic

Monteverde Cloud Forest

.

It is almost obligatory to also know some of the

surf paradises

along the Pacific coast or there are even those who dare to explore the other end of the country:

the Caribbean coast.

.

Next, we launch some proposals, several of them outside the most common routes, to enjoy this prodigy of nature as it deserves.

Pure Life.

Panoramic view of the Cahuita National Park, on the southern coast of the Costa Rican Caribbean.

Mostardi Photography ALAMY

The Costa Rican Caribbean with a Jamaican flavor

The

southern coast of the Caribbean

is the heart and soul

of Costa Rica's

Afro

-

Caribbean community

. In the mid-19th century, many

Jamaicans

came

to build the railroad

and then stayed to work for the American banana company United Fruit. Also in this area, but further inland, still live some of the most important indigenous groups in the country: cultures that have been preserved intact despite centuries of incursions, first by the Spanish, then the banana industry and today tourism. . They live, above all, in the areas of

Cocles

,

Talamanca

and

Bribri

.

But this is not an isolated bubble: since the 1980s, the south coast has welcomed

surfers, backpackers and families on vacation

, in many cases taking root and adding Italian, German and North American flavors to this mosaic. cultural. For the visitor, it is always a different and very rewarding experience, with beautiful beaches from which to enjoy long days of sun and sand.

Cahuita

, near the border with Panama and with a relaxed Caribbean atmosphere, or

Puerto Limón

, the most important pier in the country and where Christopher Columbus landed while exploring the New World, are the best known and most visited places, but there is much to discover for those who have an interest and desire for adventure. For example,

Selva Bananito

, near Puerto Limón, one of the most isolated and delicious ecotourism offers in the country, with

wildlife observation

,

exquisite food

and comfortable

Caribbean-style

palafitos (cabins over the water) made of

recycled

wood

. It is located at the foot of a hill, on the edge of

La Amistad International Park

—The largest terrestrial protected area in Costa Rica and one of the regions with the greatest biodiversity of species and ecosystems— and has been dedicated to sustainable tourism for three decades, investing in solar energy and biodegradable products.

A frog climbs on a leaf in the Boca Tapada rainforest (Costa Rica).

Mats Lindberg alamy

Boca Tapada, an unprecedented destination among plantations

If we head north through the interior, before reaching the border with Nicaragua, the area known as

Boca Tapada

breaks through

. This is a journey through pineapple plantations to discover the virgin forest of

the Maquenque Mixed National Wildlife Refuge

. It is a not very touristy destination, ideal for adventurous spirits. The

stony roads

and

lack of signage

may force some unwanted detours, but the payoff is a great eco-show.

This wetland is home

to endangered animals such

as the

guayacamo or green macaw

, vulnerable species such as the

manatee

and other relevant

species

such as the

jaguar

and

gaspar fish

. In total, a total of 139 species of mammals, 135 of reptiles, 80 of amphibians and 424 of birds are cataloged. Passing through fields of pineapples and packing plants, the traveler passes peasants and at the end of the road he can enjoy a piece of lush

tropical jungle

, full of

exotic birds

and the croaking of

frogs

. The accommodations in the area offer excursions to the Mixed Maquenque National Wildlife Refuge.

A boat with tourists navigates the canals of the Tortuguero National Park, in Costa Rica.

Stephen Bay Alamy

Turtle watching in Parismina

Without leaving the north coast that bathes the Caribbean, halfway between the towns of Tortuguero and Puerto Limón, there is

Parismina

, a less crowded alternative than the neighboring

Tortuguero National Park

, and which is gaining more and more followers among those who travel the country. This long

stretch of sand between the mangroves and the sea

has a

skeletal tourist infrastructure

and not much action other than turtle conservation and kayaking the canals. Something that allows you to imagine what the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica was like before the arrival of tourism. The best way to do this is to disembark in this

sleepy fishing village

sandwiched between the Tortuguero canals and the sea.

Without zip lines or

resorts

, it is the typical place where you can find old people playing dominoes on the porches and children splashing in the puddles.

For the intrepid willing to undertake the journey, Parismina is also a magnificent place to

see turtles and help their conservation

, and without the crowds of Tortuguero.

Although fewer and fewer species spawn here,

leatherback turtles

can be seen

between late February and early October;

and

green,

between February and September.

In addition, there is a turtle hatchery where volunteers can help guard the eggs.

Sport fishing

is the other traditional claim for tourism in the area.

Surfers on a beach near Malpaís, on the Nicoya peninsula, on the Costa Rican Pacific coast.

Rob Francis Alamy

Malpaís and Santa Teresa, surfer's paradise

Taking a leap to the other Costa Rican coast, that of the Pacific, in the

Nicoya peninsula

, the largest in the country, you can combine adventure in tropical nature with the charms of its

boutique

hotels

,

exquisite restaurants

or

spas

to care for and nurture body and soul.

And if you are looking for more tranquility than strong emotions, here the days can simply pass swayed by the sea breeze.

At the southern end of this peninsula overlooking the ocean are two of the favorite destinations for surfers:

Malpaís

and

Santa Teresa

. Until relatively recently these two neighboring towns were considered an almost secret corner and, although they are no longer so, Santa Teresa is still a wonderful surf town, with many places to eat and some nightlife. Throughout the area runs a rugged coastal road that heads south from Santa Teresa, passes through

Carmen beach

and ends in the fishing village of Malpaís.

The

long and spectacular

Santa Teresa beach

is famous for its fast and powerful break.

It offers good surf at almost all hours.

To the north, it leads to

Hermosa Beach

, which lives up to its name: it is wide and flat and when the tide goes out it looks spectacular.

Surfing is the main attraction of the place.

Most travelers don't do anything else except stretching their muscles and a little yoga.

But there are more options to take advantage of the environment: horseback riding, fishing excursions or zip line circuits.

A humpback whale, in the Marino Ballena national park, in Costa Rica Claude Huot alamy

Costa Ballena: waves, whales and good food

The central Pacific coast is the closest outlet to the sea to San José.

The inhabitants of the capital come here to spend the weekend and many international tourists.

South of

Quepos

, the gateway to the Manuel Antonio National Park and where the well-trodden Central Pacific tourist route takes its last blows, the area is transformed and evokes the Costa Rica of years ago, with

empty beaches, roadside cevicherías ... and a incomparable surf

.

Known as

Costa Ballena,

the beautiful stretch between Dominical and Ojochal (barely 35 kilometers by road where beaches and cliffs alternate) stands out for three things:

surfing

(Dominical),

whale watching

(Uvita) and

the kitchen

(Ochojal).

As far back as memory goes,

Dominical

was a small town that attracted a diverse collection of surfers, backpackers and friendly friends of the good life, a place where the traveler could wander through the dusty streets with the surfboard under his arm after a day of intense waves.

In 2015 the first real highway came to town and a growing population of

expats and Americans

began to settle

, bringing in some more sophisticated businesses.

Now it is a popular destination, but when the rains come, Costa Ballena empties and returns to being the old and placid Costa Rica of always.

Nauyaca Falls, near Dominical, in Costa Rica.

dpa alamy

Dominical

owes its fame to its cost and its spooky breakers. It is a good corner to get started in this sport, although the nearby

Dominicalito beach

is not the gentlest for beginners either. Neighboring Uvita retains its slow pace of life during the low season, but has become a popular destination thanks to its main attraction:

Marino Ballena National Park

, famous for its

humpback whale migrations

and its

unspoiled beaches with

almost no people. There are also nice

waterfalls

in its vicinity.

Two important tourist events for the country take place in Uvita: the whale and dolphin festival, which celebrates the arrival of humpback whales, and the

largest

hippie

gathering

in Costa Rica, the Envision Festival.

Ojochal

, on the other hand, is the culinary epicenter of the area with influences from Mediterranean to Indonesian, with a multicultural population of foreign residents and a completely different environment from Sunday surfers.

Tourists enjoy the views from a suspension bridge over the Sarapiquí River, in the Tirimbina biological reserve, in northern Costa Rica.

John coletti getty images

Sarapiquí and the Poza Azul waterfall

Travelers who fix their gaze on the north of the country mainly do so to enjoy the

Arenal volcano

(1,670 meters), its national park and its many

lodges

in the middle of nature, with

thermal spas

in the middle of the lava, picturesque walks and unique experiences to the fresh air. They are one of the strong points of any tour of Costa Rica. But here, in the northern reaches, there are other less visited areas. Those who venture through secondary roads will discover the most rural side of the country and places such as the

Caño Negro National Wildlife Refuge

, with

marshes

and

lagoons.

reminiscent of famous wetlands such as the Florida Everglades or the Mekong Delta (in reduced version). Or the

Sarapiquí Valley,

an expanse of plains full of farms that in the past were part of the large farms of the United Fruit Company banana company, with US capital.

The waters of the Sarapiquí River

are not as rough as those of the nearby

Pacuare River,

but they have enough vigor to set the pulse of any rafting fan. In addition, the lush jungle that borders the river offers the opportunity to see fauna from the rafts that descend through this generous flow of water in search of adventure.

La Virgen

, an old town from the golden age of the banana trade, is hidden in the dense wild vegetation of the Sarapiquí.

For more than a decade, it was the main kayaking and rafting destination in Costa Rica, but

an earthquake changed the course of the river

and dragged its tourist economy.

Today there are only a few establishments open, but more and more rafting fans are returning independently to get carried away by the rapids or to look for a transparent pool where they can enjoy a relaxing bath, such as the

Poza Azul waterfall

, which for many is the best waterfall across the country.

Rivers and lakes of the Corcovado National Park (Costa Rica), photographed from an airplane.

Ondrej Prosicky alamy

The Osa peninsula: the last virgin corners

Despite its relatively small size, the Osa Peninsula, on the southwest Pacific coast, is home to a large number of tropical habitats: rainforests, coastal wetlands, and mountain forests. It also includes some of the least explored and urbanized corners of Costa Rica. For example, in the La Amistad international park, where there are vast areas intact where representatives of the country's most relevant indigenous cultures (Bribri, Cabécar, Boruca and Ngöbe) live in reserves. It is also home to birds such as quetzals or macaws, and animals such as sloth monkeys and coatis. There are secluded beaches, surf, and plenty of wild territory for intrepid travelers looking for something wild.

A three-toed sloth and its young, hanging from the top of a tree in Costa Rica, where this animal is a national symbol.

KenCanning getty images

This is also where the main protected area in the country is: the

Corcovado National Park

.

It is the last stretch of the original tropical forest that is conserved in the Central American Pacific coast.

Bastion of biodiversity, it is home to half of Costa Rica's species.

There are three main routes open to the public for those who want to walk the park and many other trails that should be accompanied by a guide.

On the peninsula there is also

Drake Bay,

a small bay that is thought to have been discovered by the English privateer Francis Drake in the 16th century. It is one of the most remote destinations in the country, a true lost world, embraced by Corcovado Park. In the rainforest canopy, howler monkeys greet the sun with their captivating cry, while pairs of macaws flying through the treetops fill the air with their cacophonous chants. In the bay, pods of dolphins ply the turquoise waters near the beautiful

Caño Island

Reserve

, a tiny 300-hectare territory 20 kilometers from Drake Bay.

Drake remains isolated from the rest of the country, and therein lies its charm.

Everything revolves around the humble town of

Agujitas

(1,000 inhabitants), the area's transportation hub, which attracts a growing number of backpackers and nature lovers.

There are cheap accommodation and a wide range of diving and excursions to observe the rich fauna.

Diving in the depths of the Pacific, under the waters of Isla del Coco, in Costa Rica.

Rodrigo Friscione getty images

Isla del Coco, the diving paradise

It is the most remote destination in Costa Rica, an island half a thousand kilometers southwest of the mainland. Although it is no more than a green speck in the middle of the infinite Pacific,

Cocos Island

is

in the imagination of all adventurers

: jagged mountains and stories of treasures, a virgin and isolated ecosystem rich in fauna and

unbeatable conditions for diving

. This is the tropical island that the helicopter flies over in the opening shot of

Jurassic Park

,

directed by Steven Spielberg in 1993 and based on the eponymous book by Michael Crichton. It is also believed that

Treasure Island

Robert Louis Stevenson's was, precisely, Coco. But the most beautiful thing is not the island, but the sea that surrounds it: ranked by the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) among the ten best diving destinations in the world, many pelagic species live in the waters of Coco Island. (those that live in medium waters or near the surface), including one of the largest

schools of hammerhead sharks

known on the planet.

Before the divers, there were pirates around here,

many pirates

, who are rumored to have hidden countless treasures.

The most famous was the

legendary treasure of Lima

,

a millionaire booty that a British captain hid in 1820. More than 400 expeditions were organized to find this booty of silver and gold bars and an image of the Virgin made of solid gold.

The riches are still under its waters, but this time in the form of a huge biological variety.

There are 235 species of plants identified;

362 INSECTS;

85 birds;

57 of crustaceans;

118 of mollusks, and more than 200 of fish and 18 of corals.

Tárcoles Beach, in the province of Puntarenas (Costa Rica).

Siegfried Schnepf Alamy

Punta Leona and Playa Herradura, secret corners

Punta Leona

is a closely guarded secret. Beyond a couple of easy-to-overlook accesses and long, winding entrance roads, its serene beaches (Mantas and Blanca) are the first that the traveler can visit when descending from San José along the central Pacific coast, to just an hour's drive from the capital.

In Punta Leona there is a

huge

resort

, with a country club, a couple of restaurants and access to the beach: the

Punta Leona Hotel & Club

. The

beach Banca

is majestic, low tide is easy to

cross the flagstones of the other end of the tip ,

with the tide are submerged but it

is not advisable to

cross them

to nado- and you can go and return to Playa Blanca: the prize for the effort it is an immense cove with white sand, calm waters like a jacuzzi and sloping coconut trees. It is almost a paradise, frequented mostly by families, especially on holidays.

Nearby is

Herradura Beach

, which a couple of decades ago was nothing more than a strip of dark sand, with palm trees and local fishermen. But in the 1990s it rose to fame as the setting for the film

1492: Conquest of Paradise

, by Ridley Scott. The result was rapid development and construction of

the Los Sueños marina

, one of the most luxurious in the country. Today Herradura represents the possible future for the central Pacific coast, with sophisticated apartments and hotels, but the southern half of the beach is still a typically local stretch where Ticos go to eat and have fun, with informal restaurants where you eat with your feet. on the sand.

The National Theater, from the Plaza de la Cultura, in San José, the capital of Costa Rica Gonzalo Azumendi getty images

A few days in San José, a capital off the beaten path

The capital of Costa Rica is not exactly one of the most charming cities on the continent, at least when it comes to monuments, museums or neighborhoods with colonial airs. But in return, San José is the true

cultural heart of the country

: here are university students, intellectuals, artists and politicians, and also nightlife and even unexpected

street art.

Travelers always stay a short time in Chepe, as its neighbors know it affectionately, but the city has its charms and, above all, it is an unavoidable stop, so it is worth spending a few days to enjoy it as it deserves.

The essential tourist circuit passes through the

Pre-Columbian Gold Museum, the Jade Museum

, the Central Market or the jewel of the city: the

National Theater

, the most revered building, from the late 19th century, like a candy box in the heart of the city. town. A curious visit is also the

Museum of Costa Rican Art

, installed in a Spanish-style building that was the terminal of the San José airport until 1955, in the La Sabana neighborhood.

To

stroll through the

most fashionable districts, you have to go to

Escalante

, the gastronomic epicenter of the city, especially around

Calle 33

, or take a walk through the

Amón neighborhood

, a pleasant and historic neighborhood with

mansions of coffee growers

from late 19th and early 20th century. In recent years many of these historic buildings have been transformed into hotels, restaurants and offices. There is everything from

Art Deco

style homes

to colorful tropical Victorian buildings.

But the wealthiest Ticos live on the outskirts, in neighborhoods like

Escazú

and

Santa Ana

, with many restaurants and accommodations ranging from refined

boutique

hotels

to authentic

resorts

in the middle of the city.

If we are only going to take San José as a stopover on the trip to the beaches or national parks, a good idea is to enjoy a mini-vacation in hotels that are true oases.

Places like the

Real InterContinental San José,

in Escazú, is an island in the middle of the city, with lush gardens, swimming pools, a

spa

, shops and some of the best restaurants.

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