Costa Rica Vacation
Arenal Volcano/Tabacón Hot Springs (near
La Fortuna, NW of San José): When the skies are clear and the lava
is flowing, Arenal Volcano provides a thrilling light show
accompanied by an earthshaking rumble that defies description. You
can even see the show while soaking in a natural hot spring and
having a drink at the swim-up bar.
Manuel Antonio
(near Quepos on the central Pacific coast): There's a reason this
place is so popular and renowned: monkeys! The national park here
is full of them, even the endangered squirrel monkeys. But there's
plenty to see and do outside the park as well. The road leading
into Manuel Antonio provides numerous lookouts that consistently
produce postcard-perfect snapshots of steep jungle hills meeting
the sea. Uninhabited islands lie just off the coast, and the
beaches here are perfect crescents of soft, white sand.
Osa Peninsula (in southern Costa Rica): This is Costa
Rica's most remote and biologically rich region. Corcovado
National Park, the largest remaining patch of virgin lowland
tropical rainforest in Central America, takes up much of the Osa
Peninsula. Jaguars, crocodiles, and scarlet macaws all call this
place home. Whether you stay in a luxury nature lodge in Drake Bay
or outside of Puerto Jiménez, or camp in the park itself, you will
be surrounded by some of the most lush and most intense jungle
this country has to offer.
Tortuguero
Village & Jungle Canals (on the Caribbean coast, N of Limón):
Tortuguero Village is a small collection of rustic wooden shacks
on a narrow spit of land between the Caribbean Sea and a dense
maze of jungle canals. It's been called Costa Rica's Venice, but
it actually has more in common with the South American Amazon. You
can fly into the small airstrip, but it's better to take one of
the slow boats that ply the river and canal route. On the way
you'll see a wide variety of herons and other water birds, three
types of monkeys, three-toed sloths, and huge American crocodiles.
If you come between June and October, you may be treated to the
awe-inspiring spectacle of a green turtle nesting -- the small
stretch of Tortuguero beach is the last remaining major nesting
site of this endangered animal.
Monteverde
Biological Cloud Forest Preserve (in the mountains NW of San
José): There's something both eerie and majestic about walking
around in the early morning mist with the sound of bird calls all
around and the towering trees hung heavy in broad bromeliads,
flowering orchids, and hanging moss and vines. The preserve itself
has a well-maintained network of trails, and the community is
truly involved in conservation. Not only that, but in and around
Monteverde and Santa Elena, you'll find a whole slew of related
activities and attractions, including canopy tours that allow you
to swing from treetop to treetop while hanging from a skinny
cable.
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