The fact that more than two million visitors came to Costa Rica in 2008 didn’t just happen by chance. The Economist magazine recently ranked Costa Rica—politically stable and economically prosperous— higher than all Central American countries for business travelers. And certainly leisure travelers—a good percentage repeat visitors—just keep coming to a country where over a quarter of the land is protected in national parks and other nature areas that beckon the eco-tourist and adventurer. As a leader in sustainable tourism, Costa Rica has seamlessly integrated plush resorts, indulgent spas and sublime eco-lodges into its gorgeous landscapes that stretch between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts—only three to four hours away from each other by land, and 45 minutes by air.
SAN JOSE
For the visitor, almost all routes lead to and from San Jose, a central and interior city—ringed by low mountains and a profusion of flowers and greenery—that is high enough (3,600 ft.) to be chilly at night. It’s also a casual place where it is said that “no one wears a tie except fi rst-time tourists and clerks.” Yet it is a capital nonetheless that offers its guests high-caliber, business-class hotels—from the small, elegant Grano de Oro Hotel, to the Marriott Costa Rica Hotel and Doubletree Cariari by Hilton, to name a few—and first-rate guesthouses. Here, vacationers will find sophisticated and informal restaurants serving up local and international cuisines, interesting craft boutiques and performances by the National Symphony Orchestra.
Many visitors make San Jose their headquarters, taking advantage of easy day trips to the countryside to visit the country’s former capital at Cartago, and Sarchi, famous for its brightly painted oxcarts (the national symbol), or to tour coffee plantations and botanical gardens, or even go rafting or volcano climbing. Today’s capital, however, is worth exploring for its own sake, and its museums are excellent: the spectacular 1,880-piece collection of the Gold Museum, located beneath the Plaza de la Cultura; the National Museum occupying the former Buenavista fortress and displaying pre-Columbian artifacts in stone, ceramic and gold, as well as colonial religious art; and the Fidel Tristan Jade Museum, housing the Americas’ largest collection of jade pieces. A special attraction is the National Theater, a gem of belle epoque architecture built at the end of the 19th century with coffee tax profits. And no visit is complete without a stop at the Mercado Central, San Jose’s most colorful indoor market. Along the way, you’ll notice that today’s San Jose is protecting its past with the restoration of historic homes in the once aristocratic neighborhoods, Amon and Otoya.
Flower fanciers will be dazzled by bromeliads, haliconias, bamboo, cacti and palms laid out in gardens covering the 27 acres of the Lankester Botanical Gardens—to catch the flowers in full bloom, visit February through April—and nature lovers shouldn’t miss a visit to INBioparque, run by the National Biodiversity Institute, to tour two large pavilions explaining Costa Rica’s natural wonders. Also just outside of San Jose, you can drive up the scenic switchback road to look down into the Irazu Volcano—the country’s highest at over 11,000 ft.—and to the Poas Volcano, some 8,650 ft. high and one of the most active. Trails through the surrounding park’s cloud forest lead close to the crater and from lookout points, you see steaming fumaroles in the bubbling cauldron of magma.
MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST RESERVE
Make yourself at home in an eco-friendly lodge and settle into the beauty of the 25,000-acre Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, located some four hours from the capital in the Tilaran mountains of the Guanacaste province. Here, you can experience the unique cloud forest environment—hiking with a guide, horseback riding, or taking a canopy tour ride—and explore the trails that crisscross a reserve sheltering 2,500 types of plants, some 400 species of birds and 110 kinds of mammals. Above all, come to see the resplendent quetzal. Mating season, February to May, is prime viewing time for this spectacularly gorgeous bird, but you can get lucky anytime. Nearby is the Santa Elena Reserve, a lovely and less-trafficked alternative.
ARENAL VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
About a 1.5-hour drive from San Jose, the Arenal Volcano towers over the eastern shore of Lake Arenal, a magnet for windsurfers, kayakers and freshwater anglers. But the big draw here is the majestic mountain itself, one of the world’s most photogenic and active volcanoes and one that spews forth rocks and fi re from its conical summit 24 hours a day—that is definitely the big draw. However, the big sound and light show comes at night when the flows of glowing lava race down its slopes, and the best seat in the house are the nearby lodges. Nowadays there are some really lovely ones, from the Arenal Kioro Hotel, with its beautiful gardens, to the Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort, offering extensive facilities for a good soak in its hot spring-fed pools. For guests staying at any lodge here, there is lots to do—aerial tram rides, canopy tours, canyoning and a Sky Walk for a special perspective on the rain and cloud forests.
THE CARIBBEAN COAST
Yes, you can fl y from San Jose to Limon, coastal gateway to the Caribbean, but traveling overland by car via Braulio Carrillo National Park offers a delightful trip, cutting across mountains and passing cattle ranches and banana plantations that are set amongst some of the country’s most beautiful scenery. North of Limon, half the fun of going to stay in the Tortuguero National Park is the cruise through a jungly network of canals—home to manatees and crocodiles—that lead to such excellent riverside lodges as Manatus Hotel or Tortuguero Lodge. Other pleasures here include listening for howler monkeys, counting the macaws and toucans and kayaking the waterways on your own. And everyone wants to be here during the nesting season of the green sea turtles that wade onto the beaches to lay their eggs (November- June). Tops for anglers are the tarpon and snook fishing from Silver King Lodge outside the park at Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge.
THE PACIFIC COAST
Continental Airlines’ air service into Liberia airport and the Pacifi c’s whitest beaches combine to put Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula along the north coast in the vacation spotlight. And a host of established and new resort lodges and hotels are drawing increasing sun and sea vacationers. Luxury accommodations, led off by deluxe pioneers Four Seasons and Reserva Conchal—who brought spa facilities and great golf to Guanacaste—have been joined by the just-opened JW Marriott, which now shares the 4,000-acre Hacienda Pinilla Golf Resort property. Meanwhile, natural attractions serve the region well. An hour north of Liberia is Rincon de la Vieja National Park, a ruggedly beautiful habitat of one volcano and a host of geysers, fumaroles and thermal springs, while Santa Rosa National Park is a sanctuary for the Pacifi c green, huge leatherback and Olive Ridley turtles. On the Central Pacifi c coast, Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica’s smallest protected areas, makes up for its size with its immense beauty. This most popular of preserves protects lovely crescents of white beach, rocky headlands, coral reefs and a wet tropical forest that is host to a variety of birds (184 species) and mammals, including agoutis, ocelots, two- and three-toed sloths and whitefaced, spider and howler monkeys. Park trails are easy to explore and off shore, the park’s clear waters are popular with snorkelers, scuba divers and deep-sea fishermen. There is a bevy of fi ne resort lodgings here—from the popular and hilltop Hotel Parador and Hotel Villas Si Como No, to the new and super-deluxe Arenas del Mar right by the sea. Along the Southern Pacifi c coast, the Osa Peninsula is home to the jewel of Costa Rica’s national parks system, the Corcovado National Park. Its pristine precincts from mountain forest to mangrove swamps—shelter the like of jaguar, ocelot and tapir, as well as monkeys and scarlet macaws galore, while sea turtles nest on park beaches. Make your base at one of the numerous lodges—Casa Corcovado is one high-comfort choice, the Corcovado Lodge Tent Camp is another special option—and enjoy hikes with guides along park trails followed by a plunge into the sea. Anglers should head west along the coast to Aguila de Osa Inn at Drake Bay for the best in sportfishing and scuba diving in the depths around Cano Island.
It Would Be a Shame to Miss...
Taking a canopy tour by funicular, aerial gondola, bridges and walkway, skywalks and ziplines for a bird’s-eye view of the fl ora and fauna that live in the leafy rainforest heights. Canopy touring is available in many corners of the country. Running a river, on a day trip from San Jose to Rio Reventazon, Rio Sarapiqui and Rio Corobici; the Rio Pacuare offers the big excitement and is considered world-class by river runners. Serious rafters come in July and August when the rivers are at their wildest. Going surfing, at its best along the Pacifi c coast from March to November where the most popular centers are Tamarindo, Nosara and Malpais on the Nicoya Peninsula; Jaco (for beginners and intermediates) and Playa Hermosa in the central Pacifi c. Expert surfers are heading to Punta Matapalo on the tip of the Osa Peninsula.
Celebrations for All Seasons
Feb.: See the Fiesta de los Diablitos (Festival of the Little Devils), featuring masked dancing on the Boruca Indian Reserve near Curre.
Mar.: A festival held in Escazu, Dia del Boyero, honors the oxcart drivers with a colorful oxcart parade and other festivities on the second Sunday of the month.
Aug. 2: The patron saint of Costa Rica, the Virgen de los Angeles, is celebrated with an important religious parade from San Jose to Cartago.
Oct.12: In Limon, come for Columbus Day, or Dia de la Raza, an occasion for a huge carnival-like fiesta of street dancing and parades.
SAN JOSE
For the visitor, almost all routes lead to and from San Jose, a central and interior city—ringed by low mountains and a profusion of flowers and greenery—that is high enough (3,600 ft.) to be chilly at night. It’s also a casual place where it is said that “no one wears a tie except fi rst-time tourists and clerks.” Yet it is a capital nonetheless that offers its guests high-caliber, business-class hotels—from the small, elegant Grano de Oro Hotel, to the Marriott Costa Rica Hotel and Doubletree Cariari by Hilton, to name a few—and first-rate guesthouses. Here, vacationers will find sophisticated and informal restaurants serving up local and international cuisines, interesting craft boutiques and performances by the National Symphony Orchestra.
Many visitors make San Jose their headquarters, taking advantage of easy day trips to the countryside to visit the country’s former capital at Cartago, and Sarchi, famous for its brightly painted oxcarts (the national symbol), or to tour coffee plantations and botanical gardens, or even go rafting or volcano climbing. Today’s capital, however, is worth exploring for its own sake, and its museums are excellent: the spectacular 1,880-piece collection of the Gold Museum, located beneath the Plaza de la Cultura; the National Museum occupying the former Buenavista fortress and displaying pre-Columbian artifacts in stone, ceramic and gold, as well as colonial religious art; and the Fidel Tristan Jade Museum, housing the Americas’ largest collection of jade pieces. A special attraction is the National Theater, a gem of belle epoque architecture built at the end of the 19th century with coffee tax profits. And no visit is complete without a stop at the Mercado Central, San Jose’s most colorful indoor market. Along the way, you’ll notice that today’s San Jose is protecting its past with the restoration of historic homes in the once aristocratic neighborhoods, Amon and Otoya.
Flower fanciers will be dazzled by bromeliads, haliconias, bamboo, cacti and palms laid out in gardens covering the 27 acres of the Lankester Botanical Gardens—to catch the flowers in full bloom, visit February through April—and nature lovers shouldn’t miss a visit to INBioparque, run by the National Biodiversity Institute, to tour two large pavilions explaining Costa Rica’s natural wonders. Also just outside of San Jose, you can drive up the scenic switchback road to look down into the Irazu Volcano—the country’s highest at over 11,000 ft.—and to the Poas Volcano, some 8,650 ft. high and one of the most active. Trails through the surrounding park’s cloud forest lead close to the crater and from lookout points, you see steaming fumaroles in the bubbling cauldron of magma.
MONTEVERDE CLOUD FOREST RESERVE
Make yourself at home in an eco-friendly lodge and settle into the beauty of the 25,000-acre Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, located some four hours from the capital in the Tilaran mountains of the Guanacaste province. Here, you can experience the unique cloud forest environment—hiking with a guide, horseback riding, or taking a canopy tour ride—and explore the trails that crisscross a reserve sheltering 2,500 types of plants, some 400 species of birds and 110 kinds of mammals. Above all, come to see the resplendent quetzal. Mating season, February to May, is prime viewing time for this spectacularly gorgeous bird, but you can get lucky anytime. Nearby is the Santa Elena Reserve, a lovely and less-trafficked alternative.
ARENAL VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK
About a 1.5-hour drive from San Jose, the Arenal Volcano towers over the eastern shore of Lake Arenal, a magnet for windsurfers, kayakers and freshwater anglers. But the big draw here is the majestic mountain itself, one of the world’s most photogenic and active volcanoes and one that spews forth rocks and fi re from its conical summit 24 hours a day—that is definitely the big draw. However, the big sound and light show comes at night when the flows of glowing lava race down its slopes, and the best seat in the house are the nearby lodges. Nowadays there are some really lovely ones, from the Arenal Kioro Hotel, with its beautiful gardens, to the Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort, offering extensive facilities for a good soak in its hot spring-fed pools. For guests staying at any lodge here, there is lots to do—aerial tram rides, canopy tours, canyoning and a Sky Walk for a special perspective on the rain and cloud forests.
THE CARIBBEAN COAST
Yes, you can fl y from San Jose to Limon, coastal gateway to the Caribbean, but traveling overland by car via Braulio Carrillo National Park offers a delightful trip, cutting across mountains and passing cattle ranches and banana plantations that are set amongst some of the country’s most beautiful scenery. North of Limon, half the fun of going to stay in the Tortuguero National Park is the cruise through a jungly network of canals—home to manatees and crocodiles—that lead to such excellent riverside lodges as Manatus Hotel or Tortuguero Lodge. Other pleasures here include listening for howler monkeys, counting the macaws and toucans and kayaking the waterways on your own. And everyone wants to be here during the nesting season of the green sea turtles that wade onto the beaches to lay their eggs (November- June). Tops for anglers are the tarpon and snook fishing from Silver King Lodge outside the park at Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge.
THE PACIFIC COAST
Continental Airlines’ air service into Liberia airport and the Pacifi c’s whitest beaches combine to put Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula along the north coast in the vacation spotlight. And a host of established and new resort lodges and hotels are drawing increasing sun and sea vacationers. Luxury accommodations, led off by deluxe pioneers Four Seasons and Reserva Conchal—who brought spa facilities and great golf to Guanacaste—have been joined by the just-opened JW Marriott, which now shares the 4,000-acre Hacienda Pinilla Golf Resort property. Meanwhile, natural attractions serve the region well. An hour north of Liberia is Rincon de la Vieja National Park, a ruggedly beautiful habitat of one volcano and a host of geysers, fumaroles and thermal springs, while Santa Rosa National Park is a sanctuary for the Pacifi c green, huge leatherback and Olive Ridley turtles. On the Central Pacifi c coast, Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica’s smallest protected areas, makes up for its size with its immense beauty. This most popular of preserves protects lovely crescents of white beach, rocky headlands, coral reefs and a wet tropical forest that is host to a variety of birds (184 species) and mammals, including agoutis, ocelots, two- and three-toed sloths and whitefaced, spider and howler monkeys. Park trails are easy to explore and off shore, the park’s clear waters are popular with snorkelers, scuba divers and deep-sea fishermen. There is a bevy of fi ne resort lodgings here—from the popular and hilltop Hotel Parador and Hotel Villas Si Como No, to the new and super-deluxe Arenas del Mar right by the sea. Along the Southern Pacifi c coast, the Osa Peninsula is home to the jewel of Costa Rica’s national parks system, the Corcovado National Park. Its pristine precincts from mountain forest to mangrove swamps—shelter the like of jaguar, ocelot and tapir, as well as monkeys and scarlet macaws galore, while sea turtles nest on park beaches. Make your base at one of the numerous lodges—Casa Corcovado is one high-comfort choice, the Corcovado Lodge Tent Camp is another special option—and enjoy hikes with guides along park trails followed by a plunge into the sea. Anglers should head west along the coast to Aguila de Osa Inn at Drake Bay for the best in sportfishing and scuba diving in the depths around Cano Island.
It Would Be a Shame to Miss...
Taking a canopy tour by funicular, aerial gondola, bridges and walkway, skywalks and ziplines for a bird’s-eye view of the fl ora and fauna that live in the leafy rainforest heights. Canopy touring is available in many corners of the country. Running a river, on a day trip from San Jose to Rio Reventazon, Rio Sarapiqui and Rio Corobici; the Rio Pacuare offers the big excitement and is considered world-class by river runners. Serious rafters come in July and August when the rivers are at their wildest. Going surfing, at its best along the Pacifi c coast from March to November where the most popular centers are Tamarindo, Nosara and Malpais on the Nicoya Peninsula; Jaco (for beginners and intermediates) and Playa Hermosa in the central Pacifi c. Expert surfers are heading to Punta Matapalo on the tip of the Osa Peninsula.
Celebrations for All Seasons
Feb.: See the Fiesta de los Diablitos (Festival of the Little Devils), featuring masked dancing on the Boruca Indian Reserve near Curre.
Mar.: A festival held in Escazu, Dia del Boyero, honors the oxcart drivers with a colorful oxcart parade and other festivities on the second Sunday of the month.
Aug. 2: The patron saint of Costa Rica, the Virgen de los Angeles, is celebrated with an important religious parade from San Jose to Cartago.
Oct.12: In Limon, come for Columbus Day, or Dia de la Raza, an occasion for a huge carnival-like fiesta of street dancing and parades.
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