Costa Rica is one of those special places where the opportunities for exploration and adventure are nearly as diverse as the flora and fauna (which is arguably the most diverse on the planet). Whether you’re going for the yoga, to birdwatch, to surf, to explore the rainforest, dip in a hot spring, scuba dive, or climb a volcano, you’ll find it all there, along with delicious, healthy food, and accommodations to suit every taste.
It’s rare for people to just visit just once. Instead, most people seem to fall in love with it and return over and over, either to old favorite spots, or to sample a new flavor of the experiences to be had. While a full book couldn’t do justice to all you can see there, here are a handful of highlights which you can use as a jumping off point for your exploration of this incredible land.
Arenal & La Fortuna
It’s hard to picture a better-balanced combination of adventure and relaxation. The town of La Fortuna makes an idyllic base for your exploration of Arenal volcano. Here you will find hot springs galore, white water rafting, rainforest canopy tours, paddling or windsurfing in Lake Arenal, and La Fortuna Waterfall (a 200-foot cascade you can swim right up to).
La Fortuna has plenty of restaurants to keep
La Fortuna has plenty of restaurants to keep your energy up, too. Where to stay nearby: The original hot springs resort with a natural river of thermal water running through it: Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa. Eighteen thermal pools terraced into a hillside, plus an on-site wildlife rescue center: The Springs Resort & Spa. Nosara
Where surf culture and wellness don’t so much as collide but coexist, Nosara is a laid-back beach town, full of yoga retreats, healthy and delicious restaurants, and plenty of waves.
Playa Guiones is one of the most consistent beach breaks on the planet, and there are dozens of surf schools, camps, and a variety of waves for beginners to experts. Read our full guide to Nosara here. Where to stay nearby: For stunning views and one of the best restaurants in the country: Tierra Magnifica. For quick access to the beach and the heart of town: Sendero Nosara. For half hotel, half condo, featuring luxe rooms with an eye toward families: Silvestre Nosara.
Manuel Antonio
While much of the wildlife in Costa Rica requires going way off the beaten path, Manuel Antonio National Park is a major exception. It boasts some of the most dense populations of sloths, squirrel monkeys, toucans, white-faced capuchins, and many, many more. It’s laced with mellow coastal trails and absolutely jaw-dropping beaches, and the nearby town of Quepos has all the amenities one could want, plus nearby Tico cuisine at Rico Tico Jungle Grill’s outdoor deck overlooking the treetops.
Where to stay nearby: For luxury, views,
Where to stay nearby: For luxury, views, and direct beach access: Arenas del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort. For a romantic, adults-only, design-forward, boutique hotel: Makanda by the Sea
San José
Don’t treat the capital city as a mere layover. San José and the surrounding Central Valley will reward your curiosity, especially if you’re a coffee lover, as this is the region some of the world’s best beans come from.
There are plenty of plantation tours around the still-active Poás and Irazú volcanoes, just a short daytrip away. The city itself is bursting with arts, culture, and one of the best and most innovative food scenes in Central America. You can walk off your meals exploring the Gold Museum, the resplendent 1897 National Theater, and plenty of public art and murals. Where to stay nearby: For a luxurious converted mansion in the heart of downtown book Hotel Grano De Oro.
For quick access to the best restaurants and shopping in the city there’s InterContinental Costa Rica. For an only-in-Costa-Rica experience at a working coffee plantation with gorgeous architecture outside of the city; Finca Rosa Blanca
Monteverde
A stunning, green realm where the clouds seem to get caught in the canopy of the giant trees, Costa Rica’s premiere cloud forest is truly a thing to behold.
It’s the birding capital of Costa Rica (which
It’s the birding capital of Costa Rica (which makes it one of the birding capitals of the world), and it’s here that you might catch a glimpse of the rare and majestic Resplendent Quetzal. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, the Santa Elena Reserve, and the Curi-Cancha Reserve (all closely nestled) offer some of the richest wildlife-spotting hiking in the country, and there are some killer coffee tours, too.
Where to stay nearby: For a Swiss-style chalet in the middle of the cloud forest, Hotel Belmar. For sustainable luxury with a private wildlife reserve, Hotel Belmar. Puerto Viejo & the South Caribbean Coast
A whole different side of Costa Rica from the more-visited west coast, both literally and figuratively. Here you’ll find a mélange of Afro-Caribbean, Bribri indigenous, and Latinx influences, and that really shows up in the mouth-watering food and the local music scene.
Puerto Viejo is the central town, full of bars, restaurants, shops, but it’s close to everything from the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge (a hotspot for nesting turtles), a sloth reserve, a Jaguar Rescue Center, and the absolutely pumping waves of the notorious Salsa Brava surf break. Where to stay nearby: For individually curated Caribbean-Victorian beach bungalows: Hotel Aguas Claras.
For a white-washed, design-focused property near the beach:
For a white-washed, design-focused property near the beach: Le Caméléon Boutique Hotel
Corcovado & the Osa Peninsula
Last but most definitely not least, a visit to Corcovado National Park is on the bucket list of any nature-lover. This rainforest was dubbed “the most biologically intense place on Earth” by National Geographic, and you will see why very quickly upon arrival as your chances are excellent for spotting tapirs, scarlet macaws, all four Costa Rican monkey species, and maybe even a jaguar.
Getting there isn’t for the faint of heart, as it typically takes a puddle jumper or a very long drive followed by a boat to get way out there on the Osa Peninsula, and accommodations skew more glamping than luxurious, but if you make the pilgrimage, you will be rewarded by thin crowds and one of the most immersive nature experiences on planet Earth (and there’s good surf, too).
Where to stay nearby: The peninsula’s flagship eco-lodge on a private 1,000-acre reserve: Lapa Rios Ecolodge. The only luxury property with direct access to the gulf (boat trip required to get there) is Playa Cativo Lodge. Indonesian-style bungalows and beachfront access near Drake Bay: Copa de Árbol Beach & Rainforest Resort.
Source: www.cntraveler.com
