It was a bit like playing bumper cars in the middle of Roaring Rapids. There I was, perched very alert in my high-tech individual rafting tube, bouncing off a rock to my left only to spin off a rock on my right and now speeding backwards down the chute to smack the huge wave in the “Coca Cola” rapid dead-on. Facing the...

Costa Rica’s greatly varied terrain, from beaches to jungle to rugged mountains, makes for a fun playground for ATV tours. Officially known as All-Terrain Vehicles, or “Quads” in North America and “Quad Bikes” in England and Australia, ATVs can be an exciting way to access Costa Rica’s beautiful landscapes where...

They bring life to rainforests, both with their brilliant colors and with the magnificent flowers they help to pollinate. Everyone loves butterflies – these delicate creatures flit and fly gracefully, brightening our gardens and wild spaces. Their beauty and allure has given butterflies a special place in both ancient and...

Visiting Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast is almost like going to another country. Very different from the rest of Costa Rica, the Caribbean coastal towns of Limon, Cahuita and Puerto Viejo highlight their Jamaican-African ancestry with reggae music, Creole patois spoken alongside Spanish, a very laid-back attitude, and cultural...

I met Nemo the other day. Well, actually it was his cousin. Instead of a cute bright orange and white striped Clownfish, this little guy was a vibrant yellow and turquoise with dark stripes. It swam right up to my snorkel mask, in my mind to say, “Hi!” Really, what it was probably thinking was “bug off,” given that it...

Looking for ideas on where to go and what to do on vacation in Costa Rica? Here’s an interesting and fabulously varied trip to 6 of Costa Rica’s top tourist destinations, and all while staying in charming and luxurious boutique hotels. The unique architecture, personalized service and enchanting intimacy that you find at...

Tall, impressive Volcano Arenal is at the top of everyone’s list of places to visit in Costa Rica. Towering above the rainforest that surround its base and the beautiful Lake Arenal, Volcano Arenal’s perfectly symmetrical conical shape makes it a stunning sight. Even though Costa Rica’s most active volcano is taking a...

Suspended on cables gliding through the tops of giant tropical trees, amid hidden, dripping, hanging gardens full of plants and animals in the rainforest, is a pretty cool experience. Rainforest trees are tall, really tall, even towering up to more than 100 feet high. The microcosm of life happening at this level is abundant...

The fun-loving beach town of Jacó lights up as “beach party central” on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast. Just an hour from the San Jose metropolitan area on the Route 27 and Costanera Sur highways, Jacó is one of the country’s most developed beach towns. Jacó spreads out in front of a low green mountain range...

Traveling to the Central American isthmus of Nicaragua-Costa Rica-Panama presents travelers with a unique panorama of diversity. This narrow bridge between North and South America may be small in size but is packed with an exotic mix of steamy jungles, rugged volcanoes and mountain ranges, fabulous tropical coastlines,...

The neat thing about river rafting is that you get to see parts of the country that otherwise go unnoticed. The Peñas Blancas River in north central Costa Rica is a good example. The clear tropical river runs through the Tilaran Mountain Range, fed by pristine waters of the Monteverde cloud forest, and converges with the San...

Ecotourism and Costa Rica are practically synonymous, especially since Costa Rica essentially pioneered the flourishing ecotourism trend. In April of this year, Costa Rica was named the most popular eco-friendly destination in the world by TripAdvisor members. The country has been on the forefront of the eco-friendly travel...

It is a gigantic journey. A one-way trip can last upwards of 5,000 miles. Imagine walking from a bit north of Anchorage, Alaska, all the way to San Jose, Costa Rica, and that’s the distance we’re talking about. Or, think of swimming from Antarctica to Costa Rica. Now imagine not resting nearly at all, and not eating, during...

The Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica counts many superb sights and attractions. You have the canals and sea turtle nesting beaches of the Tortuguero National Park, the marvelous beaches of Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, the Afro-Caribbean port town of Limon, the wild beauty of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife and Marine Refuge, and the...

When most people think about Costa Rica they imagine wonderful beaches. However, visitors should also discover the mysterious cloud forest. If you love scenic locations and wish to enjoy spending your time out in the wild, then you must certainly visit this little paradise of Monteverde and Santa Elena. Many locals in the...

Del Mar Surfing Academy in Costa Rica has a new and exciting teen group trip that combines the best of its surfing training on the Central Pacific Coast with a Caribbean jungle adventure in Tortuguero. Del Mar Surfing Academy is one of the top surf schools in Costa Rica for teens (ages 13 to 19), and for families. Based in...

Surfer girls are cool. They’ve got that fit, sunkissed, water-tousled hair, smiling, laid back style that makes them so irresistible. Who wouldn’t want to be a surfer girl? Surfing is outrageously fun. You’ve got the challenge and freedom of riding the incredible power of the ocean; the feeling of dancing with sunshine...

Traveling to a foreign country is not easy, especially when it is for the first time. In Costa Rica’s case, it is important for both domestic and foreign to know the characteristics of the various means of transportation available. That way you will avoid many problems and make your trip a more pleasant experience. Rent a...

As with anything, it begins with a story. A small Central American nation yearning to grow from subsistence farming to being a world player with agricultural exports chooses to think big. Costa Rica is the country, and coffee is its most valuable commodity. The year is 1871. This is the decade of enormous world industrial,...

Just across the border, to Costa Rica’s north, lies the enchanting country of Nicaragua. The “Land of Lakes and Volcanoes,” as it is called, is easily reached by day trip or a longer weekend journey from Costa Rica. The civil war ended more than 20 years ago, and today, Nicaragua is one of the safest countries in Central...