Perhaps the most popular tourist destination in Costa Rica, the Central Pacific region of the country is also the most accessible. It is located at short distance from the capital of Costa Rica, San Jose, either by plane or car. The area is known for its beautiful beaches, coastal and tourist cities and the fantastic opportunities to surf. The area offers to visitors the opportunity to enjoy all kind of activities, including fishing and sunbathing. Undoubtedly the biggest and crowded attraction of this area is the beautiful Manuel Antonio National Park.

It has a lush and dense forest along with its stunning coastline ideal for swimming or just for bird watching. Manuel Antonio National Park attracts the largest number of tourists in the country. Manuel Antonio is surrounded by a large number of hotels and restaurants, and offers fantastic views to the Pacific Ocean. The park is home to many endemic species of plant and animal life. Nearby the park is the town of Manuel Antonio, a good place to use as a base while exploring the park. However, be careful to do so during the tourist season because while you stay in this city you can get very expensive prices and crowded places.

When you visit the Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica , one of the best and cheapest places to stay is Quepos. It is located 7 miles from the park. This tourist city is growing rapidly due to fishing (both touristic and commercial) and for the development of the tourism. This picturesque town has its own small airport which is located near a lot of friendly hotels, fine restaurants and an active nightlife.

The city of Quepos is north of the popular city of Jaco in Costa Rica , which has been for a long time of the most famous touristic places in Costa Rica. Due to its proximity to the city of San Jose, this beach is ideal for those that want to travel in the spring to the west coast of Costa Rica with their magnificent beaches. Near Jaco is located an excellent place for surfing, the town of Hermosa Beach, which even hosts an international surfing competition every year.

A good place to visit in Costa Rica during the exploration of the Central Pacific region is the provincial capital city of Puntarenas. It is a bustling port in the sea; this city offers some of the finest seafood and cuisine of the Costa Rican Pacific coast. But if you prefer a quieter and relaxed vacation then travel to the southern city of Dominical that is always a pleasant beach with good surfing conditions beach hotels. Located south of Dominical there are a series of beautiful secluded beaches perfect for those who require some relax and rest of the daily life.

If you want something more exciting the city of Puntarenas is perfect for you with hotels, bars, restaurants and casinos. The city will allow you to enjoy a great night life. It has de taste of the Pacific of Costa Rica and a big beach. Also the tourist can enjoy with an old port that is obsolete and is kept for tourism and for cruises. Another attraction is the famous “Paseo de los Turistas” through which you can tour the city in a walk.

Costa Rica offers different levels of rivers and the important thing is to choose the most convenient for you. The proper dose of adrenaline and rest will make the biggest difference in your holiday. In the Atlantic zone of Costar Rica you can get daily departures from San Jose to the rivers of the Caribbean coast and to famous touristic places like La Fortuna de Arenal, giving the opportunity to start in a destination to finish in the place that most interests you. In the middle of the road, there are located interesting places ready to be explored by the tourist. The personalized service and innovation activities offered by the rafting tours, is the essence for the service offered by the travel companies. These companies have the best teams of guides, which will share with you their wide experience, skill, knowledge and love for the rivers during this exciting journey. The rafting tours to the north of Costa Rica generally offer:

• Transportation to / from San Jose-Caribbean-South- Arenal Volcano
• Delicious Meals: Breakfast and lunch
• Expert guides rafting
• Using the center of exploration: showers, changing rooms for the wet clothes, bar, shop
souvenir, parking and tropical gardens.

The tours to the rapid in the northern Caribbean is responsible for providing all facilities to make of the experience on the wild rivers something memorable for all tastes and levels of experience. You are invited to explore these beautiful rivers.

The best-known rivers of the area are Reventazón River and the Pacuare River. These rivers, on the side of the Caribbean Sea, can be traversed throughout the year and have waters of class II through V, depending on the section of the river and the season. From June to October is the time when it is considered that the rivers are more “wild”, which coincides with the rainy season but you will get wet no matter in what time of year you go. There are tours of rapids for all levels of experience. The tours encouraged passengers to use a lot of sunscreen cream and also must bring a change of clothes.

Rio Pacuare

This great river of tropical exuberance, is world-renowned among fans or experts to “rafting” that love travel in fast river in rafts or kayaks. It is considered by many as one of the most beautiful rivers in the world to practice such activity. It is a river class III and IV. During the tour you can enjoy waterfalls and tributaries of the Pacuare that are supplemented with the lush green vegetation. This always gives you a special value to this trip.

Rio Reventazón

This tour is ideal for beginners. It begins at the station of the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, known as Casa Maquinas and ends in the town of Florencia. The duration is about 2 hours, the minimum age is10 years old and the journey is 12 miles.
One of the guides will give a talk on security and provide a little practice before facing the rapids. Once the tour of the river is concluded, the tour will go to the restaurants that are located in the area.

The Corcovado National Park is located on the west side of the Osa Peninsula in the southern region of Costa Rica. Corcovado was declared national park in 1975. It covers an area of about 55,000 km2. The variety of species in this park, populated mostly by rain forest, mangrove and premontane forests is very impressive and is rarely found in this intensity elsewhere in the world.

In the Corcovado National Park there are over 500 species of trees, 140 species of mammals and 370 species of birds, in addition to some 150 species of orchids, 120 species of reptiles and amphibians and more than 6,000 kinds of insects. In the walks of several days the tourist can see a wide variety of animals, including four species of monkeys of Costa Rica, a lot of barnacles or red macaws and diverses toucans, pizotes and tolomucos, peccaries and with a little luck tapirs and snakes . Wild cats are fairly abundant here, but it is very difficult to observe them because they are very timid.

As a starting point for hiking in the national park, is the town of Puerto Jimenez on whose center and surrounding area there are several pensions and hotels in various categories. The administration of the park is located there. A visit of several nights in one of the shelters ranger has to be planned carefully. It is also recommended to make reservations well in advance.
You can get to Puerto Jimenez through the local airline SANSA from San Jose. In the car, the journey takes approximately 11-12 hours from San Jose.
The most important ranger stations inside the park are Los Patos (northern Gulf), San Pedrillo in South Drake Bay, Sirena (the largest station, located at the South Pacific part) and La Leona located at the south park entrance.

The trail system within the Corcovado National Park is well developed. There are paths from Los Patos to Sirena (about 20 km, 6-7 hours.), from Sirena to La Leona (about 13 km in parts of the beach), and from Sirena to San Pedrillo (about 26 km, nearly all by the beach). In the area around the station Sirena there are several paths by which you can hike fairly quiet with very good opportunities to observe animals without the annoying baggage.
The accommodations are offered only in the stations La Sirena and La Leona (cabins and rooms with multiple beds).Is important to bring mosquito nets and sleeping bags not too hot. In every season there is the possibility of spending the night in tents (which has to bring you), there are bathrooms available. The food must be ordered in advance at all stations.

The Birdwatching in Costa Rica is an extraordinary experience, with 812 recorded species with proof to date (Official List of Birds of Costa Rica, the Scientific Committee of the Ornithological Association of Costa Rica - published in April 2007).

Costa Rica offers to the bird watchers, great opportunities to spot different species of birds within relatively short distances, involving a wide variety of habitats in the six regions of the ornithological country, since the sea level to mountains over 3000 meters high

It may surprise to many people to learn that in a country with so many species of exotic birds the national bird is the common yiguirro, a small bird of brown color that can be found throughout the country. It’s easy to hear the singing males during the breeding season which runs from March to May and that the villagers call “calling the rains.”

Bird Watching in Costa Rica

The four major areas in Costa Rica where you can watch birds correspond to some degree with the major geographical divisions of the country:

• The lowlands of the North Pacific.

• The lowlands of the South Pacific.

• The lowlands of the interior of the country.

• The Highlands in the interior on the country.

The dry part of Guanacaste, located at the north of the lowlands of the Pacific is a habitat shared by only a few birds from other parts of the country. It is however a perfect place for acuatic birds because it has a lot of estuaries, lagoons and wetlands that form
the Tempisque Basin that has the biggest variety of freshwater birds in Centroamerica. In this area is located the Palo Verde National Park, at the mouth of the Tempisque river which is one of the best sites for bird lovers in all the country. On the other hand, the lowlands of the south Pacific are home to many species of neotropical birds common in South America as the jacamares, many parrots and antbirds. In this area within the forest the air is wet and cool and under the green of the trees is easy to hear the sounds of the birds.

In Costa Rica the birds are not shy and depending on the season, location and clearly of their lucky, the tourists can see dozens of bird species in a single day. Many tourism companies offer guided tours of birds as well as study tours. The country also has lodges in the mountains specialized in birdwatching.

But the heart of the jungle is not the best place to watch birds because of the density of the foliage that prevents locate the birds because of the confusing patterns of light and shadow. If you want to get best results you have to seek clean strip of forest or a river where it will be easier to find the birds. The large size of the population of birds in Costa Rica has led them to a fierce competition to find food. That’s why the evolution has caused that some birds develop unique methods to search for food. For example, a bird named Attila is a ruthless murderer who eats his victims after crushing them against a tree. It feeds mainly on frogs.

The guided tours in Costa Rica will take you to the best destinations for the observation of the birds in the country for an unforgettable visit. There are a lot tourist companies in Costa Rica that can help you for planning your bird watching vacation assisting you with technical questions in the area. Also this companies organizes tours to the best locations that make your trip the best experience you could possibly have in this country.

It is not known why, but observes the whales and dolphins have always fascinated us since the beginning of the world. They are among the most famous animals on the planet interesting for its sociability and clear intelligence and especially of the dolphins who express affinity for the human being. That’s why it has become increasingly common for tourism the trips to watch whales and dolphins in their natural environment, in the middle of open sea where these creatures can swim freely.

Costa Rica has coastline on both sides of the national territory. The Pacific coast and the Caribbean coast. This makes Costa Rica a country with rich marine, despite not having large reefs it have a wide variety of biological groups. However one such group is not exactly fish, but marine mammals, cetaceans.
In Costa Rica cetaceans represent the third group of mammals with more species
in our country, after the bats and rodents
We can find on both coasts, some are frequent visitors, others are residents.
To be able to observe whales is necessary to be very aware of three things:

-Do not get to much closer to, recommending a distance of 150 meters from mothers with offspring and 100 meters from individuals alone (in the case whales). In the case of dolphins often they are the ones who come to the boats, so it is recommended to lower the speed and not to cross in front of them.

-Have enough patience because not always is easy to see these animals.

-Use the necessary equipment and travel with someone with the required experience.

Remember that it is extremely important not to cause any stress or endanger our lives or those of Cetaceans and their offspring. Recall that the whales come to Costa Rica to have their young and breed that is why we must be very careful because their behavior is not equal to many times that we see on television. They need their space, so we must respect them.
In our Pacific coast is more common to see them in the case of the whales in the months January to March and June to September.
The dolphins can be seen throughout the year.
Some of the areas most famous for whale watching and dolphins in Costa Rica are:

• Coronado Bay in the South Pacific.
• Osa Peninsula and surrounding areas.
• Golfo Dulce.
• Guanacaste and Nicoya Peninsula.
• Southern Caribbean

However the most famous place to see whales and dolphins in Costa Rica is Parque Marino Ballena located between Punta Uvita and Punta Piñuela in the south pacific in a region called Osa. Is an important place where the tourist can see interesting animals as the famous Humpback whale