Costa
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Beaches
Because we are close to the equator, the
air and water temperatures at the beach
are warm all year around. Come to swim,
surf, scuba dive, snorkel or just sunbath.
The two coastlines have a length of over
1100 miles (1800 km) with a never-ending
variety of beaches for any possible taste.
Playa Espadilla near Manuel Antonio and
Flamingo Beach in Guanacaste Province are
some of our many world famous Pacific beaches.
If you want to swim in the ocean, we do
recommend Playa Hermosa, Bahía Caulebra,
Bahía Potrero, Isla Tortuga or the beaches
in the Golfo de Papagayo, as these do not
have rip tides.
On the Caribbean coast there is beautiful
Cauhita beach. The easily accessible national
park nearby has an area of coral reef with
beautiful tropical fish for snorkelers or
divers to see. Another area for snorkeling
and scuba diving is Caño Island off the
Oso Peninsula on the Pacific side. Surfers
congregate to get the big waves at Jaco
on the Pacific. Sailboating and deep water
fishing can also be arranged.
Butterflies
and Hummingbirds
Recently there have sprung up a host of
both butterfly enclosures and hummingbird
attractions thoughout the country. The beautiful
butterflies of Costa Rica can best be enjoyed
in an enclosed area where the butterflies
can be released in large numbers. The La
Paz Waterfall Gardens supposedly have the
“largest Butterfly Observatory in the world”
along with a large hummingbird feeding area
with so many hundreds of gorgeous hummingbirds
flying around that the sound is like a swarm
of bees.
Costa Rica is home to many species of extremely
colorful hummingbirds. Many places have
set up multiple feeders where you can observe
these relatively tame iridescent birds from
as little as three feet away. One of our
clients counted five different species sitting
and feeding on one feeder at Monteverde,
including the relatively large iridescent
blue chested hummingbird above (technically
the violet sabrewing, Campylopterus hemileucurus).
Canopy
So called “zip line canopy tours” are found
throughout Costa Rica in virtually all the
many cloud forests and rainforests. Typically,
there are a series of platforms built high
up in rain forest trees with steel lines
strung between the platforms. Strapped in
a hefty safety harness you slide down these
steel lines from one platform to the next.
Since most of the life in a rain forest
takes place high in the canopy, this is
often the best way to appreciate the rain
forest. It certainly is exhilarating.
Some facilities have over a mile of zip
lines, including lines which cross rivers.
Just a few of the Zip Line operations are
San Lorenzo Canopy Tour, Sarapiqui River
Canopy Tour, Jaco Beach Canopy Tour (also
has a tram), Canopy Tour Arenal (horseback
ride and hike into the facility), Turu Bari
Tropical Park in Orotina (also has new gardens,
a gondola ride and a butterfly enclosure;
all in a reforested area).
One of the newest adventures to hit Costa
Rica is to rappel down a tropical waterfall.
The falls utilized for rappelling start
at about 50 feet and get as high as 180
feet. Locations include El Rio Tigre River
in Guanacaste, Los Chorros Cataratas in
Grecia Alajuela, Pure Trek Canyoning in
La Fortuna and the Remanso Rainforest Wildlife
Lodge on the Osa Peninsula.
For the real thrill seeker an outfit called
Tropical Bungee now offers bungee jumps
from a 265 foot high bridge outside San
Jose. Since Costa Rican drivers do not pay
any attention to bicycles, we don’t recommend
“on road” bicycling, such as the bike trip
down Urazu Volcano. It sounds fun but it
is just too dangerous . Off road “fat tire”
mountain biking can be done in the area
around the Arenal and Chirripo Volcanoes.
Cloud
Forests
“Ecotourism” has always been a big attraction
in the cloud forests because of the unusual
flora found there. Most of the precipitation
in a cloud forest is in the form of an afternoon
mist, the forest is literally “in the clouds”.
Because of this, the giant tropical trees
become covered in the unusual aerial plants
known as epiphytes. The epiphytes on one
tree can consist of up to six tons of exotic
and beautiful orchids, bromeliads, begonias,
mosses, ferns, lichens and philodendrons.
These cloud forests are also home to a host
of beautiful butterflies, birds and some
very unusual insects and animals. It is
recommended that one hike the cloud forest
in the morning, before the clouds roll in.
Then our Spanish school tutors can give
you language lessons in the afternoon.
The mountain cloud forests of Monteverde,
North of San Jose, are world famous and
a tourist mecca. This area has several private
reserves, the most famous of which is the
Monteverde Reserve itself. In this area
a large number of hotels and pensiones give
accommodations ranging from very basic to
luxurious. Monteverde is full of crafts
shops, restaurants, cafes, and such nature
attractions as butterfly and hummingbird
gardens.
Just as beautiful as Monteverde and much
less crowded are the cloud forests Southeast
of San Jose. Here the accommodations are
more limited, but nearby towns have some
options in all price ranges. You also won't
find the restaurants, shops and cafes of
Monteverde here. On the way to Chirripo
there is a 13 mile infamous stretch of the
Transamerica Highway between Empalme and
Division known as “Cerro de la Muerte” (in
actuality it is a much better road than
the road going to Monteverde). This road
is high in the cloud forest (8,000 to 10,000
feet) and has several lodges that cater
to tourists, such as Mirador de Quetzales
Lodge (Obviously a good place to see the
gorgeous Quetzale Bird). The rustic El Toucanet
lodge in the lush Copey de Dota valley within
the Los Santos Forest Reserve sits in a
cloud forest very similar to that of Monteverde.
San Gerardo de Dota is a small village near
Cirripo that is very similar to Monteverde
but no where near as "touristy".
Here you will find the Trogon Lodge which
has such diverse attractions as a five station
zipline, mountain biking, trout fishing
and hikes to a waterfall in the surrounding
cloud forest. You'll also find the more
luxurious Alberque de Montana Savegre lodge
here. Further down the road, Chirripo Park,
in addition to offering short hikes in the
cloud forest, offers a student the opportunity
to hike to the top of the 11,500 foot (3,498
meters) Mount Chirripo, Costa Rica’s highest
peak. This strenuous backpack, generally
spread over two or three days, passes though
a multitude of ecosystems from rainforests
to dwarfed equatorial alpine vegetation.
There is a base camp at 10,000 feet run
by the Costa Rican Park System (solar powered
lights, flush toilets, cold showers, etc.).
You can learn Spanish on the way to Chirropo
and back.
Cooking
As part of the immersion learning process
in the Spanish language we will gladly arrange
cooking classes for our students. The Costa
Rican food specialties that most seem to
interest our students are the sweet deserts
such as mazzamorra, passion fruit pie, mango
flan, torta chilena, tres leches cake and
platanos maduros en gloria (very sweet and
very delicious!). Other common Costa Rican
dishes include banana leaf tamales, pollo
borracho (in brandy), Enyucados (yucca cakes),
pastel de pollo, stuffed chayotes, gallos,
empanadas, olla de carne, picadillo, patacones
and sea bass ceviche.
One of the school’s directors is also an
accomplished chef, something which is confirmed
if you read our testimonials. This makes
cooking lessons an excellent immersion Spanish
language teaching experience, the cook is
also your tutor! And it can all be followed
by a memorable dining experience.
Crafts
Towns such as Casa del Sonador and Moravia
are well-known for their authentic Costa
Rican art. Shops there and throughout Costa
Rica have fine wood carvings, ceramics,
handcrafted furniture and paintings. The
town of Sarchí is where they build the famous
and colorful hand painted oxcarts of Costa
Rica. We can easily arrange for pottery
and ceramic demonstrations from both some
very talented "Ticos" and the
indigenous natives. The town of Guaitil
in Guanacaste is especially famous for the
intricately decorated pottery of the Chorotega
Indians. These demonstrations are excellent
ways to learn the Spanish language in Costa
Rica.
On the road from Orosi to Cachí is the tiny
rough hewn wooden "Dreamer's House",
La Casa del Soñador. This is the masterpiece
of late Costa Rican sculptor Macedonio Quesada.
The house (really more a two story shed
where the much of the lumber used to make
the shed is intricately carved) is filled
with rough coffee wood figures carved by
his sons, all at very reasonable prices.
Gardens
The Lankester Botanical gardens (a one hour
drive from San Jose) and the Wilson Botanical
Gardens (8 to 10 hours away from San Jose)
are old well established arboretums in Costa
Rica which are famous for their orchids,
bromeliads, gingers and helliconias. Both
are scientific gardens dedicated to preserving
endangered plant species. Paved trails wander
through acres of well manicured gardens
in both locations. Outside Quepos is the
Botanical Gardens at Fincas Naturales which
has gardens which include precious tropical
hardwood trees ranging from 150 to 200 years
old. It also has a buttterfly enclosure.
Newer botanical gardens are found near Arenal
(Arenal Botanical Gardens and Butterfly
Sanctuary) and several other tourist locations.
Our Spanish School is located in the Central
Valley in Heridia. Because of the elevation
of the Central Valley and the closeness
of the equator, the Central Valley of Costa
Rica shares a distinction with the Highlands
of Kenya as being the most hospitable place
in the World to grow orchids and other exotic
plants. There is an area West of Heridia
which is just one flower farm and nursery
after another. Many of the flowers sold
in the USA are flown in from this area.
This area is advertised as having the “best
climate in the world”. We may be a little
prejudiced but we agree.
History
Costa Ricans are justly proud of their history
and culture. Costa Rica was one of the earliest
settled countries in the Western Hemisphere,
having been discovered by Christopher Columbus
on his fourth voyage. Costa Rica, or the
“Rich Coast” is rumored to have been so
named because the natives Columbus encountered
had some impressive gold ornaments. There
is a spectacular gold museum in downtown
San Jose that preserves some of the gold
treasures that managed to elude the Spanish
conquerors. We encourage a walking tour
through the historic National Theater. Completed
in 1897, the theater is a masterpiece in
art and architecture. We can give you lessons
from our Spanish school while we tour the
museum and theater.
There are also many examples of early church
and mission architecture in the Orosi Valley,
around the old capital of Cartago. There
you will find the oldest colonial church
in Costa Rica, Las Ruinas de Ujarrás, built
in 1693. This area also has the ruins of
the Church of San Jose de Orosi, built in
1735 by the Franciscans. In the same valley,
there is a very old yet still functioning
church; La Iglesia de San José Orosi, built
in 1743. Adjoining the La Iglesia church,
the small Museo Franciscano houses a collection
of Christian relics from the early 18th
century.
To the North, in Liberia, there is an historical
district which preserves 36 houses built
in the 1800s. There is also the Agonia church,
built in 1769.
Hot
springs
One of the more unusual attractions in Costa
Rica is the hot rivers and springs that
come down from the sides of the very active
Arenal Volcano. Tabacon Hot Springs, a large
private resort, is a maze of millions of
gallons of soothing hot water rivers, streams,
tubs, pools, waterfalls, cataracts and slides,
all in a gorgeous park-like setting with
restaurants and swim up bars. You can spend
the day soaking up the relaxing hot waters
as you explore this unusual and exotic resort.
There are a few cool water pools just for
cooling off. There are also mud baths and
massages available.
One of our clients was sitting at the bar
in a hot swimming pool at Tabacon Hot Springs
looking directly at the top of the Arenal
volcano at the very moment the volcano had
one of its largest explosions in years.
He said he could see the shock waves in
the atmosphere from the blast. Tabacon Hot
Springs is undeniably beautiful but pricy
at $29 per person and it requires reservations.
However, there are several lower priced
alternative hot spring resorts available
nearby, such as Eco Termales and Las Fuentes
Termales.
As Costa Rica is a land of volcanoes, there
are other natural hot spring resorts in
Costa Rica. North of Ciudad Quesada is the
Aguas Calientes de San Carlos Resort and
Spa. Outside Orosi is the Barceló Rancho
Rio Perlas Resort & Spa which has outdoor
Jacuzzis and an ample range of therapeutic
treatments. Also near Orosi, are Balneario
Termal Orosi and Balneario de Aguas Termales
los Patios which have some simple hot mineral
spring pools.
Quepos Hot Springs Lodge at Plantation la
Palma is located 45 minutes from Quepos
and Manuel Antonio beach in 2000 acres (830
hectares) of pristine forest in the mountains.
Quepos Hot Springs Lodge has natural mineral
hot springs in the jungle. There is a small
natural hot spring near Chirripo National
Park, between San Gerardo de Rivas and Herradura.
It is an excellent place to go after hiking
to the top of Mount Chirripo.
Rafting
Costa Rica is world renowned both for its
calm water and whitewater rafting. The rivers
are warm and refreshing. Rapids are given
“classes”: class II rapids are easy, class
III rapids are not very difficult and the
exhilarating, class IV rapids are a challenge.
Inexperienced rafters can raft the class
II and class III rapids of the Reventazon,
Sarapiqui, Pena Blancas and Savegre Rivers
with such outfits as Aventuras Naruales,
Costa Rica White Water, and Rio Tropicales.
These rivers all are in relatively untouched
rainforests and have long stretches of smooth
flow which allows participants to appreciate
the vibrant rainforest scenery and wildlife.
Outside Jaco is the Parrita River. Cascading
down from the Bustamante Mountain Range,
this is one of Costa Rica's most beautiful
waterways. As a class II/III river, it is
ideal for families and beginners with a
mix of exciting rapids and beautiful swimming
holes.
More experienced rafters can white water
raft the class IV rapids of the Pacuare
or Sarapiqui Rivers with the same outfits.
The Pacuare River is in a beautiful original-growth
rainforest gorge. The Naranjo River is a
class IV challenge for more experienced
paddlers. This river drops steeply from
the mountains above Quepos, through a beautiful
jungle gorge and takes you on a wild ride
to sea level by farmlands and palm plantations.
Water levels on these rivers can rise quickly,
increasing the difficulty of the rapids,
so rafters should be physically fit and
experienced.
You can also tube the warm waters of the
Rio Negro rapids outside Liberia. Rancho
Leona in Heredia caters to kayakers. Windsurfing
and kiteboarding is best on Lake Arenal
and Bahia Salinas in December through March.
You can even have a custom canoe trip set
up through Canoe Costa Rica. There are boats
which take you out to the huge crocodiles
of the Tarcoles River and you can watch
the guides feed chicken to the crocodiles.
Rainforests
There are several tropical lowland rainforests
in Costa Rica available for hiking, exploring
and river boat rides. There is Tortugero
and Talamanca on the Caribbean Coast and
the Manuel Antonio, Corcovado National Park,
Punta Leona and Carara Biological Reserve
on the Pacific coast. In these rainforests
you can see white faced and howler monkeys,
sloths, coati, toucans, parrots, scarlet
macaws, giant green iguanas and even the
occasional crocodile or cayman. Manuel Antonio
National Park is deservedly the most popular
park in Costa Rica with beautiful white
sand beaches surrounded by emerald waters
and dense green jungle. We need to get at
Manuel Antonio first thing in the morning
as there is a limit on the number of visitors
allowed. Again, it is RAINforest and the
rains generally come in the afternoon so
we recommend that one hike the rainforest
in the morning. Then our Spanish school
tutors can give you lessons in the afternoon.
Just outside San Jose to the North is the
cooler highland rainforest of the mountainous
Braulio Carrillo National Rainforest Park.
There are several good hiking trails through
the forest to overlooks and waterfalls in
Braulio Carrillo. There are many ecosystems
found in this Park. You can easily hike
an hour in the cool highland rainforest
surrounding the Zurquí station, then hike
for an hour on a trail 1,000 meters lower
in a completely different type of rainforest
at the Puesto Carrillo station. There are
other hikes at other elevations. Because
of this elevation variation, there are at
least 6,000 species of plants in Braulio
Carrillo National Park, and preliminary
studies have counted 515 species of birds.
There is a rainforest Aerial tram with more
hiking trails on the Eastern flank of Braulio
Carrillo National Park.
There is a lot of highland rainforest and
many hiking trails around the La Paz Waterfall
Gardens. There are also more remote and
less visited highland rainforests in Costa
Rica. Beyond the Orosi Valley to the Southeast
of San Jose, we can take you to the highland
rainforest of Tapantí National Park. Tapanti
is located in the wild and very wet country
on the rainforested northern slopes of the
Talamanca Mountain Range, accessible on
a good gravel road in aproximately 30 minutes
from Orosi. There is a remote relatively
dry highland rainforest around the Rincón
de la Vieja Volcano. This is a good choice
for hiking or a horseback ride through the
rainforest during the green season as the
rains are less frequent.
Volcanoes
The very active Arenal volcano can be great
fun if one visits it during the morning,
before the mist moves in. The view at night
can also be really spectacular. It’s great
to watch house sized red hot boulders popping
out an active volcano and smashing into
a thousand red hot cinders as the boulders
tumble down the side of the mountain. There
is a safe Park System administered outlook
where you can watch the constant explosions
and eruptions of Arenal up close. There
are spectacular views of the volcano available
from some of the local hotels (needless
to say you do pay for the view). Learn Spanish
as you watch the eruptions.
Closer to San Jose the Poas volcano has
a large impressive mile wide (1.5 km wide)
crater with two lakes (one a sulfurous caldron
of yellow green water that sometimes boils
away), boiling mud pots, fumaroles and a
large steam vent that sometimes erupts into
the largest geyser in the world. Poas Volcano
Park has several trails through lush rainforest
vegetation surrounding the huge caldera
and a trail to the lookout over the spectacular
crater.
A pretty much inactive volcano is the giant
Mount Irazu. The winding road up to the
Irazu crater gives some spectacular views
of the beautiful Orosi Valley. At the top
of Irazu, on a clear day, one can see both
the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. You can
peer far down into the bright turquoise
water of the lake in the recently formed
(1963) Irazu crater. The lake looks small
but is nearly 1/3 of a mile (half a kilometer)
across.
If you want volcanic activity without any
crowds, there are geysers, vents, fumaroles,
hot springs, and boiling mud pots on the
gentle 2 mile Las Pailas Trail on the Ricon
de la Vieja Volcano. There are also thermal
sulfur waters, bubbling hot mud pots and
fumaroles at the Miravalles Volcano.
Waterfalls
Costa Rica has a multitude of beautiful
rainforest waterfalls. The most famous waterfalls
are in and around the La Paz Waterfall Gardens,
on one of the roads up to the Poas Volcano.
The largest and the most spectacular of
the falls in the La Paz area is the Magia
Blanca Falls. This falls is probably the
most photographed waterfall in Latin America.
The Gardens are really a series of magnificent
waterfalls on the La Paz River which include
the Magia Blanca, La Paz and San Fernando
Falls. At or around the La Paz Waterfall
gardens you can hike along verdant lush
rainforest nature trails and suspended staircases
to five magnificent waterfalls with nine
viewing platforms. Learn Spanish from our
School as you hike around these Costa Rican
waterfalls and gardens.
There are twin cataracts called Chorros
Falls, near the small town of Tacares, which
are extremely popular with Ticos and thus
often crowded. And for good reason: these
beautiful falls, 10 miles from Alajuela,
are barely an hours drive from downtown
San José, access is via an easy 15 minute
walk. There are several waterfalls around
Bijagual near Jaco. This includes a spectacular
600 foot waterfall. You can hike about 4
miles (5.1 km) to Congrejo Falls in the
Rincon de Vieja Volcano National Park (we''ll
arrange for a guide, guides are needed here!),
or take a shorter hike into the Rio Fortuna
Falls on the slopes of Arenal volcano. There
are also the Guayabo Canyon Falls (45 miles
East of San Jose near Turrialba), Playa
Montezuma Falls (actually three waterfalls
on the Nicoya Peninsula twenty minutes South
of Montezuma) and Punta Tambor Falls (one
hour North of Montezuma on the beach).
If you want real privacy, we can arrange
for you to go in by horseback to the privately
owned Nauyaca Falls outside Dominical. Another
private waterfall near Dominical is Diamante
Falls. Outside Manuel Antonio you can take
a horseback ride and a hike to the Quebrada
Arroyo Falls, which are 180 feet tall. Even
more remote is the beautiful 150 foot San
Pedrillo Waterfalls cascading to the beach
at Playa Llorona. Getting to this waterfall
on the remote Oso peninsula requires advance
reservations with the Corcovado Park, a
wild boat ride and a 3 hour hike through
wild rainforest. Our Spanish school tutors
can give you lessons as you travel to any
of these waterfalls.
There is a small inexpensive book, "Pura
Vida" by Sam Mitchell which delineates
a total of 29 waterfalls in Costa Rica.
I highly recommend it. In addition to most
of those listed above, the author lists
a whole host of waterfalls which require
some strenous hiking to get to. Some, such
as the San Luis Falls at Monteverde, are
extremely difficult to get to, especially
during the green season.
