1. Rincón de la Vieja National Park
Given its proximity to Liberia – really just a hop, a skip and a few bumps away – this 141 sq km national park feels refreshingly uncrowded and remote. The name (which translates as ‘old lady’s nook’) comes from its steamy main attraction, the active Volcán Rincón de la Vieja (1895m). The park also covers several other peaks in the same volcanic range, including the highest, Volcán Santa María (1916m). Exhaling geothermal energy, the park bubbles with multihued fumaroles, tepid springs and steaming, flatulent mud pots, as well as a young and feisty volcancito (small volcano).
2. San José
Chances are San José wasn't the top destination on your list when you started planning your Costa Rica trip, but give this city a chance and you might be pleasantly surprised. It's true that Chepe – as San José is affectionately known – doesn't make a great first impression, with its unremarkable concrete structures and honking traffic, but it's well worth digging deeper to discover the city's charms. Take your time exploring historic neighborhoods such as Barrio Amón, where colonial mansions have been converted into contemporary art galleries, and Barrio Escalante, the city's gastronomic epicenter. Stroll with Saturday shoppers at the farmers market, join the Sunday crowds in Parque La Sabana, dance the night away to live music at one of the city's vibrant clubs, or visit the museums of gold, jade, art and natural history, and you'll begin to understand the multidimensional appeal of Costa Rica's largest city and cultural capital.
3. Volcán Arenal
For most of modern history, Volcán Arenal was just another dormant volcano surrounded by fertile farmland. But for about 42 years – from its destructive explosion in 1968 until its sudden subsiding in 2010 – the volcano was an ever-active and awe-striking natural wonder, producing menacing ash columns, massive explosions and streams of glowing molten rock almost daily. The fiery views are gone for now, but Arenal is still a worthy destination, thanks to the dense forest covering her lower slopes and foothills, and her picture-perfect conical shape up top. The Volcán Arenal National Park is part of the Area de Conservación Arenal, which protects most of the Cordillera de Tilarán. This area is rugged and varied, rich with wildlife and laced with trails.
4. Corcovado National Park
This national park takes up 40% of the Osa Peninsula and is the last great original tract of tropical rainforest in Pacific Central America. The bastion of biological diversity is home to half of Costa Rica’s species, including the largest population of scarlet macaws, as well as countless other endangered species, including Baird’s tapir, the giant anteater and the world’s largest bird of prey, the harpy eagle. Corcovado’s amazing biodiversity as well as the park's demanding, multiday hiking trails have long attracted a devoted stream of visitors who descend from Bahía Drake and Puerto Jiménez to see the wildlife and experience a bona fide jungle adventure.
5. Playa Tamarindo
If Patrick and Wingnut from the 1994 surfing movie Endless Summer II surfed a time machine to present-day Tamarindo, they'd fall off their boards. A quarter-century of hedonism has transformed the once-dusty burg into 'Tamagringo', whose perennial status as Costa Rica’s top surf and party destination has made it the first and last stop for legions of tourists. Despite its party-town reputation, Tamarindo offers more than just drinking and surfing. It forms part of Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste National Park, and the beach retains an allure for kids and adults alike. Foodies will find some of the best restaurants in the country. There's a thriving market on Saturday mornings and fierce competition has kept lodging prices reasonably low. Its central location makes it a great base for exploring the northern peninsula.
6. Monteverde and Santa Elena
Strung between two lovingly preserved cloud forests, this slim corridor of civilization consists of the Tico village of Santa Elena and the Quaker settlement of Monteverde, each with an eponymous cloud forest reserve. The cloud forests are premier destinations for everyone from budget backpackers to well-heeled retirees. On a good day, the Monteverde area is a place where you can be inspired about the possibility of a world in which organic farming and alternative energy sources are the norm; on a bad day, it can feel like Disneyland in Birkenstocks. Take heart in the fact that the local community continues to fight the good fight to maintain the fragile balance between nature and commerce.
7. Jacó
Few places in Costa Rica generate such divergent opinions as Jacó. Partying surfers, North American retirees and international developers laud it for its devil-may-care atmosphere, bustling streets and booming real-estate opportunities. Observant ecotourists, marginalized Ticos and loyalists of the 'old Costa Rica' absolutely despise the place for the exact same reasons. Jacó was the first town on the central Pacific coast to explode with tourist development and it remains a major draw for backpackers, surfers, snowbirds and city-weary josefinos (inhabitants of San José). Although working-class Tico neighborhoods are nearby, open-air trinket shops and tour operators line the tacky main drag which, at night, is given over to a safe but somewhat seedy mix of binge-drinking students, surfers and scantily clad ladies of negotiable affection. While Jacó's lackadaisical charm is not for everyone, the surfing is excellent, and the restaurants and bars are great, particularly those lining classy Jacó Walk.
8. Tortuguero National Park
Humid Tortuguero is a 311-sq-km coastal park that serves as the most important breeding ground of the green sea turtle. With annual rainfall of up to 6000mm in the northern part of the park, it is one of the wettest areas in the country. In addition, the protected area extends into the Caribbean Sea, covering about 5200 hectares of marine habitat. In other words, plan on spending quality time in a boat. The famed Canales de Tortuguero are the introduction to this park. Created to connect a series of lagoons and meandering rivers in 1974, this engineering marvel allowed inland navigation between Limón and coastal villages in something sturdier than a dugout canoe. Regular flights service the village of Tortuguero – but if you fly in, you’ll be missing half the fun. The leisurely taxi-boat ride, through banana plantations and wild jungle, is equal parts recreation and transportation.
9. Manuel Antonio National Park
A place of swaying palms and playful monkeys, sparkling blue water and a riot of tropical birds, Manuel Antonio National Park is the country's smallest and most popular national park. It became a protected area in 1972, preserving it from being razed to make room for a coastal development project. It's a truly lovely place; the clearly marked trail system winds through rainforest-backed white-sand beaches and rocky headlands, the wildlife (iguanas, sloths, monkeys) is plentiful, and the views across the bay to the pristine outer islands are gorgeous.
10. Chirripó National Park
Costa Rica’s mountainous spine runs the length of the country in four distinct mountain ranges, of which the Cordillera de Talamanca is the highest, longest and most remote. The cordillera’s highlight and the focus of the high-altitude Chirripó National Park is Costa Rica’s highest peak, Cerro Chirripó (3820m). The only way up Chirripó is on foot. Although the trekking routes are challenging, watching the sunrise from such lofty heights is one of the country’s undeniable highlights. Chirripó National Park is a welcome respite from lowland heat. Above 3400m, the landscape is páramo, comprising scrubby trees and grasslands. Rocky outposts punctuate the otherwise barren hills, and feed a series of glacial lakes that earned the park its iconic name: Chirripó means ‘eternal waters.’
>>> Flights to Quepos La Managua (DOM)
>>> Flights to Quepos La Managua (DOM)
Source: Lonely Planet
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