Skolnick Adam - Discover Costa Rica Travel Guide

This is Costa Rica

If you have long sought a piece of tropical paradise, take a deep breath, you've found it. The perfect balance of adrenaline-addled adventure destination and unplugged tropical getaway, Costa Rica is a land of dormant volcanoes, desolate beaches and dense jungle. The canopies rustle with riotous troupes of white-faced monkeys, hillsides echo with the squawk of scarlet macaws and the trees along the trail are overburdened with the days lunch of ripe star fruit. It might seem like a wondrous tropical fantasy land, but this is Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has earned a rightful place in the cubicle daydreams of travelers around the world. Learn to surf in warm salt water and hike above the clouds; rush down white-water rivers and then hoist yourself up to a zip line to sail over jungle canopies. Sound good? That's only the beginning. Costa Rica is the preeminent eco- and adventure-tourism capital of Central America.

With a world-class infrastructure, visionary sustainability initiatives and no standing army, Costa Rica is a green, peaceful jewel of the region. Taking into account that more than a third of the country enjoys some form of environmental protection and theres greater biodiversity than the USA and Europe combined, its a country that earns the superlative descriptions. And though the breakneck pace of American-style modernization threatens to pave over the country's cultural treasures, there's still plenty of the laid-back, heart-stopping beauty of the so-called Old Costa Rica'.

Then there are the people. Costa Ricans, or Ticos as they call themselves, are largely proud of their little slice of paradise. They welcome guests into the easygoing rhythms of pura vida the pure life that is as much a catchy motto as it is an enduring mantra.

Red-eyed tree frog
TOM BOYDEN / GETTY IMAGES

Monteverde & Santa Elena

Volcn Arenal

Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio

Montezuma

Rafting in Turrialba

Parque Nacional Tortuguero

Parque Nacional Corcovado

Monteverde Cloud Forest

Mal Pas & Santa Teresa

Parque Internacional La Amistad

Hiking Cerro Chirrip

San Jos

Surfing in Playa Grande

Central Valley Plantations

Sarapiqu Valley

Playa Smara

Southern Caribbean

Hot Springs of La Fortuna

Nosara

Kayaking in the Golfo Dulce

Parque Nacional Santa Rosa

Dominical

Pavones

Parque Nacional Carara

Jac

Costa Ricas Top Experiences

Monteverde & Santa Elena

This pristine expanse of virginal forest totaling 105 sq km is the result of private citizens principally the Quaker settlers who left the United States to protest the Korean War and helped foster conservationist principles with Ticos of the region. But the real romance of Monteverde ()

CHRISTER FREDRIKSSON / GETTY IMAGES

Volcn Arenal

While the molten night views are gone and the volcano lies dormant, this mighty, perfectly conical giant is worthy of a pilgrimage. There are several beautiful trails, especially the magnificent climb to Cerro Chato () is considered by scientists to be active, youd never know it from the serene, mist-covered vistas. Even when clouds gather and the air chills, youre just a short drive from its hot springs.

JESUS OCHOA

Perched high on a hilltop, the restaurants en route to Manuel Antonio offer an ideal location for a sundowner. ()