Vacations In Costa Rica

Enchanting Vacations in Costa Rica

Vacations in Costa Rica can be thrilling or tranquil, but they will always be enchanting. How could a stay in this ecological jewel be otherwise? With two coastlines on two very different bodies of water, the Caribbean and the Pacific, this alone provides variety in culture, food, and activities.

Along the eastern coast, life takes on the slower, more casual air of the Caribbean islands. With no deluxe hotels, this entire area tends to the rustic. If the balmy, informal atmosphere appeals to you, you can find excellent surfing and diving, lively partying, and Jamaican-influenced cuisine. Limon and Cahuita show the influence of the local Indians, the Bribri, whose handcrafts you can buy. Tortuguero to the north is a singular series of rivers, canals, and narrow islands. Visitors come from all over the world to watch several kinds of turtles nest on the local beaches. What an awesome sight when giant Leatherbacks lumber up the beaches to lay their eggs in the soft sand!

Bird Watching and Volcanoes

Vacations in Costa Rica wouldn't be complete without jaunts into the many rain forests where gaudy birds flash their colors amid the lush greenery. Saturated with reds, blues, greens, and yellows, these birds are both familiar (the hummingbird) and strange (the scarlet macaw). From north to south, east to west, Costa Rica travel packages include areas rich with wildlife and birds.

Side-by-side with the rain forests are volcanoes that dot the north and central countryside. Arenal is active, smoking, and flowing! After having been dormant for 400 years, Arenal erupted in 1968. Now, it erupts several times almost every night! Eruptions range from silent emissions of mushroom-shaped clouds of ash, to blasting explosions that send hot rocks nearly a mile into the air, to dazzling explosions that send lava and gases down the side of the cone!