Whatever your thoughts at this stage about possible Costa Rica adventure travels, there are several you shouldn't miss. If you do, never admit that you have. The country is called the jewel of Central America with good reason. Independent from Spain since 1821, Costa Rica has not had a standing army since 1948. That funding has been refunneled into education and natural preservation.

A country one-eighth the size of California offers just as much coastline, all of it pristine, and spectacular biodiversity. It is home to more than 1,200 species of orchid and 850 bird species, and countless other flora and fauna. Costa Rica offers rain forests, volcanic mountains, waterfalls, mangrove swamps, and countless other smaller eco-systems.

Costa Rica adventure travels incorporate all this and more. Surfing on those white sand beaches is renowned, as is scuba diving into the wealth of marine life, hammerhead sharks and octopus among it. White water rafting amidst the ragged mountain range of Costa Rica's central region is included. Bird watching and guided naturalist hikes through interior rain forests are as well. Pro-golf courses designed by the likes of the Fazios and Robert Trent Jones wend their ways through this verdant, tropical quiet. (Allowances must be made for swooping scarlet macaws and howling monkeys chattering over a steep-sided bunker.)

Rest during Costa Rica Adventure Travels

Perhaps the most amazing aspects of your time in Costa Rica are the respites. When you are not off on one or another of your Costa Rica adventure travels, you're luxuriating in a suite with air conditioning, ceiling fans, a private veranda, and ocean or garden views. The restaurant prepares the mahi mahi you snared earlier in the day over an open grille, and you dine.