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Parque Nacional Los Quetzales
Costa Ricas newest national park, formerly the Reserva Los Santos, was made official in 2005. Spread along both banks of the Río Savegre, the park covers 5000 hectares (12,355 acres) of rain and cloud forest. With altitudes of up to 3000m (9843ft), this is the heart of the Cordille
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Friends Meeting House
In 1949 four Alabama Quakers (a pacifist religious group also known as the Society of Friends’) were jailed for their refusal to be drafted into the Korean War. Since Quakers are obligated by their religion to be pacifists, the four men were eventually released from prison. However
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Parque Nacional Chirripó
Costa Rica’s mountainous spine runs the length of the country in four distinct cordilleras (mountain ranges), of which the Cordillera de Talamanca is the highest, longest and most remote. While most of the Talamanca highlands are difficult to access, Costa Rica’s highest peak, at 3
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Reserva Santa Elena
Though Monteverde gets all the attention, this exquisitely misty 310-hectare reserve, just a fraction of the size of that other forest, has plenty to recommend it. You can practically hear the canopy, draped with epiphytes, breathing in humid exhales as water drops on to the leaf l
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Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Gandoca
This little-explored refuge – called Regama for short – protects nearly 70% of the southern Caribbean coast, extending from Manzanillo all the way to the Panamanian border. It encompasses 50 sq km of land plus 44 sq km of marine environment. The peaceful, pristine stretch of sandy
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Parque Nacional Rincón de la Vieja
Given its proximity to Liberia – really just a hop, skip and a few bumps away – this 141-sq-km national park feels refreshingly uncrowded and remote. Named after the active Volcán Rincón de la Vieja (1895m), the steamy main attraction, the park also covers several other peaks in th
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Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste
Playa Grande is considered one of the worlds most important nesting areas for the baula (leatherback turtle). The park encompasses the entire beach and adjacent land (700 hectares), along with 220 sq km of ocean. In the evenings from October to March, rangers lead tours for visitor
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Parque Nacional Palo Verde
The 184-sq-km Parque Nacional Palo Verde is a wetland sanctuary in Costa Rica’s driest province. It lies on the northeastern bank of the mouth of Río Tempisque, and at the head of the Golfo de Nicoya. All of the major rivers in the region drain into this ancient intersection of two
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Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal
Sorry, we currently have no review for this sight.
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Playa Negra
At the northwest end of Cahuita, Playa Negra is a long, black-sand beach flying the bandera azul ecológica, a flag that indicates the beach is kept to the highest ecological standards. This is undoubtedly Cahuita’s top spot for swimming and is never crowded. When the swells are big
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Plaza de la Cultura
For many Ticos, Costa Rica begins here. This architecturally unremarkable concrete plaza in the heart of downtown is usually packed with locals slurping ice-cream cones and admiring the wide gamut of San José street life: juggling clowns, itinerant vendors and cruising teenagers. I
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Museo de Jade
Reopened in its brand-new home in mid-2014, this museum houses the world’s largest collection of American jade (pronounced ‘ha -day’ in Spanish). The ample new exhibition space allows the public greater access to the museums varied collection of nearly 7000 finely crafted, well-con
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Montezuma Waterfalls
A 40-minute river hike leads to a waterfall with a delicious swimming hole. Further along the trail, a second set of falls offers a good clean 10m leap into deep water. (Reach the diving platform from the trail: do not try to scale the slippery rocks!) Daring souls can test their T
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Cloudbridge Nature Reserve
About 2km past the trailhead to Cerro Chirripó you will find the entrance to the mystical, magical Cloudbridge Nature Reserve. Covering 182 hectares on the side of Cerro Chirripó, this private reserve is an ongoing reforestation and preservation project spearheaded by New Yorkers I
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Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio was declared a national park in 1972, preserving it (with just minutes to spare) from being bulldozed and razed to make room for a coastal development project. Although Manuel Antonio was enlarged to its present-day size of 16 sq km in 2000, it is sti
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Reserva Biológica Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
This beautiful reserve came into being in 1972, when the Quaker community, spurred on by the threat of encroaching squatters, joined forces with environmental and wildlife organizations to purchase and protect an extra 328 hectares (811 acres) of land. This fragile environment reli
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Teatro Nacional
On the southern side of the Plaza de la Cultura resides the Teatro Nacional, San José’s most revered public building. Constructed in 1897, it features a columned neoclassical facade that is flanked by statues of Beethoven and famous 17th-century Spanish dramatist Calderón de la Bar
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Best Alternative Spring Break Destinations
Feeling a bit of wanderlust? Want to do something different this spring break? Well, pack your bags! There’s nothing like getting away from school for a week and having a wild (or not so wild) time with good friends. Spring break is a moment to recharge and have fun—but it can also be a chance to
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Pocho, Costa Rica’s Famous and Tourist-Friendly Croc, Dies
Photo © Christopher P. Baker.
How do you write an obituary for a croc? Not any old croc, of course, but Pocho, a sextuagenarian American crocodile that became a famous tourist draw for vacationers traveling to or from the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica.
Alas, last week the five-meter-long (16 fe
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Costa Rica's Best Beaches with Christopher P. Baker
1. For sheer beauty, which Costa Rica beach takes your breath away?
Costa Rican beaches are less about scintillating white sands and more about physical context. For a sheer scenic “Wow!” reaction, I’d give top marks to Playa Guiones in Nosara. Wider than a football field at low tide, this favorit
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