Top 10 Costa Rica

Caribbean Beaches In Costa Rica

Latin American beaches have a justifiable great reputation and many folks describe the Costa Rica beaches as among the highlights of their Costa Rica vacation. Costa Rica has some of the finest anywhere and offers something few other places can match. Great beaches on Pacific and Atlantic oceans so close together that either coast can be reached in just a few hours for tourists. Clean waters. White sand. Brown sand. Black sand. Coral beaches.

Most vacationers stay along the country’s Pacific coast and never visit the much less developed Caribbean beaches where the country got its name five centuries ago from an explorer we know as Christopher Columbus. Few travelers know about the captain called Christophe Colon by Ticos and even fewer look out over the very same beach where he came ashore in 1503. Whether you loved or hated History in high school, will be something special to imagine walking in the footsteps of history.

Despite the passage of centuries there is still a lot for travelers to discover on the Caribbean coast. This coast is far less developed and has a distinct ambiance from the Pacific. Think reggae.

For many visitors, a Costa Rica vacation is not complete without traveling to Tortuguero National Park along the northern Caribbean coast extending to the southern border of. There are no roads to Tortuguero so most folks go to the city of Limon and travel into the park by boat, although there are small airfields as well. Despite the difficulty getting there, this Caribbean park is one of Costa Rica’s Seven Wonders. Originally set aside as the world’s largest green sea turtle nesting area, today it hosts many lodges and tours servicing fishermen and ecotourists.

Limon is south of Tortuguero National Park but should not be considered as a popular destination. Instead, expect to go through it to reach the wilderness areas of Tortuguero and Barra Honda beaches north or to head south to a number of small beach communities and. It is there that Puerto Viejo awaits. It boasts the world famous La Salsa Brava wave, a spectacular large wave that challenges the best surfers on the planet, particularly when at its largest between November and April. Surfers with little or less experience should avoid this beach, except to watch the best, and head to Playa Cocles. Great surfing, great fun, and not nearly as dangerous.

About 50 kilometers south of Limon and a short distance north of Puerto Viejo is Cahuita, a very small, laid-back community with miles and miles of pristine beaches, some almost black and others pure white. September and October are the least-rainy months of the year and if you come around October 12 take in Carnaval at Limon, a week-long fiesta celebrating Columbus Day. Cahuita is popular for its great reef snorkeling around its two shipwrecks. Not a lot of nightlife here so head a few miles south to Puerto Viejo.

Do not expect DisneyWorld here. When Columbus came ashore here more than five centuries ago, it was remote, wild, tropical. It remains remote and tropical. The waters are as clear now as when first sailed. Marine turtles still come ashore to lay eggs on the deserted beaches, though in far smaller numbers. Think everything to be discovered here has been discovered? Maybe. Maybe not. Not long ago scientists discovered a freshwater porpoise in a river emptying here, but nowhere else in the country. Just offshore lies Costa Rica’s largest coral reef. Rent scuba equipment, and even get PADI certified, while on vacation. Or just take in the area’s fabulous wildlife: monkeys, sloths, macaws and hundreds of other species of birds.