Between one and two million tourists visit Costa Rica each year. What draws so many people to this lightly advertised destination? Natural beauty and diversity are the answers. Costa Rica covers only 0.03% of the surface of the planet but it has about 6% of the world’s biodiversity.
Visitors encounter seas, beaches, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, and an abundance of flora and fauna. Twelve major life zones provide habitat for over 10,000 kinds of flowering plants, 850 bird species, 3,000 butterfly species, and 209 species of mammals. Volcanoes, rainforests, cloud forests, lowland jungles, the Pacific coastline, and tranquil Caribbean beaches stretch across seven provinces. Thirty percent of the land is protected by national and private reserves, which harbor more than five percent of the world’s plant and animal species.
Costa Rica is Central America’s jewel. It’s an oasis of calm among its turbulent neighbors and an ecotourism heaven, making it one of the best places to experience the tropics with minimal impact.
Costa Rica boasts 20 national parks, 8 biological reserves, and a wealth of other protected areas to enchant those who marvel at the wonders of nature. It draws ecotourists from around the globe. Activities include horse-back riding, hiking mountainous paths in the cloud forests, guided bird-watching tours, volcanoes, scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, canopy tours, golf and much more.
Ticos, as the people of Costa Rica are known, are famous for being hospitable, and are quite happy to live up to their reputation. They seem to be well aware that their country is a special place, and they go out of their way to accommodate their visitors, explaining things that might seem foreign to a foreigner, and helping make their stay as enjoyable as possible.
Northwest Costa Rica, the Guanacaste province is for the active soul, drawing visitors with its beaches, rivers, waterfalls and natural attractions. Forming the eastern border is a group of volcanoes that form the Cordillera de Guanacaste and Cordillera de Tilarán.
From the mountains flow various rivers that roll down and form an alluvial plain drained by the Rio Tempisque, which empties into the Gulf de Nicoya. The name Guanacaste is derived from quahnacaztlan, a native word for the guanacaste tree, which is Costa Rica’s national tree.
With a new airport at Liberia, tourism to Guanacaste has boomed.
Costa Rica is a tropical country with two seasons – dry and wet. The Guanacaste Province is the driest region of the country with less than 55 inches of rain in the coastal areas.
Costa Rica occupies a territory of around 20,000 square miles in the southern part of Central America, and includes several small islands mostly on the Pacific side. It is much like the state of Florida with two long coastlines. The country is only about 200 miles long and 70 miles wide at the narrowest part.
Costa Rica is often compared to Switzerland and Hawaii because of its mountains and forests. Unlike many areas of Mexico, Central and South America, Costa Rica remains beautiful year-round. This is partly because it borders the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and has a string of towering volcanoes on the Central Plateau. Combine all this and you have a unique tropical paradise with 11 climatic zones.
The high season in Costa Rica, December through April, is the dry season. The green season, which lasts from May to November, usually sees sunny mornings, with rain showers in late afternoon and evening. Overall, the climate is tropical, with an average temperature of 72°F (22°C). It can be much hotter along the coastal areas of the country, and much cooler in the mountains.
In the past, agricultural exports, like bananas and coffee, have been the staple of the Costa Rican economy. However, tourism has always played an ever-increasing role, and now it has become the dominant economic force. Ecotourism travel is the most preferred for expansion because it will provide a sustainable resource for tourism for generations of Costa Ricans to come. Costa Ricans love to show off their country, and sincerely welcome all travelers and vacationers.
San Jose, population over one million, is the capital and cultural heart of Costa Rica. Other major cities (by population) are: Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Liberia, Limón and Puntarenas.
To enter the country you now must have a valid passport. Some countries now require your passport to be valid for at least 6 more months in order to leave your country to come here. Check with you embassy or airline. Costa Rica is on Central Standard Time, six hours behind Greenwich Mean Time and one hour behind EST in the States. It does not currently use daylight saving time.
No shots are required. The water in the major cities of Costa Rica is safe and most hotels and restaurants offer purified tap water. You might prefer to drink bottled water or seltzer to be sure. Costa Rica has excellent, low-cost medical care and well-qualified practitioners. Many North Americans come to Costa Rica for cosmetic surgery or dental work.
Costa Rica is a safe destination for 99% of its tourists, but it’s always a good idea to exercise caution whenever one travels. In general, the country has a low crime rate. In most cases, crimes are simple thievery – non-violent crimes of opportunity, so just exercise caution, as anywhere in the world.
Costa Rica has a reputation as one of the most stable and prosperous Latin American countries.
Costa Rica has something for everybody! Whatever your interests; eco-tourism trips bird watching, adventure tours, fishing, diving, rafting, canopy tours, golf, all inclusive hotels, vacation homes or just relaxing on an unspoiled tropical beach, you will find all of that and more in this tropical and secure paradise.
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www.medicaltourismco.com Medical Tourism in Latin America is fast growing due to the close proximity to the USA & many eco-tourism opportunities. Costa Rica is leading the Medical Tourism growth due to the high quality health care, very less crime rate & western friendly tourism infrastructure. Although most medical facilities are run by the government, there are some high quality JCI accredited private hospitals in Costa Rica that are leading the medical tourism trend. San Jose, Costa Rica …
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What would be the best vacation destination in November? Los Cabos, Costa Rica or St. Lucia?About Author
We traveled to Costa Rica on vacation in 2001. Fell in love with the people and their country. Purchased property on the last day of our vacation and built a vacation villa. Specializing in vacation accommodations, all inclusive and self catering available all of which are surrounded by Costa Rica’s biodiversity. Find more useful information about Costa Rica by visiting our web sites.
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Beautiful video,,,,Costa Rica is a really good place to visit
The culture is very laid back, peace loving, and mostly middle class. Costa Ricans call themselves Tico/as and the national slogan is "Pura Vida".
Food is typically tropical Latin America – lots of fresh fruit, rice and beans, and on the healthier side of the spectrum.
Clothes are very similar to the U.S.
The main religion is Catholic.
The main language is Spanish, but most people speak English as well as other languages.
The government is a democratic republic, a model for the rest of Latin America and a world leader in peaceful diplomacy. They don't have a military – so they have to be. Since they have decided not to have a military the funds that would have been spent on this were spent on infrastructure. It's one of the few countries in the world that has available power to every home.
For any report about a country I recommend checking out the CIA world Factbook page: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cs.html
it really does depend on where you're staying, but i would still recommend malaria pills to everyone, i came back with 42 mosquito bites on just one leg, but i was traveling ALL over Costa Rica. i put on mass amounts of deet every day, though. so, I'd get that covered just in case. do bring warm and water proof clothing, not Cotton ( it's to humid and it'll take to long to dry ) and good shoes. tevo's are what I'd recommend. bring a camera, but not to expensive as you may be caught in the rain and ruin it. also, bring small little gifts for the locals, they are so hospitable and warm, we want to keep it that way.
You should use a 4WD car, if you want to go Monteverde the Cloud Forest you need a big car or 4WD, and some other places to, Rincon de la Vieja, Palo Verde National Park, and Ostional Nesting Turttles, and many more, use a 4WD it´s you best choice.
Good luck.
The total distance from Miami, Fl to Costa Rica is 1,113 miles.
This is equivalent to 1,792 kilometers or 967 nautical miles. Since the distance between Boca and Miami is only about 41 miles, it is almost insignificant, but there you are. Of course we're talking about flight distance. Driving distance is a totally different issue.
If you need more information about Costa Rica, visit the TicosLand website.
drive to florida swim to cuba steal a kayak paddle to jamaica steal a boat sail to nicaragua steal a bike peddle to costa rica stay out of the blue marlin bar at the hotel del rey
or you could just use one pass miles, continental flys twice daily
No, you really won't need malaria shots. However, dengue has been a problem in Costa Rica for the 4 years that I have been living here. If you go out into the country, or the wild, take a can of OFF and that usually does the trick. There is also a gel sold in local supermarkets called Mosquikol, smells like crap, but it sure keeps the skeeters at bay.
I hope you have a great time. For more information on Costa Rica, go to the TicosLand.com website.
The same problems as the rest of the world. Rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. Big rich cooperation's taking advantage of low cost labor.
Everything gets more expensive everyday while pay wages stay the same, the rent goes up, food, gas, everything. So the people charging all the money are putting more in their pockets and the people paying the money and working hard for it have less in their pockets.
You know Mc Donald's makes more money in CR than in the states because the combos have the same price and they sell the same amount but they pay their employees less than $250 a month and they have to work 12 hours a day.
That's just an example but there are many more companies doing the same. Making millions in profits and paying employees enough to borrow money till next pay day to buy food and get around in transportation. The whole world is sharing the same big problem at this moment. Its a new depression for the poor all over the world because of the war in the middle east and the greed of trillionairs.
I guess something that is a big deal in CR right now is that its the only country in central america that still has not signed the Free Trade aggreement with US because many are scared that it might benefit more the US than CR. Or maybe its that there is a hand full of people that are making a lot of money from taxes being charged for products that are imported into the country and with Free Trade i guess they wouldnt be able to tax all that stuff and there would be a lot more products coming in and a lot more competition and they dont want that competition because they would have to lower the prices on a lot of things. You see they keep there own Costa Ricans blind on the real prices of things and we end up paying more for everything.
As and example, a play station 2 in the sates cost $160 brand new while here in CR its cost $300. Why because it got imported into the country so they taxed it since there is no free trade. A car that cost $2k in the states cost $5k to $7k here because it got imported here and there is no free trade. You see what im saying, things are more expensive in CR than in the States and people´s salaries are between $200 to $400 a month. But than there are a lot of rich people who make a lot more money than that and can afford to pay double for everything.
But aside from all the negative things Costa Rica also has a lot of positive things and good things but we humans only like to talk about the bad things going on. No country is perfect, every country has crimes, drugs and corruption but there are also a lot of good things like freedom, unity of people (less racism), no military, beautiful beaches and mountains, good affordable education, affordable health care, happy people that love soccer and so on and so on and so on
I brought cash! The ATM's are a rip off. I found that generally speaking, if things were marked in colones, they were cheaper. But no matter what, there is going to be some kind of exchange rate used and it probably isn't really worth worrying about. I mostly just used American dollars, but they would give me change in colones, so I used those too. You can also use a credit card at most of the actual stores and then you probably don't have to pay a fee. Check with whomever your card is with first though. I know that some banks definitely have an international fee on their visas.
You will be considered an unaccompanied minor until your 18. Bring your passport, a copy of it in case the real one gets stolen and a copy of your birth certificate and license. It's always wise to have these when you're in another country, just in case something happens. Have Fun!