Tropical Caribbean Beaches In Costa Rica: Unparalleled Beauty And Reputation

Tropical Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places in the world, world-famous for its uncrowded beaches, tropical mountains, and volcanoes. Travelers to Costa go for its white, brown, and black sand beaches, coral beaches, and rugged boulder strewn beaches with magnificent surf along the Caribbean Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Because of its proximity to America and warm, friendly people, it is one of the favorite tropical vacations for beach lovers and eco-tourists.

Most vacationers stay along the country's Pacific coast and never tour the unspoiled Caribbean beaches where the country got its name more than 500 years ago from its discoverer, Christopher Columbus. Only a relative handful of 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. Even if history bored you to death in school, it has to give you chills to know you are walking in the footsteps of a giant.

Fortunately, Columbus left a lot of places for your special adventure. With nearly 400 miles of Caribbean coastline, you will find that very special vacation spot, but do not expect to find the same attractions that are found along the Pacific. The Caribbean has a distinctive reggae-type, Bob Marley, feel to it.

For many nature lovers, no Costa Rica vacation is complete without seeing one of the country's Seven Wonders, Tortuguero National Park. Tortuguero is the largest nesting area for the green sea turtle in the western hemisphere. When Columbus landed, these oldest of reptiles, dating back millions of years before the first dinosaur, filled the waters and surely provided fresh meat for his crew. For centuries, beaches here were some of the world's largest hunting grounds for these gentle animals. That changed in 1961 when it was transformed into the world's premier reserve and leading center for turtle monitoring and research. In addition to green sea turtles, three of the other six remaining endangered marine turtle species come ashore to nest. You will find a growing number of tours and lodges which service an increasing number of visitors each year. Wildlife is very abundant and the waters provide great fishing.

Limon is south of Tortuguero and most visitors go through it to reach roadless Tortuguero and Barra Honda beaches north or to head south to a number of small beach communities and kilometer after kilometer of sandy Caribbean beaches. Limon should be considered as merely a jumping off point to head north or south because it is not a recommended destination. However, for those who travel south seen by Columbus, Puerto Viejo awaits. It features 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. Less experienced surfers go a bit farther south to Playa Cocles.

About 25 miles south of Limon and a short distance north of Puerto Viejo is Cahuita, a very small, laid-back community with kilometer after kilometer of pristine beaches, some almost black and others pure white. September and October are the driest 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.

If you continue heading south, the Gandoco-Manzanillo Wildlife Reserve awaits nearly at the Panama border. This is where Columbus came ashore and named Costa Rica. Here he found, and you will, too, crystal clear pristine waters perfect for swimming. But, unlike that explorer you will be able to go scuba diving at the country's largest coral reef. The rare and recently discovered freshwater Tucuxi Porpoise is found only here. Vacationers can see sea turtles nesting and fishermen often find Silver Kings and snook. Lots of them. In the sea just offshore, in the many lagoons and rivers. Very few fishermen. But when they are here, lots of fish!