All posts by Geoff

Costa Rica, Tourism

About Costa Rica

Costa Rica is located in Central America bordering Nicaragua to the north; Panama to the south; the North Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica is a peaceful, socially and politically stable country with a notable academic level of its population and high standards of modern services. It is among the most visited and toured countries in the world due to its limitless tourism potential. The country remains a tourist hub due to a number of factors.

Sustainable Tourism

Costa Rica is one of the world’s “greenest” countries, because of its dedication to its conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. This entails managing resources for development in such a manner that they are not depleted or destroyed but available for use by future generations too. The country has put some measures in place to ensure sustainability in the tourism industry. One of such measures is through its program of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST). This program categorizes and certifies products or business establishments in the tourism industry so that operations of these establishments have least negative impacts on the environment and resources in the industry are used efficiently. This has seen establishment of businesses with least emissions to the environment, having efficient measures for energy and resources conservation, reduced wastage by recycling and reusing of products among many other benefits. This has amounted to a sustainable tourism in the country that is not only economically beneficial for the present generation but also to the coming generations.

Yoga and Surfing Retreats

Many tourists prefer this tropical country for their yoga and surfing retreats. Costa Rica is known for its numerous relaxing and rejuvenating settings suitable for yoga practice; the secluded beaches and ideal waters, the tropical rainforests, the jungles and mountains all form a perfect sanctuary where individuals can practice their yoga, commune with nature and rejuvenate their spirits. There are also numerous retreat centers known to have some of the finest yoga and surfing trainers and organize for the best yoga and surfing training sessions.
Samasati: This nature retreat located on Costa Rica’s east coast is committed to sustainability and spiritual rejuvenation. It has a school for yoga instructors, retreat packages like daily meditation yoga, hexagonal yoga rooms which are screened-in buildings encompassed by pristine gardens and jungles all equipped with materials for yoga practice such as mats, straps, back bending benches and more. The center also offers thrilling surfing retreats.

Beautiful beaches

Costa Rica is gifted with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. This is an attraction that any tourist would like to spend a vacation in.
The Caribbean side of Costa Rica has many beautiful white sand beaches with transparent turquoise waters, as well as some tropical reefs. The caribbean side is known for its clean, warm water, and huge diversity of colorful ocean fish.

Large Biodiversity

In spite of its relatively small size, Costa Rica has over half a million different species of animals which translates to about 4% of the world’s biodiversity. A number of these species are exclusively found in this country including some species of snakes, hummingbirds, frogs, lizards, gobies and mice among many more. This rich biodiversity is attributed to the variety of the ecosystems the country has. Costa Rica has also put down measures to conserve and sustainable exploitation of this biodiversity. This attraction is a major contributor to the country’s eco-tourism development.

Beaches, National Park, Wildlife

Ostional – The Turtle Beach

 

Ostional is one of the most remarkable places in Costa Rica because every few weeks during turtle season, thousands of Olive Ridleys invade the beaches, laying their eggs by the gazillions.

Ostional---The-Turtle-BeachMeanwhile, the babies are hatching in even greater numbers, and dozens of tourists and nature guides are running around trying to keep the hatchlings from being run over and squashed by the egg-laden mommies.

Not far from the beautiful surf and yoga town of Nosara, Ostional is one of those places you probably saw on TV at some point in your life. Millions of kids around the world are traumatized by nature videos of these baby turtles breaking free from their eggs, struggling without air to the surface through the sand, then running a gauntlet of ravenous predators such as vultures, hawks, foxes, raccoons, and beach crabs. If they survive these terrors, they try to enter the sea, where huge waves push them back and even more hungry fish and such await with hungry jaws. We are told that only 1 in 100 baby turtles survives to adulthood. So to actually SEE this and BE HERE at Ostional is an emotionally powerful event that everyone should experience once. Of course if everyone DOES try to experience this at Ostional, there will be millions of people on the beach crushing every living thing, but my point is that seeing the running of the sea turtles at Ostional is a great experience that I recommend to those who love nature.

Beaches, National Park

Curu Beach and National Wildlife Refuge

Located in the Southern Nicoya Peninsula, near to Santa Teresa, Montezuma, Tambor, and Paquera, Curu is one of the best parks to visit in Costa Rica. This small park is one of the best places to see animals, and it has reintroduction programs for both the Scarlet Macaw (a giant red and rainbow colored parrot) and the Spider Monkey, which is otherwise extinct in this part of Costa Rica.

Curu Beach and National Wildlife RefugeIn addition to have a very beautiful beach that looks out towards Tortuga Island, Curu also has an adventure tourism group that offers scuba diving, horseback riding, snorkeling, and guided nature tours.

Although it’s a national wildlife reserve, it’s also still a working sustainable ranch.

More Information about Curu:

Curu Wildlife Refuge – Info from CostaRicaJourneys.com
Curu Park on Montezumabeach.com – Info from Montezumabeach.com

Beaches

Santa Teresa Beach

Santa Teresa is a relative newcomer in Costa Rica’s travel scene, but it has really taken off, with tons of great restaurants, accommodations of all price levels, and the most varied and beautiful beaches in Costa Rica.

Santa Teresa BeachThere are three main beach areas here: Santa Teresa, Malpais, and Playa Hermosa, and each has its charms, as well as amazing surf spots.

The climate here is probably the best of anywhere in Costa Rica as far as beaches go. It’s in a transition zone between the drier north and the wetter south, giving it the best of both world: not too much rain, lush forests and a plenty of wildlife.

More Info on Santa Teresa: Click Here

Beaches

Playa Montezuma

Playa MontezumaPossibly the artiest, funkiest, hippiest town in Costa Rica, Montezuma> is also one of the country’s centers of yoga, organic/raw food, and healthy living.

This beautiful coastal town frequently wins awards as one of the most beautiful beaches in Central America, and is a favorite “secret spot” of adventure travelers for over thirty years.

More info on Montezuma: Click Here.