White Water Rafting

Costa Rica’s mountainous topography and copious rainfall are together responsible for one of the best white water river selections in the world.  About half a dozen rambunctious rivers are regularly run by experienced rafting outfitters, and those river trips not only provide plenty of excitement, they also pass some gorgeous scenery.  Not only do white water enthusiasts flock Costa Rica, including several Olympic kayaking teams, but every year tens of thousands of visitors experience the thrill of rafting for the first time there.

Costa Rica is the perfect place for a first white water rafting experience, since it has several rivers that offer a combination of reasonable rapids and beautiful floats.  There are even rivers that are great for family excursions and bird watching, since they lack big rapids and flow through forests full of birds and other animals.  In fact almost all river trips offer chances to see a bit of the country’s wildlife such as iguanas, blue morphos butterflies, parrots, otters, king fishers and herons.

A wide selection of outfitters run trips down the country’s most accessible rivers using trained river guides and modern equipment, life vests and helmets are provided for all rafters, ensuring safe but exciting excursions.  One-day river trips include transportation to and from the river, breakfast and a picnic lunch on the riverbank.  Overnight trips often include lodging in riverside cabins and all meals.

The following is an overview of rafting rivers:

Reventazon: 
The Tucurrique section (Class III), the Pascua section (Class IV-V), Pacuare (Class III-IV), Sarapiqui: (Class II,III), Saavegre (Class II,III), Naranjo: (Class III-IV), El General: (class III-IV), Corobici (Class I-II)

Canopy Tours

A growing number of tours let visitors explore the elevated ecosystem of the rain forest canopy, a luxuriant and little-known realm that is home Formosa of the jungle’s plant and animal species.  It has only been in the last two decated that biologists have begun to seriously study the canopy, using such varied devices as mountain climbing equipment and construction cranes, and tourists now have the opportunity to follow them into that biological frontier.

Those opportunities range from a ride on a modified ski lift that takes passengers floating though the treetop  to platforms set in the crown of massive tropical trees, more than 100 feet above the jungle floor.  All those tours offer a monkey’s-eye view of the rain forest canopy, where thick branches serve as platforms for an incredible diversity of smaller plants, and such animals as tree frogs, vine snakes, sloths and hundred of bird species.

Adventurous travellers may want to try one of the more rustic canopy tours, which entail strapping on a mountain climbing harness and pulling yourself along suspended cables to a series of small wooden platforms built in the tops of trees.  Several private biological reserves also have platforms in the canopies of large trees that people are simply hoisted, or hoist themselves, up to.  One private reserve even has a small hotel room built in the top of a tree, for those who want to spend a night in the canopy.

Mountain Biking

With its countless kilometres of dirt roads and paths traversing a variety of terrain, Costa Rica has enough mountain biking routes to keep a serious biker rolling for years.  But you need neither be an enthusiast nor willing to deal with the hassle of dragging a bike along as luggage to enjoy the sport there.  Mountain bikes can be rented at most resort towns, and several local companies offer mountain bike tours of the country’s less visited areas, many of which are mellow enough for people who haven’t been on a bike for years.

A good selection of one-day tours head out of San José to nearby attractions, such as Irazu and Poás Volcanoes, and the inspiring Orosi Valley.  A more strenuous day of pedalling takes you through the forests of El Rodeo, a protected area near Ciudad Colon.  There are also multiple-day mountain bike tours, which range from a two-day exploration of the area around Arenal Volcano to a six-day tour of the Osa Peninsula.  Bikers who bring their own wheels will find no shortage of routes in Costa Rica.  The southern Nicoya Peninsula, which is crisscrossed by sparsely travelled dirt roads, in the perfect region for mountain-bike touring, as is the southern Pacific region for mountain-bike touring, as is the southern Pacific Coast, especially the area around the Golfo Dulce.

Horseback Riding

There are opportunities to go horseback riding almost everywhere in Costa Rica, and climbing onto the back of a spirited equine can be a wonderful way to spice up your vacation.  The selection of horseback excursions ranges from morning trail rides in the mountains above San José, which get you back to your hotel in after lunch, to all-day expeditions through the rain forest.

Though you might not associate it with a tropical country, Costa Rica has quite a cowboy culture.  The tradition is primarily based in the province of Guanacaste, one of the first parts of the country to be settled by the Spanish, where vast cattle ranches cover rolling hills and forest-draped volcanoes tower above it all.  Nevertheless, mountain resorts and nature lodges located all over the country offer horseback excursions, which can be head through pastures, tropical forest, or down beaches and often stopping at waterfalls and swimming holes. 

Horseback tours are also excellent opportunities for bird watching and getting close to timid wildlife, and the people who lead them often have eagle eyes peeled for interesting critters.

Sport Fishing

Costa Rica is an angler’s dream come true.  The country’s Pacific ports and beach resorts provide access to some of the best deep sea fishing in the world, while the canals and rivers of the northern Atlantic coast feature world-class snook and tarpon fishing.  Billfish are the country’s biggest attractions, with abundant sailfish and marling off the Pacific coast, but the fishermen also hook plenty of other feisty fighters, such as Wahoo and roosterfish.  Though deep sea fishing is the country’s forte, there is also has great fresh water fishing in Lake Arenal and  the larger rivers in the Northern Zone, where anglers can fight with the small but ornery guapote, a hump-backed fish also known as the rainbow bass.

Costa Rica’s central Pacific coast has long been known for its world-class Sailfish, Marlin, Yellow fin Tuna and Dorado (Mahi-Mahi) Sportfishing.  We catch and release hundreds of billfish each year!!

Our prime fishing season is December-May.  But we catch fish year-round because the Gulf of Nicoya is a magnet for many different species of baitfish.  Our prime fishing season is also dry season, so the seas are generally calm December-May.  Our waters abound with whales, dolphins, turtles, manta rays, and many other species of marine life throughout the year...

In and around Cahuita National Park, the sport is practiced using Cayucos (small canoes with 15 or 25 hp Engines); jacks, snapper, snook, tarpon, lobster are easily caught.

Bungee Jumping

Without a doubt, bungee jumping is one of the all time great adrenaline rushes.  In fact, it’s practically an adrenaline overdose.  To most observers, it may seem like sheer lunacy, but at the heart of that act of madness is an opportunity to conquer your own fear, and in doing so, gain strength and self confidence.

Unless you’ve got heart condition, or some serious problems with your back and neck, you should be able to bungee jump with no fear of injury.  Jumps should always be supervised by a trained jump master, and all equipment must be up to international standards.  In Costa Rica, jumps are done from the “Viejo” Puente sobre el Rio Colorado”  “an old bridge that spans a 300-foot-deep gorge located about half an hour west of San Jose.  Jumps are usually done Saturday and Sunday mornings, but they can be arranged at other times for small groups.  The jumps are done with 100-foot bungee, which means jumpers have dropped about 200 feet when the chord stretches to its limit.   Have a nice fall”

Diving

Costa Rica’s underwater wonders range from coastal coral reefs to offshore islands.  Those varied dive spots contain diverse and beautiful marine life that includes giant manta rays, timid sea turtles, colourful angel fish, intricate coral formations, psychedelic sea slugs, spiny puffer fish, delicate sea fans, curious dolphins and, on rare occasions, whales.

Though the country’s waters contain enough marine life to please the most experienced of divers, you need be little more than a curious swimmer to catch a glimpse of some of its underwater sights, since there are plenty of spots that are perfect for snorkelling.  Costa Rica is also an excellent place to learn how to scuba dive, since most dive centres offer inexpensive certification courses in English that can be completed in less than a week.

Caribbean:
There are several excellent snorkelling areas along the southern Caribbean coast.  The country’s largest coastal reef is protected within Cahuita National Park, south of the town of the same name, where you can rent snorkelling equipment and hire people to take you out in boats.  The point at Puerto Viejo, south of Cahuita, also has a coral reef wrapped around it that makes for convenient diving.  Punta Cocles and Punta Uva, two points to the south of town, have healthier coral formations with plenty of fish around then. Manzanillo, a small fishing village a few miles further south, also has some decent diving off shore.  There are also a few good dive spots near the city of Limon, such as the water surrounding Uvita Island.  The best visibility in the Caribbean is from March to early May and from mid August to mid November, but water quality can change from day to day.

Pacific:
The Pacific has the country’s best diving, with less coral, but plenty of big fish.  The most popular Pacific diving area is the northwest, where dive centres in Playa del Coco, Ocotal and Hermosa offer trips to several spots in the Culebra Bay and the Bat Islands (Islas Murciélagos), to the northwest,, where divers often see sharks and manta rays.  The dive centre in Flamingo usually takes people to Santa Catalina Island, about five miles off shore, which is another good spot to see sharks and other big fish.  The best visibility and water temperatures in the northwest are found from June to September, though the conditions can change from day to day.

There is good snorkelling in Curu National Wildlife Refuge, and near the beach resorts of Tambor and Montezuma.  There is also usually good snorkelling off the second beach in Manuel Antonio National Park, and around the points and islands between Dominical and Marino Ballena National Park.  However, the best diving off the Pacific coast is found at several underwater reefs near Caño Island, which can be explored on dive trips offered by some of the lodges in nearby Drake Bay.  Contrary to the northwest, the best visibility in the waters around Caño Island occurs during the dry season, though the water tends to be preppy clear year round.

Coco´s Island
Coco´s Island, a national park located some 330 miles southwest of the Costa Rican mainland, has the countries best diving by far.  While the Island is covered with virgin forest, the ocean that surrounds it contains abundant marine life, and the visibility is good year round.  Divers at Coco´s Island regularly see such impressive animals as manta rays, dolphins and hammerhead sharks, which sometimes gather in schools of 30 or 40 animals.  It takes about 36 hours to reach Coco´s Island, and some companies have ships that run regular dive cruises there, which last ten days and include three dives per day.

Kayaking

The river routes available to rafters range from the turbulent waters of the lower Reventazon, where you hardly have enough time to catch your breath between rapids, to the meandering curves of the Corobici, where you spend more time watching wildlife than paddling.  The most popular rafting trips offer a good combination of challenging rapids and calmer stretches where you can sit back and enjoy the passing scenery.  If you’ve done a bit of rafting up north, you will find the comfortable cool water of Costa Rica’s rivers a nice switch from the chilly water of the northern rivers.  All rafting trips can also be done in kayaks, but kayakers must be experienced.

Paddling a kayak on the open ocean can be an exciting way to experience Costa Rica’s marine and coastal wonders, and several companies offer sea kayaking tours along different parts of the Pacific coast.  Sea kayaking is much easier than river kayaking, and most trips can be done by people who have never tried the sport before.

A sea kayaking tour is an opportunity to get a close look at the myriad of life below and above the ocean’s surface from flying fish and sea turtles to frigate birds and pelicans and to explore some hard to reach offshore islands and coastal estuaries.  Outfitters currently offer sea kayaking tours in the Bahia Culebra, out of Guanacaste´s Hermosa Beach, around the islands and estuaries near Manuel Antonio and Curu national Wildlife Refuge, and the Golfo Dulce area, out of Puerto Jiménez and Golfito.

Hot Air Ballooning

Costa Rica provides unquestionably the most fascinating ballooning in the world low and slow drifting over rainforest or mountain villages, caressing the tops of giant trees, chasing monkeys in the tree-tops or ascending to watch awesome Arenal Volcano erupting above its halo of clouds.

We offer sunrise flights only, as early morning is the safest and the best time visually to fly in Costa Rica.  Flights range between one to one and a half h ours, depending upon weather and landing conditions.  Provided below are brief descriptions of the areas in which flights are operated:

Naranjo: 
The Naranjo area offers scenic rural views and mountain villages-clipping to steep hillsides.  The softly rounded hills surround as we glide gently above quaint villages, island of humanity in sea coffee fields and sugar cane.  The early rising campesinos (country folk) greet us with huge smiles and children chase us on foot and bike.

San Carlos Valley:
The goal is to fly over the primary forest in the area, and we’re successful about 70% of the time.  The rainforest is filled with toucans, howler monkeys, iguana, sloth and brilliantly colour birds and butterflies, visible only from above.  The pilot may attempt to descend into the forest for another look at the animals.  Often the balloons are the only way to see the crow of majestic Arena Volcano, encased in clouds of its own formation.

Turrialba Valley:
This white water capital of Costa Rica surrounds us with lush, tropical forest and luxuriant tapestry as we descend through the valley.

Spectacular bird life is abundant just atop the forest canopy while the trees remain within touching distance of our basket.  We try to kiss the white-water below us before we land.

Surfing

Costa Rica already has quite a reputation among surfers, who are drawn there from near and far by the quality and consistency of its waves.  Though the country gets plenty of the big waves that true surf fanatics live for, there are also days and sports that are perfect to people who have little experience with the sport, or who have been away form the ocean for a long time, and would like to try it again.

With 755 miles of coastline on two oceans, Costa Rica has more breakfast than you can shake a stick at.  The country’s selection of surf spots range from idyllic beach breaks to coral platforms where the water leaps up and tubes like a miniature pipeline. Having coastline on two oceans is quite an advantage, since when one ocean is flat, there is usually something breaking on the other side of the country.  Often enough, there is good surf pumping on both coasts.  And the country surf is complemented by its comfortable water temperatures you can leave that wet suit at home beautiful scenery, and the convenience of a variety of accommodations and restaurants near most breaks.

Since it is five times longer than the Caribbean coast, the Pacific has considerably more surfing spots.  Many of the country’s best breakfast are found in the northwest province of Guanacaste, but there are also some excellent spots in the Central Pacific and Southern Zones.  And the few breakfast that are available in the Caribbean province of Limon is certainly nothing to complain about.  The following is a listing of the country’s best surf sports:

North Pacific: 
Guanacaste, PotreroGrande, Playa Naranjo, Playa Grande, Tamarindo, Playa Langosta, Avellanas, Playa Negro and Nosara

Central Pacific: 
Boca Barrance, Tivives, Jacó, Hermosa, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Matapalo, Pavones

Caribbean: 
Playa Bonita, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo, Cocles, Manzanillo

Windsurfing

The Trade winds blow across Costa Rica with incredible force and consistency during the dry months, creating windsurfing conditions in the northwest part f the country.  The eastern end of Lake Arenal is one of the world’s premier windsurfing spots, having been compared to Italy’s Lake Garda and the Columbia River George.  During the dry season, the wind speed averages 33 miles an hour, a velocity than only experienced windsurfers can handle.  As the gale increases, the lake’s surface becomes choppy, and expert surfers use the waves to jump high into the air.

Though the dry-season winds on Lake Arenal are too strong for beginners, they calm down during the rainy months, when it can be a good place to learn the sport.  There are several hotels near the western end of the lake that rent windsurfing equipment and offer private  classes. There are also some spots along the Pacific coast along the Pacific coast that have good conditions for practicing the sport.  The best area for experienced surfers is Puerto Soley, near the border with Nicaragua, whereas the Golfo de Papagayo is a better area for less experienced surfers, since it features calm waters and less intense wind.

Basic equipment can be rented at some of the beach resorts in the Papagayo area, as well as along the Central Pacific Coast, where the dry season winds tend to be less intense