There are five off the beaten track in the Southern part of Costa Rica that you should not miss…
There are a few tourist destinations in parts of Costa Rica that might have become a victim of their own success. Tamarindo, Arenal, Monteverde, Tortuguero and Manuel Antonio are receiving great amounts of visitors and might not be what a sophisticated traveler would consider as a natural destination that promoted itself as “no artificial ingredients”. They receive a lot of group travelers and become overrun with large tourists groups especially in the peak season.
At Lapa Rios Eco Lodge on the Osa Peninsula, they don’t offer access to Wifi for our guests. If you are looking for a true “disconnect” this is the place to visit.
But there are parts of Costa Rica that are as pristine and natural as they were 30 years ago and that are worth a visit. Getting there is a bit harder but they are great destinations for the sophisticated and experiences traveler looking for natural beauty and adventure.
Corcovado National Park is located on the Osa Peninsula and protects varied tropical ecosystems. National Geographic named it one of the world’s most bio-diverse regions. Its wildlife includes scarlet macaws, toucans, various species of monkeys, tapirs, sloths and big cats such as pumas and jaguars. The national park can be accessed for day tours or multi day hikes.
The Golfo Dulce is one of the world’s four Tropical Fjords and a most unique marine ecosystem. It is about 50 km long and 10 to 15 km wide. It has a maximum depth of 215 meters and that makes it so special and attractive for wildlife. The gulf is surrounded by mangroves and home to amazing marine bird life. It is home to the bottle nose and pan tropical spotted dolphins, humpback whales, various sea turtles and whale sharks.
Jacques Cousteau considered the Golfo Dulce to be the most “pristine” of all tropical fjords. It is home to many marine mammals and marine birds.
The Marino Ballena National Park is located on Costa Rica’s South Pacific Coast around the community of Uvita. The park has en extension of 110 hectares of land and 5,375 hectares of ocean. The park protects the humpback whales that migrate from August through October and December through March from their feeding grounds in the northern and southern hemispheres to the warm tropical waters of Costa Rica. There are many miles of pristine tropical beaches along the coastline that can be explored by visitors.
The coastline of the Marino Ballena Park boasts some of Costa Rica’s most incredible beaches.
Chirripo National Park is located in the central part of the Talamanca Mountain Range that extends all the way into Panama. It is home to Costa Rica’s highest peak “Cerro Chirripo” at 12,532 ft. Hiking all the way to the peak is a test of endurance and will power. However, the view from top is worth the effort as it is possible to see both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea on a clear day.
Chirripó Mountain, on the top
Southern Costa Rica is home to some of the Most Amazing Waterfalls. The most popular one is the Nauyaca Waterfall. One of the falls is forty-five meters high in free fall and the other, twenty meters high with a tiered fall, forming at the bottom a 1,000 square meter and six meter deep pool. A less know waterfall is the Diamante waterfall system, a set of ten waterfalls hidden deep in the jungle. You can even spend the night in a cave below one of the falls.
Diamante Waterfalls
– See more at: Cayuga Online