28 Best things to see & do in Costa Rica

Cocos Island, in the deep Pacific, some 550km off the Costa Rican coast, is one of the top dive destinations in the Americas and together with the Galapagos one of the best destinations for marine wildlife in the Eastern Pacific.

It’s also the site of one of the great underwater spectacles – the mass schooling of hundreds of hammerhead sharks.

Each year, from June through October, they gather in uncountable numbers, attracted by high concentrations of prey. Cocos Island sits at a convergence of swirling, nutrient-rich currents, attracting vast schools of fish on which the hammerheads feed.

Whale sharks are also regular visitors to the waters around Cocos, making it a popular location for wildlife filmmakers.

Are hammerhead sharks dangerous?

Although officially tagged as a ‘man-eater’, hammerheads are shy of humans and attacks are extremely rare. They hunt on the ocean floor at night, feeding on stingrays (their favourite food), squid, mackerel, sardines and octopus.

Why do they have a strange-shaped head?

Their strange hammer-shaped head contains hundreds of small electrical sensors that they use to detect the faint electromagnetic fields generated by their prey hiding beneath the sand.

On the eastern edges of Costa Rica’s Central Valley, the Pacuare River cascades down a series of slopes on its way to the Caribbean Sea.

For decades, this has been ground zero for whitewater rafting – for good reason. The Pacuare is home to a series of Class III-V rapids that travel down a canyon wrapped in virgin rainforest.

It’s a thrilling ride and an essential stop for adrenaline junkies.

Protected jungles and reefs preserving an astonishing 900 bird species and nearly 250 mammals; fuming volcanoes swathed in cloud forest; tens of kilometres of beaches nested by critically-endangered turtles; no army (the money goes to education) and political stability…

Costa Rica’s status as a pioneer of sustainability and peace in turbulent Latin America is remarkable.

As is the story of this success. After World War II, 65% of the wild had gone to aggressive agriculture. Then a few mavericks took a stand – like Scandinavian hippy turned pioneer eco-campaigner Olaf Wessburg, who lost his life fighting to preserve the Osa Peninsula.

And Latin America’s ‘David Attenborough’ Mario Boza, whose relentless force of will inspired the wife of the president, led to Ley Forestal law of 1969 and the founding of 28 national parks. These now form the backbone of protected areas, covering 30% of the country.

For just over forty years Arenal was one of the world’s safest active volcanoes to visit – a rumbling cone set in lush forest, spewing out lava that glowed red in the night.

Today, Arenal sleeps but remains truly spectacular – oozing hot rivers and springs, with a near-perfect cone, fuming puffs of gas, and shrouded in black ash. On its slopes, lush forest fringes crumbling, congealed lava fields, and the trees are rich in wildlife – including peccaries, ocelots and capuchin monkeys.

The forests are beautiful, cut with numerous wildlife trails and dripping with waterfalls. There are spectacular views of the mountains’ perfect cone at every turn – framed by rainforest trees.

The entire area is protected as a national park, a larger conservation area and a series of private reserves – all part of the 204,000-hectare Arenal Conservation Area.

Over the years, a series of luxurious hotels and a string of hot river spas grew around its flanks and ecotourism parks with canopy walkways – at toucan’s eye level – were built in the beautiful cloud forests around the mountain.

It’s illegal and potentially dangerous to summit the mountain itself, but there are great hikes in the area; trails run across lava fields through pine woods filled with peccary and parakeets. Other trails lead to waterfalls like the 75m-high La Fortuna, which drops into a refreshing, clear-water pool that you can hike to and swim in.

There’s a range of other bucket list things to do in and around the national park too.

Canopy walkways offer monkey-eye views and the park environs have some of the country’s longest and fastest zip lines. There’s also rainforest river kayaking, tubing and white-water rafting, mountain biking and canyoning.

Spread across rugged mountains 1,400m above sea level, this private reserve (and adjacent protected areas) covers more than 10,000 hectares of wildlife-rich, misty cloud forest.

This is where dedicated twitchers come to combe the 15kms of trails in search of the resplendent quetzal, the brightly-plumed bird sacred to the Mayas.

But there is plenty of other wildlife to discover – from spider monkeys and over 400 bird species, to wild orchids and prehistoric ferns – and a variety of ways to explore Monteverde.

Walking trails lead through a forest encrusted with orchids and covered in thick carpets of dripping moss (there are day and night safaris available). Canopy walkways and cable cars run through the trees, affording an eagle’s eye view of the extraordinary landscape, or you can see it at high-speed on a zip-line experience.

Humpback whales migrate to the Costa Rican Pacific from Antarctica and North America – to court and mate in the warm waters, later calving in the shallow seas of this marine national park. With near year-round visits, this is one of the best places to see humpbacks with their young in the Americas.

The Ballena Marine National Park protects the marine area around four small islands where the whales congregate. The islands have become a haven for other marine life; Olive Ridley and hawksbills turtles, boobies and pelicans, and dolphins are a common sight.

With dozens of active and dormant volcanoes oozing hot springs and even rivers, and well-developed tourist infrastructure, Costa Rica is one of the best places in the world for geothermal pampering.

There’s a big choice of things to do. In locations like Volcán Tenorio and Rincon de la Vieja, it is still possible to find natural hot rivers flowing in pristine rainforest. Others in locations like Arenal have been diverted through man-made pools – set in designated day spas.

At the highest end are luxury geothermal spa hotels (usually open to guests only), where volcanic spring water flows directly into the spa or even into your personal in-room bath or plunge pool.

The last remaining stand of coastal Pacific rainforest in Central America is protected by this, the crown jewel in Costa Rica’s park system – a sprawling 425sq km reserve that occupies much of the Osa Peninsula.

It’s a National Geographic special waiting to happen: a riot of lush forest occupied by bellowing monkeys, snorting peccaries and noisy flocks of scarlet macaws – not to mention elusive night-time species such as pumas and jaguars.

The marine areas around the Osa Peninsula are an important breeding ground for dolphins and whales. Lodges can arrange boating trips in search of these incredible mammals.

Cabo Matapalo, at the south-eastern tip of the Osa Peninsula, is blessed with a good point break. Most lodges can arrange lessons, surfboard rentals and transport.

Costa Rica produces fine coffee – smooth, mildly acidic (depending on altitude) and floral. Coffee haciendas (plantations) dot Costa Rica’s Central Valley, Pacific coast foothills and northern highlands.

A number can be visited – on day tours. You can learn how the beans are grown and harvested, taste varieties produced under different conditions, see the cacao fruit, and the process which turns its seeds into chocolate.

You can even stay in an upscale coffee hacienda as an overnight stop on your way in or out of the country. There’s a scattering of them near the international airport, set in beautiful semi-wild surrounds.

Tortuguero National Park, on Costa Rica’s northeastern Caribbean coast, is the best place in the northern Atlantic to see nesting and hatching sea turtles; four species can be seen including giant leatherbacks.

The dominant species is the Green Turtle – Tortuguero’s black sand beach is the most important nesting site for the species in the Western Hemisphere, thanks to half a century of conservation. Visit in the right months and sightings are virtually guaranteed.

There’s much more besides – some 160 species of reptiles and amphibians, 60 species of mammals and 300+ species of birds. Shoreside lagoons, filled with crocodiles stretch back from the beaches; gallery forests are busy with capuchin monkeys, toucans, spider monkeys, iguanas and three-toed sloths.

Lush hills rise above the whole landscape – offering stunning viewpoints that look as wild and primeval as the Jurassic World.

See it all on short hikes, boat excursions on the long lagoons or by kayak.

But this is wilderness with ease and comfort – there are accommodation options for adults of all ages and families with even the youngest kids.

Just outside the laid-back little one-street village of Cahuita, this Atlantic coastal national park protects long sandy beaches, beautiful offshore reefs and crocodile-filled creeks and rivers.

Ocelots live in the rainforest behind the coast and Cahuita is an important turtle-nesting ground.

The park has exceptional biodiversity and species variety because it is contiguous with the huge UNESCO World Heritage listed Parque Internacional La Amistad (shared with neighbouring Panama) and the Refugio Nacional Gandoca-Manzanillo; together they make one of the largest wilderness areas on the Caribbean coast of Central America.

Lost at the end of a steep trail in misty forest on the fringes of Arenal National Park, this beautiful 75m-high waterfall drops into a refreshing, clear-water pool surrounded by moss-covered boulders.

It’s a 10-minute walk down a 500-step wooden staircase to get there (and 15-minutes back up) from the car park, but it’s an idyllic spot, worth the walk, and a wonderful place to swim. Go early though – it gets crowded, fast.

Want to peer into the crater of an active volcano? The easiest place to do it is Poas – in ash-spewing distance of the international airport and with a car park practically on its rim.

Though framed by trail-cut, fern-filled forest, the crater itself is moonlike – shallow, broad and desolate, but for brilliant-green and milky-grey lakes which occasionally steam or belch gas. The lookout platform hovers over the rim of the crater: there’s no lava – but with visits this close to the edge, most visitors are relieved rather than disappointed.

Piedras Blancas is far less visited or well-known than neighbouring Corcovado National Park on the Osa peninsula, yet it’s equally biodiverse and its landscapes are even more stunning.

The primary rainforest drips with waterfalls and drops to a deep-water fjord where whales calve; black sand beaches spread to extensive mangrove forests.

The hiking, kayaking and scuba diving are wonderful.

Costa Rica is justifiably famous for its rain and cloud forests. Less well-known are the country’s tropical dry forests.

This 147,000-hectare UNESCO World Heritage-listed biome preserves the largest stretch in Central America, through a series of public and private protected areas.

The landscapes – from volcanoes to empty beaches and mangrove swamps – are breathtaking and the area is home to spectacular rare animals including the endangered Central American tapir, jaguar and ocelot. Critically endangered leatherback turtles nest on the beaches.

Light adventure includes hiking, canyoning and zip lines.

A boutique hacienda near the airport that produces excellent home-grown Arabica coffee – served throughout the day, at breakfast and after meals – alongside farm-to-table organic food. They organise their own tours around the coffee farm. Stay overnight for the full immersive experience.

One of the world’s only rehabilitation and rescue centre for sloths, where you’ll see adult and baby two and three-toed sloths. Fascinating tours – which keep the project alive – include behind-the-scenes visits to the nursery, where rescued babies are weaned.

Come to see ancient stone spheres left in the Pacific jungle by the Diquis people, and pre-Columbian gold artefacts.

Easy to visit, Costa Rica’s biggest waterfall drops into a deep pool in a forest-swathed bowl in the mountains near San Jose.

One of Costa Rica’s most popular (and crowded) national parks, with easy-to-access, trail-cut rainforest (with abundant monkeys, lowland birds and smaller cats) backing a gently arching series of beaches. Editor: Alex has not done a full review as there are alot better options than this one.

Located 30 minutes outside of San Jose, this cloud forest park has a riot of dense vegetation, as well as a small network of trails for day hikes, zip-lines and an aerial tram. Book online here.

This small centre just outside the Park has atrium habitats housing hundreds of colourful rainforest butterflies, as well as other small rainforest fauna and an orchid exhibit. You’ll leave with a full appreciation of the extraordinarily diverse range of butterflies you may not see in the wild. Open daily.

Covering a remote peninsula in Costa Rica’s far north-west, Santa Rosa protects important sea turtle nesting beaches and was the site of a historic battle in 1856. It’s also a prime surfing location, with two renowned breaks: Witch’s Rock and Ollie’s Point, both generally accessed by boat.

These on-foot night safaris, led by a wildlife local expert guide, aren’t just about tarantulas. Nights are the best times to see nocturnal mammals like kinkajou – a kind of Central American bushbaby, and a host of rare birds from nightjars to huge owls. Arachnophobes should have no fear – the spiders are shy – disappearing quickly unless you tread very lightly.

Littered with strange pre-Columbian stone spheres and fringed with fish-teeming reefs, this little island reserve is easily visited from the Osa Peninsula.

Located 10 minutes from La Fortuna, this small but authentic hot spring facility has several pools, surrounded by thick rainforest, fed by mineral-rich underground hot springs. Water temperatures range from a warm 32°C to a hot 41°C. You can sip on cocktails as you soak.

This resort has one of the least-visited hot springs in the country – a 160-foot river flowing a thermo mineral gorge, surrounded by bird-filled tropical dry forests. Eight hot springs mingle with river water, creating pools or varying temperature water. There’s one special pool where you can apply mud to the skin.

550km off the Costa Rican coast, Cocos Island is a world-class dive site famous for huge congregations of rays which converge in the swirling currents welling up from deep water. Access is on 11-day live-aboard dive trips, from December to May, departing from Puntarenas.