Your Essential Costa Rica Guide

From its golden shores to its mystical rainforests and majestic volcanoes, Costa Rica brims with pura vida. Travelers visit the vibrant destination and come back over and over again to build on the amazing lifelong memories they create.

Each day in Costa Rica offers visitors an unforgettable experience, whether it is interactive adventures, rejuvenating wellness immersions or culinary delights. The country surrounds travelers with a collection of biodiversity and environmental charm that draws you deeper into a beauty that can be encountered year-round. 

A global leader and pioneer in sustainability, and awarded 2019 Champion of the Earth by the United Nations, Costa Rica is considered one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.

Costa Rica proudly shelters more than 5% of the known biodiversity in the world and is home to 29 national parks. The country operates on 98% renewable energy and has 26% of protected landmass. Recognizing the country’s natural wealth, Costa Ricans have placed sustainability at the core of their culture and traditions, in order to protect it.

Photo courtesy of Costa Rica Tourism Board

For travelers seeking daily yoga and fitness classes in stunning surroundings, Costa Rica is the ideal destination to awaken inner peace by implementing internal and external techniques, most notably the country’s hot springs. The geothermal activity beneath the base of the active Arenal Volcano and the nearby Tabacón River supply the springs’ natural, heated waters.

Travelers might even catch a glimpse of this volcano’s lava flows, while soaking in the mineral rich waters of this area’s hot springs. With a plethora of health benefits, such as reducing stress, promoting restful sleep, ache and pain relief, decreasing blood pressure and much more, visitors are sure to feel better than they did before dipping into the hot springs.

A playground for the adventurous, Costa Rica offers thrilling activities that will get any traveler’s adrenaline going. Travelers can enjoy a thrilling visit to the Arenal Volcano, explore a rainforest canopy by way of zipline, traverse Tarzan-like hanging bridges, waterfall rappel, white-water raft and engage in nocturnal wildlife tours.

Photo courtesy of Costa Rica Tourism Board

Manuel Antonio lures travelers with its white-sand beaches and rainforest. Located in the country’s Pacific coast, travelers can explore the rainforest’s several hiking trails, which are teeming with two-toed sloths, white-faced capuchins and howler monkeys. Later, adventurers can hit the park’s four beaches for swimming, snorkeling and sunbathing.

Culinary may not be the first thing that comes to travelers’ mind when visiting Costa Rica, however, the small Central American country’s gastronomy scene has seen a transformation in recent years with chefs taking inspiration from their ancestral roots, the country’s gastronomic heritage and incredible biodiversity.

Today, there are many chefs in Costa Rica, some of whom have adopted a farm-to-table, zero-kilometer philosophy and are breaking ground in the global culinary scene with innovative traditional and international dishes.

Costa Rica offers travelers a truly enriching encounter. This lively Central American paradise produces unique travel experiences for every visitor no matter their travel desires.