Limon City, as it is known by locals, is the capital of Limon Province in the Costa Rica Caribbean, the actual name is Puerto Limon. The Province of Limon contains the entire area of the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. Two National Parks and two national wildlife refuges protect more than half of the Caribbean Coast; these are Cahuita National Park, Tortuguero National Park, Manzanillo-Gandoca Wildlife Reserve, and Barra del Colorado Wildlife Reserve.

Uvita Island at Limon, Costa Rica was the last place that Christopher Columbus visited during his trips to the New World in the year of 1502. The first settlements that the Spanish established in Costa Rica were in the Caribbean coast. The harshness of the weather, the difficult voyage to reach the Central Valley, plus the constant attacks from the native indigenous who refused to be colonized made the Spanish settlers try to colonize Costa Rica from the Pacific Coast instead.

 

The Valley of Matina, Limon was for many centuries the only Caribbean area that was controlled by the Spanish settlers and used for cacao plantations, the rest of the Caribbean coast remained wild. The first cacao plantations were worked by captured and slaved indigenous of the area, but the laws of the Province of Costa Rica, which later became the Republic of Costa Rica; prohibited slavery of the local Limon population, so the indigenous could no longer be used for these purposes. The solution that the Spanish settlers came up with was to buy and bring Afro-American slaves from Jamaica to work at the cacao fields in Limon. Later in 1867 a railroad from San Jose to Limon was built by these slaves to communicate the Central Valley with what became the main port for exportation of Costa Rican goods to Europe.

 

Nowadays the majority of the Limon population is Afro-American and because of the isolation Limon has been subject to, a lot of the Afro-Caribbean culture was kept unchanged, or at least less influenced by the culture of the Central Valley. Immigrants from China and Italy also arrived to Limon to find work at cacao and banana plantations, thus merging some of their culture and traditions with the Afro-Americans.

 

Most travelers go straight to their Caribbean beach destinations instead of stopping by Puerto Limon. Puerto Limon has some recommended things to do if you have the time to pass by this old town. The things to do at Limon, Costa Rica are visiting the Parque Vargas which is a small park with local vegetation where you can spot tropical birds and sloths. 4 kms away from Puerto Viejo is Playa Bonita, this beach has decent waves for surfing and ok shores to swim at. Uvita Island can also be visited if you hire a boat to take you. The Central Market is also a nice colorful place to visit while at Limon, Costa Rica to eat traditional Afro-Caribbean food and listen to some traditional music.

 

The Limon Carnivals are also a recommended thing to do if you happen to be there around the 12 of October of each year. Usually the Limon Carnivals, which are very colorful parades, where there is a lot of dancing, singing, eating, and drinking; lasts up to four to five days and is definitely necessary to book your hotel well in advance.