There are two routes to get to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, the first route is the western which goes from Heredia, Varablanca, La Paz Waterfall, San Miguel, La Virgen, and Chilimate. The other route to get to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui is through the eastern route which passes through the highway, Braulio Carrillo National Park, and last north through Horquetas to Puerto Viejo. Costa Rica has two Puerto Viejos, one is Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui another is Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is in the Caribbean, right in the Limon Province. If you do not take a close look at your map or just plainly ask for directions without specifying if you want to go to Sarapiqui or Puerto Viejo Limon you might end up in the wrong place and be two hours away from your actual destination. Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui has two attractions, one of its attractions is the exuberant tropical rainforest and the other is the Sarapiqui River. The Sarapiqui river has sections great for class II and class III rapids that is good for whitewater rafting all year round, but the best months of the year to run it are May to November. You can also sail the Sarapiqui River to get to the San Juan River which is the border limit between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and although it is not one of the most frequented tour (for many travelers this can be a good thing) the boat tour is great for sightseeing crocodiles, turtle, snakes, and all the other river wildlife. The lushness and exuberance of the Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui rainforest is so extensive that there are many top of notch biological stations. One of the most famous biological stations is Centro Neotropico Sarapiquis. The Centro Neotropico Sarapiquis is just two kilometers east of the village of La Virgen. It was designed by a designer and architect president of the Landscape Foundation Belgium. This biological station contains a jungle lodge, museum, botanical garden, and an archeological site. The great field work this unique biological station does is strive from the moment each guest sets one foot on Centro Neotropico Sarapiquis to increase the awareness of cultural and natural history to make people fully appreciate the importance and magnificence of the invaluable rainforests of Costa Rica. The first set of rooms you will see when you visit this interesting lodge are designed as a 15th century pre-Columbian village. Each room has a large bathroom, ceiling, fan, telephone, and private terrace. There are standard rooms but these do not a terrace and are smaller than the rest. At the restaurant you will be surprised by plates that include use spices and edible flowers that Costa Rica indigenous tribes used on their day to day meals combined with fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the biological station’s gardens. The restaurant combines the indigenous flavor with vegetarian and Costa Rica local food. At the botanical garden you will find around 73 medicinal plants from Costa Rica. The museum at the Centro Neotropico Sarapiquis has a very interactive presentation on the history of Costa Rica rainforests. At the archeological you will have a chance to see about a dozen Maleko indigenous tombs, pottery and petroglyphs have also been found at this archeological site. Centro Neotropico Sarapiquis protects the surrounding rainforest by recycling the entire wastewater through a natural biological wastewater treatment plant that looks more like a sugarcane field than anything else, so you will never know it is a water treatment you are looking at. Cross ventilation has been applied and fully enhance so that there is no need to use air conditioning devices. All the water heated at this lodge is.

Another other natural station is the Tirimbina Rainforest Center that encloses 300 hectare reserve that is reached by two suspended bridges 267 meters and 111 meters long over the Sarapiqui River. Added to this the reserve has six kilometers of trails. The birding opportunities at this natural station is great as it is surrounded by very dense rainforest and a river. From the hanging bridges, just in the middle there is a spiral staircase that leads to an island in the middle of the river. The lodge offers a four to six hour tour that will take you through the botanical gardens, bridges, and the rainforest reserve.

Definitely the top of the top biological reserve is La Selva Biological Station, which is strictly a biological station without lodging facilities. La Selva is operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies and has member organizations from the USA, Latin America and Australia which overall are like 64 universities and research institutions. The investigation process of the rainforest teams up with research scientists and graduate students using the fully equipped laboratories, experimental plots, herbarium, and a vast library. Courses are extense and strenuous at La Selva Biological Station and many famous world wide tropical ecologists have trained here. The natural reserve preserved by La Selva Biological Station contains about 1513 hectares of premontane wet tropical rainforest that is mostly untouched. To the south La Selva Biological Station is bordered by Braulio Carrillo National Park so that the overall conservation area becomes extense along with the amount of species of fauna and flora inside it. The best time to visit La Selva Biological Station is from the months of February and March, but because there is no dry season in this area so be prepare for heavy rain at all times. Muddy trails, mosquitoes, and heat are also present all year round. Birding is really good on the almost 60 kilometers of well tended trails at La Selva Biological Station.