Travel Blog Costa Rica

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.

Liberia is the capital of the province of Guanacaste. It takes around four hours to get to Liberia if you drive from San Jose City. Overall this city can still be considered a rural town, although over the past decade it has been a witness to a lot of hotel development, mostly due to the popularity that the Liberia Airport has been getting.  Currently Liberia airport is the second largest in Costa Rica, receiving a good amount of international flights, from airlines such as American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Taca Airlines, among many others. The advantage of booking a flight to Liberia Costa Rica (LIR), instead of Juan Santamaria in Alajuela (SJO), is that you can book a hotel closer to the astounding Guanacaste beaches and to a lot of national parks and natural reserves.

The city of Liberia is one of the biggest towns on the northern part of Costa Rica. This city is mostly used as a gateway  to the Golfo de Papagayo and to its many impressive beaches. From Liberia you will also be at a closest distance to the natural destinations of Monteverde Cloud Forest, Santa Elena Reserve, Miravalles Volcano, Tenorio Volcanoes, Palo Verde National Park, Rincon de la Vieja National Park, Santa Rosa National Park, Guanacaste National Park, and Arenal Volcano.

Liberia city is known by the locals as the White City. This name comes as an allusion to the great amount of old colonial houses still standing that were built with a type of white clay known as bahareque, which is found in that area. The weather at Liberia Costa Rica is hot and dry from the months of November to May, with average temperatures of 81 F. The rest of the year the weather is humid and the rainiest months are September and October. Twice a year Liberia, Costa Rica has two big celebrations that involve parades, horse shows, cattle auctions, and bull rodeos. These celebrations are the Civic Festivals which are held on the last week of February and the first week of March and the Annexation of the Nicoya Party which is held every July the 25th.

If you decide to book a hotel at Liberia for the day you arrive to Costa Rica make sure to arrange hotel reservations with anticipation if the date coincides with any of the major local celebrations mentioned before.

If you have browsed or searched information about San Jose Costa Rica you probably found that this country is an important worldwide travel destination; and those who have visited it are eager to return and recommend it to their family and friends because of its fun and pleasant vacation attractions. There are many reasons why this country has become a great vacation destination; to name a few, it has great weather conditions, incredible biodiversity, and overall Costa Rica can be labeled as a safe country to be at if you are a traveler. The merging of all these three elements: pleasant weather, biodiversity which translates into great natural attractions and thus a vast variety of tours, plus the overall safety make it a unique and amazing traveler friendly destination. Tourism is one of the main sources of income for this country, thus the government and population tend to be traveler friendly oriented. If you plan to come to San Jose Costa Rica we recommended that you fly into the San Jose airport, Juan Santamaria and book a nice hotel around the San Jose area for at least the first night you arrive.

Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica is usually not a recommended area for either booking your hotel or for tour attractions, but the surroundings of the Central Valley are. The reason why booking a San Jose hotel on the first nights of your arrival and last night is a good idea, is mainly because it is a comfortable and convenient gateway if you booked tours to where you need to travel far; which are usually most of them. The information that you will gather from either tour operators or over the internet, will tell you that in theory it is not absolutely necessary to book a San Jose hotel one day before departure of your flight. But from experience not doing so is not recommended. Say, for example you book a two or three day tour to Monteverde Cloud Rainforest. You spend one day walking around, sightseeing, horseback riding, you name it. From Monteverde to San Jose it will take you 4 to 5 hours on a bus or rental car, and if you take your flight that same day you will be dead tired. This kind of itinerary is extremely exhausting and you might need some days off to get over such vacation exertion. The weather can also get in the way of your vacation itinerary especially in the rainy season. To be on the safe and also comfortable side make hotel reservations at a San Jose hotel before and after your flight. Regardless of the area you pick in San Jose Costa Rica there will be close by city tour attractions available, in case you don’t want to waste any vacation time without visiting as many places as possible. Another recommendation if you plan to do a tour in the San Jose area is to keep in mind the weather, especially in the rainy season; remember that it usually rains in the mid afternoon.

Great weather is a nice convenience that San Jose Costa Rica has, being part of tropical template climate region. Overall San Jose is usually not too cold and not too hot, with average temperatures of 72 F and with nice coastal breezes. The coolest months of the year are November, December, and January. The hottest months because of the humidity are March, April, and May. As with the rest of Costa Rica, except the Caribbean area which has its own microclimate, the dry season goes from December to May, and the rainy season from June to November. It usually rains in the afternoon or at night. Occasionally, it rains since early morning, but the sun is still to be seen at least a good 5 to 7 hours per day regardless of the season. Because the weather is usually predictable in San Jose, Costa Rica it is it easier to plan ahead and make the best out of your vacations package, of course, as long as you book your tours during the right time of the day. The attractions that San Jose, Costa Rica offer are various; from city museums, architectural sightseeing from the 1900´s epoch, buying local crafts, restaurants, casinos; and other interesting spots which can all be visited by bus or rental car. Further information about interesting city spots can be gathered from the front desk at your San Jose hotel or from your tour operator.