The Best Way To See Costa Rica National Parks

Most of us have heard that Costa Rica is truly a Central American jewel and the country is famous for its eco tourism, amazing scenery and friendly people. What many people do not know is that Costa Rica national parks  claim over 12% of national territory.  Adding to that are biological and forest reserves, wetlands, mangroves, protected zones and wildlife refuges. Costa Rica takes its ecology very seriously.

Many North Americans visit this lovely country and some even live there permanently. It’s an ideal place for a vacation. However, a vacation would not be complete here before seeing at least one national park. For your information, here is a review of just some of the national parks that you can visit.

Manuel Antonio:
Manuel Antonio is a lovely place on the southern Pacific shores of Costa Rica. There are many hotels and restaurants as well as great beaches. The park is large and has a great diversity of wildlife. It’s best to hire a guide (very reasonable) as otherwise you can walk for hours and not see all the amazing animals, as many are camouflaged. The park also has a couple of great beaches and for that alone, it’s worth going!

Arenal:
Arenal is in Central Costa Rica surrounded by lakes, mountains and cloudforests.  The volcano is a wonderful sight and the town of Arenal has many hotels, lodges, etc. for visitors as well as great trails and even sulphur pools and hot springs. It’s a very popular destination.

Tortuguero:
The word Tortuga means turtle and of course you can see many examples in this park which is in the Limon Province which borders the Caribbean. This is a popular national park which has rainforests, swamps as well as coastal and marine areas. There are also many varieties of turtle, including the largest sea turtle that nests here from February to July.

Cahuita:
This is also located in Limon Province and it encompasses both land and sea. Here you can enjoy great snorkeling and scuba diving and it has a large coral reef. The southern beach is also an area used by several varieties of sea turtle.

Palo Verde:
This park is located in Guancaste and is a bird watchers paradise. The park protects forests and marshland between two rivers. It is not far from the capital of San Jose.

From the above descriptions, you can see that, just like the country itself, the Costa Rica national parks are very diverse and there is more than enough variety for everyone, whether you are interested in bird watching, scuba diving, looking at sloths or just enjoying the walks.