Costa Rica’s Innovative Hotel Le Cameleon Keeps It Fresh

Innovative and chic, Caribbean Costa Rica Hotel Le Cameleon keeps it fresh.

Like a chameleon, the hip yet relaxed Costa Rica luxury hotel spices up life by changing its colors every day. Decorated in impeccable white, striking dashes of tropical colors around the hotel switch every day. Seat cushions. Paintings. Flower vases. Restaurant napkins. Staff uniforms. The daily metamorphosis in guest rooms and throughout the hotel keeps you guessing what each new day will bring.

“When each day the colors in your white resting sanctuary change, you are reminded that ‘every day is a new day’, filled with infinite opportunities for new experiences, new friends, and new thoughts,” hotel publicity suggests. When we go on vacation, it’s time to do new things, discover new places, try new foods, and generally renew ourselves. Hotel Le Cameleon’s location is definitely rejuvenating: on beautiful Playa Cocles, where wild rainforest meets golden sand and the dazzling, turquoise Caribbean Sea. Hotel Le Caméléon rests on the road connecting the vibrant, bohemian beach town of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica and the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge to the south.



The 23 ultra-chic rooms of the Enchanting Hotel of Costa Rica are tucked in the jungle gardens around a lap pool. Modern rooms following the chameleon theme feature a sleek design that is stylish and comfortable. Sliding glass doors lead out to private balconies or patios in all rooms.



Hotel Le Cameleon provides spa services, yoga classes, tour services, and a wonderful restaurant. The hotel’s fantastic Costa Rica Caribbean beach club, La Sula Sea Lounge, is directly across the street on Cocles Beach, and offers day-beds, hammocks, lounge chairs, bar and restaurant service. There is so much to do in Puerto Viejo – surfing, snorkeling and scuba diving, chocolate tours, a sloth sanctuary – it will be easy to enjoy new experiences.



So, grab your swimsuit and head to Hotel Le Cameleon for a sunny spring holiday. There are easy daily flights from San Jose to Limon and it’s a short drive to Playa Cocles. “Start your day out with the widest of smiles, and witness the tremendous effect this simple action has on your mood and on everything around you.” – Hotel Le Cameleon

Article by Shannon Farley

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Fun Nosara River Safari Tour is best for wildlife in Nosara Costa Rica

The transition from rainy season to summer season in Costa Rica is a time of abundant wildlife. Rivers, streams, lakes and ponds are full of water, vegetation is lush, and settings are ideal for capturing Costa Rica’s exotic wildlife on camera.

This is especially true on a river trip. In the Nosara Costa Rica area on the Nicoya Peninsula, the Nosara River Safari gives visitors a really close look at animal and plant life while cruising on the Nosara and Montana rivers onboard a quiet electric-motor boat.

More than 270 species of birds can be observed along the Nosara River and the Montana River, which flow through the Nosara Biological Reserve. You can see herons, egrets, kingfishers, parrots, roseate spoonbills, trogons, motmots, anhingas, and many coastal birds since the river estuary is right near the coast. This time of year also coincides with autumn bird migration season from North America, so you may see northern visitors as they pass through Costa Rica for the winter.

In addition to birds, you may see howler or white-faced monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, basilisks, and beautiful trees from the dry tropical forest indigenous to the region.

The Nosara River Safari uses a stable, flat-bottomed catamaran boat specially-outfitted with a nonpolluting, soundless and powerful electric motor. There is seating for 10 persons on cushioned benches. Led by a naturalist guide, the tour begins by the river mouth and cruises up the wide, open Nosara River, and then into the tangled mangrove estuary of the Montana River.

There are two tours daily (weather permitting), in the early morning and afternoon; each tour lasts two hours.

L'acqua Viva Resort & Spa at Playa Guiones in Nosara can arrange tours with Nosara River Safari and all of the top adventure and nature tours in Nosara. Close by is the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, famous for the hundreds of thousands of Olive Ridley sea turtles that come to the beaches to lay their eggs from July to December.

Playa Guiones at Nosara is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Guanacaste Coast. Renowned for some of the best surfing in Costa Rica and on the national surfing circuit, the uncrowded white sand beach was recommended as one of the best places to go in 2014 by CNN and National Geographic. Playa Guiones is also home to the famous Nosara Yoga Institute.

Article by Shannon Farley

Bringing the trees back to Playa Guiones, Costa Rica

Like many beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Playa Guiones doesn’t have much shade. The coastline is lined with long grasses, shrubbery, very-low-to-the-ground stubby trees and some tall palm trees here and there.

A nonprofit NGO in Costa Rica is working to change that. The Green Coasts Conservation Association (La Asociación Conservacionista Costas Verdes) is dedicated to conserving and restoring coastal ecosystems in Costa Rica by strategically reforesting beaches with native species of trees. Since its founding in 2008, the organization so far has projects on Hermosa Beach by Jacó on the Central Pacific Coast, the restoration project at Playa Guiones by Nosara in Guanacaste, and a large nursery for native species starter trees.

Reforesting the beaches not only brings much-needed shade from the blazing tropical sun, it also helps control erosion and re-introduces food sources for local wildlife.

Playa Guiones at Nosara is one of the most beautiful beaches on the Guanacaste Pacific Coast. Renowned for some of the best surfing in Costa Rica and a competition location for the national surfing circuit, the uncrowded white sand beach was recommended as one of the best places to go in 2014 by CNN and National Geographic.

The coastal reforestation project at Playa Guiones – called BarriGuiones – began in 2011. Many native trees have already been planted with the goal to reforest approximately seven kilometers along the beachfront. The region had been deforested for cattle and other livestock in the 1960s, along with much of the rest of the Guanacaste Coast.

The small staff of Green Coasts Conservation Association attains its success by actively involving the local communities, schools and businesses for economic support, education and volunteers. Nosara hotel L’acqua Viva Resort & Spa at Playa Guiones is a Gold sponsor of the organization. In addition to the extensive sustainability practices at the Costa Rica luxury hotel, they inform hotel guests about the activities of the association and promote involvement.

A symbol of L’acqua Viva Resort’s partnership with Green Coasts Conservation Association is a fledgling Kapok tree (Ceibo Barrigón) planted close to the parking area of the hotel. The Kapok joins an extensive list of trees that are already planted in the hotel’s large gardens, and which were preserved during the hotel’s construction as part of the company’s commitment to conservation.

Article by Shannon Farley

Nicoya Peninsula Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve protects forest, wildlife

It is amazing how many national parks, conservation areas, wildlife refuges and private reserves there are in the tiny country of Costa Rica. In the mountains of the Pacific Nicoya Peninsula, one little-known private reserve is the Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve.

A wildlife refuge and reforestation project, the Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve serves as an important biological corridor between the Cabo Blanco Reserve and Barra Honda National Park on the Costa Rica Nicoya Peninsula. The reserve is named after Danish environmentalist, Karen Mogensen, who with her Swedish husband, Olaf Nicolas Wessberg, founded Costa Rica's first national park, Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve, at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula.

The Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve protects 2,250 acres of primary and secondary forest with giant trees, lushly adorned with mosses, vines and orchids. Native habitat regeneration and environmental education are some of the principal goals of the non-profit Ecological Association of Paquera, Lepanto, Cóbano (ASEPALECO) that founded the reserve in 1996. In less than 20 years, the land has transformed from open farmland to thriving jungle with the help of local farmers planting trees and removing property fences.

You can hike trails through the preserve to Bridal Veil Waterfall, a stunning 60-foot cascade that empties into a pristine swimming hole; the hike takes approximately 40 minutes one way. You can also hike one hour up a small mountain to the rustic Cerro Escondido Lodge, featuring an orchid garden and a restaurant that serves vegetarian and traditional Costa Rican meals. You need to make arrangements in advance with park officials for lunch.

Wildlife watching is excellent in the reserve: howler monkeys, white-faced monkeys, otters, deer, pumas, ocelots, countless butterflies, and at least 240 bird species, including three-wattled bellbirds, motmots, spectacled owls, and long-tailed manikins.

Stay in the area at L'acqua Viva Resort & Spa at Playa Guiones in Nosara, Costa Rica. Nosara is recommended as one of the best places to go in 2014 by CNN and National Geographic, and also is renowned for some of the best surfing in Costa Rica. L'acqua Viva Resort can arrange tours to the Karen Mogensen Reserve, and also the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, famous for the multitudes of Olive Ridley sea turtles that come to lay their eggs from July to December.

 The Costa Rica luxury hotel is offering special low season rates from Sept. 1 to Dec. 15, 2014.

Article by Shannon Farley

Nosara, Costa Rica is an artsy, eclectic community

Nosara, Costa Rica, is a fascinating, eclectic beach community. Remotely located on the Pacific Coast of the Nicoya Peninsula, Nosara has become a haven for local and international residents who sought to “get away from it all.”

Many came to surf the wild side-by-side beaches of Playa Pelada and Playa Guiones, two of Costa Rica’s top surfing beaches. Others came seeking a healthier lifestyle of yoga, sunshine, clean air and organic markets.

Art groups in Nosara are now promoting the Costa Rica beach community as a cultural center. The Nosara Artisans group, which was founded by resident ceramic artists Kristen Brousseau and Emma Kinsey, hold Saturday afternoon art fairs once a month. Upcoming 2014 art fairs will be held on Jan. 25, Feb. 22 and Mar. 29 at the Gilded Iguana Hotel and Restaurant in Guiones. The group recently held their second annual Holiday Art Fair that benefited the Nosara Animal Care shelter.

A new art group, called Arte Nosara, is currently being organized by Nosara resident Paul Da Costa, to host art and photography exhibitions, musical concerts and dances. The first expo is planned for January 2014.

Visit Nosara, Costa Rica

One of the finest Nosara hotels is L’acqua Viva Resort & Spa, a luxury boutique hotel by Playa Guiones. The hotel’s name means “live water,” which is a key element in the hotel’s exotic Bali-style architecture. Art is a central theme at L’acqua Viva Resort & Spa; all around the hotel are art masterpieces from around the world that belong to a private collection. The best way to reach Nosara and Playa Guiones is to take a domestic flight from San Jose or Liberia to the Nosara domestic airport.

Article by Shannon Farley