Best Costa Rica shore excursions in Limon

Looking for what shore excursions to choose on your cruise to Costa Rica? I always recommend what Costa Rica is most famous for – its rainforest and nature.

At your Caribbean port of call in Limon, Costa Rica, one of the best Costa Rica shore excursions to experience the rainforest and its exotic wildlife is Veragua Rainforest Eco-Adventure.

On cruise ship stops, you normally only have time for a half-day tour, or maybe a full-day tour. The nice thing about Veragua Rainforest Eco-Adventure is that it is located less than an hour away from the pier at Limon. You have minimal travel time, which means more time in the rainforest.

This is real rainforest, not contrived. Veragua Rainforest’s 3,212-acre (1,300-hectare) park is set in the Caribbean coastal mountains bordering the renowned La Amistad International Park. Howler and white-faced monkeys roam the treetops. Hundreds of species of tropical and migratory birds fly through the forest. Brightly colored poison-dart frogs hop along the forest floor.

The award-winning adventure park design at Veragua gives you the most complete rainforest experience possible in a Costa Rica day tour. In addition to being a tourist attraction, important national scientific research is conducted here by Veragua’s team of on-site biologists.

You can choose either a half-day tour (pier-to-pier 5½ hours) or full-day tour (pier-to-pier 7½ hours) for your Limon shore excursion at Veragua. Both tours include a fascinating aerial tram ride through the rainforest canopy, walking trails along a river under giant trees to a beautiful waterfall, and interesting interactive wildlife exhibits: the largest indoor nocturnal and diurnal frog exhibit in the world, reptile and insect areas, and a huge butterfly garden filled with some of the world’s most colorful butterflies including the famed electric-blue Morpho. Veragua Rainforest is completely accessible for disabled visitors.

The full-day tour adds the exciting zip-lines of The Original Canopy Tour®, which has been featured on Discovery Channel, National Geographic and Travel Channel. Lunch is included on the full-day tour.

Article by Shannon Farley

Cultural history of Guanacaste explored in new tour at Rincon de la Vieja National Park

Not much is known about the first native peoples to live near the massive Rincon de la Vieja Volcano in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province. A new archaeology tour at the area’s eco-lodge Hacienda Guachipelin will help shed some light on the mysteries of these indigenous ancestors of Costa Rica.

“We’re rescuing the cultural traditions of Guanacaste,” said Fernando Camacho Mora, archaeologist in charge of the project. “We don’t know the name of the people who lived here because they did not have a written language.”

What we do know, Camacho explained, is that a tribe known as the Chorotegas migrated south from Mexico through Nicaragua to Guanacaste in about 900 AD. They lived in places along the Pacific Coast from Salinas Bay south to the Nicoya Gulf, but not in the interior. Archaeological findings show that a different people – probably who spoke a Chibchan language – lived in the area now forming the Rincon de la Vieja National Park from about 10,000 BC.

Helping to uncover the secrets are 14 archaeological sites that have been found around Hacienda Guachipelin, which date from about 300 to 800 AD. “The archaeological sites around the Hacienda did not reach the year 900 AD, so the people living there were not Chorotegan at all. They might have had some contact with the Chorotegas – the archaeological findings indicate that – but they probably were another ethnic group, perhaps a Chibchan one,” said Camacho, who has studied archaeological sites in the area for several years.

Almost all of the discovered sites are cemeteries. Camacho said he is planning to do further research to uncover the living areas of the community. Petroglyphs and tomb markers, dating to about 500 AD, have been found in river beds near Hacienda Guachipelin.

The hotel’s new archaeology tour will show off eight stations that give an introduction to the history of Guanacaste and Rincon de la Vieja, and a characterization of life in the indigenous society. The walking tour will start from the hotel Reception, stopping first at the hotel’s new hydroponic garden, and then visiting the exhibit of live snakes and frogs, and the small butterfly garden, before reaching the archaeological section.

Walking narrow paths through the tropical dry forest to a small clearing with a life-size statue of a hunter ready with his spear and a woman kneeling on the ground grinding corn, you can imagine what life may have been like in these first settlements. A recreation of a burial tomb shows a replica skeleton and objects such as jade carvings and ceramic bowls to demonstrate burial practices.

The 60 to 90-minute tour will open to the public toward the end of April.

Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín is an ideal place at Rincón de la Vieja Volcano to experience authentic Guanacaste culture and enjoy the best Costa Rica adventure tours. Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín is located 15.5 miles (25 km) northeast of Guanacaste’s main city of Liberia by the Pailas section of the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano.

Article by Shannon Farley

Jazz nights at Pranamar every Wednesday in Santa Teresa Costa Rica

“Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life.” — Art Blakey

The clear tones of Miles Davis to the eclectic mix of Herbie Hancock can be heard weekly emanating from the Balinese-style Buddha Eyes Restaurant at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat on Santa Teresa Beach.

If you think a remote tropical beach in Costa Rica is a funny place to hear jazz, famous jazz saxophonist Ahmad Alaadeen has words for you: “Jazz does not belong to one race or culture, but is a gift that America has given the world.”

Pranamar Villas, on the beach at Santa Teresa on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, is presenting Jazz Nights every Wednesday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Local musicians David Walker, a saxophonist from California, and trumpet player Luciano from Argentina accompany the sounds of the Pacific surf with their own mix of jazz and pop music. Their repertoire ranges from original compositions to covers of jazz legends like Miles Davis.

“Pranamar is a great space for a jazz listening evening,” commented Walker.

The open-air, thatched roof restaurant pavilion overlooks the meandering free-form swimming pool, styled after a Balinese river, with luxurious two-story bungalows at the water’s edge. At night, soft lighting, tropical vegetation and warm sea breezes create an elegant ambiance. Pacific Ocean waves rhythmically roll onto shore a few steps away.

The weekly events are indeed popular and reservations are recommended, noted Pranamar restaurant events manager, Diana Vitola. “It’s a nice treat to have music both for our guests on yoga retreats and local residents,” she said.

While enjoying the live music, you can take advantage of happy hour two-for-one specials on Costa Rican beers (from 7-8 p.m.), or a cocktail or non-alcoholic smoothie from Pranamar’s extensive drinks menu. Every night at the Buddha Eyes Restaurant the menu varies for dinner with different rotating main dishes and appetizers. Mondays, for instance feature freshly-made sushi rolls. Pranamar chefs blend Pacific Rim and Asian cuisine with native Costa Rican fare and Italian touches.

Vitola said the Buddha Eyes Restaurant 

additionally is staging one or two events per month, such as Flamenco nights, live Latin percussion or acoustic guitar. The hotel even offers taxi service for guests to come from other points in Santa Teresa. “We’re very interested in having people come try our restaurant,” she said.

The next upcoming event will celebrate Costa Rica’s national holiday on April 11 of Juan Santamaria Day, for the national hero who helped conquer invading forces in 1856. The hotel will serve traditional Costa Rican dishes and have live typical music in the restaurant. “We want to show our guests about our culture and why we celebrate that day,” said Vitola.

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas and Yoga Retreat

Enjoy lovely, private Costa Rica villas with Bali-style flair right on the beach at this Santa Teresa, Costa Rica hotel. The luxury boutique resort features a magnificent yoga “shala” offering daily yoga classes, regular yoga retreats and yoga vacations. See their weekly yoga class schedule on Facebook.

Article by Shannon Farley

15 years of Costa Rica adventures has been dream come true

When Massi Devoto used to guide small groups around Costa Rica, he noticed that out of all of the experiences the tourists shared, the ones they enjoyed and talked about the most were the simplest. Buying tropical fruits at a roadside stand. Watching a monkey in a tree. Meeting friendly folk in a rural town. Walking through the rainforest.

The realization led him to start his own tour company in 1999 with his associate, Ronald Bottger, with the goal to combine adventure and the natural attractions of Costa Rica with the cultural experience of meeting the friendly, happy people for which the country is well-known. It was a dream come true.

Fifteen years later, Explornatura is one of the top adventure and nature tour companies in Costa Rica.

“We always try to combine adventure with nature and culture,” said Devoto. “We don’t do any adventure that involves motors – no ATVs, etc. We want people to enjoy nature and have contact with the communities where we do our adventures – whether indigenous communities or local Costa Rican populations.”

Based in the rural town of Turrialba, two hours east of San Jose that is named for the Turrialba Volcano, Explornatura focuses mainly on rafting, canyoning, hiking and biking. They also offer horseback riding, a coffee tour and a cultural visit to the Guayabo National Monument archeological site. Their motto is “real adventure accessible to everybody.”

Turrialba is the “whitewater rafting capital” of Costa Rica and some of the country’s best rivers are right in Explornatura’s backyard. The company rafts the traditional 16-mile lower section of the famous Pacuare River – one of the world’s best – but also the lesser-known top section. Additionally, they guide hiking tours to the indigenous communities by the Pacuare River, and can combine rafting and hiking for those interested. Easy family rafting trips are conducted on the Pejibaye River.

Explornatura’s canyoning tour on a private reserve in the Puente Vigas Canyon by Turrialba takes you on an unforgettable adventure. You start by rappelling down the first waterfall, then cross two zip-lines, rappel down a second waterfall, cross two more zip-lines, traverse a 132-foot hanging bridge, rappel a third waterfall, climb up a rock wall, and finish with a rappel down a fourth waterfall.

Explornatura is located in Turrialba, Costa Rica. You can make reservations online, by emailing to puravida@explornatura.com or by calling 1-866-571-2443 (from the U.S. & Canada) or +(506) 2556-0111.

Article by Shannon Farley

Hotel Le Caméléon opens new beachfront club on Caribbean

New beginnings are old hat at upscale Hotel Le Caméléon in Costa Rica, where their motto is “Every day is a new day”.

The Costa Rica boutique hotel on the southern Caribbean Coast, that changes the color of its decor daily like a chameleon, is marking its fifth anniversary year with the opening of its new La Sula Sea Lounge on the beach at Playa Cocles.

A vivacious opening party will be held on Sunday, March 30, from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the La Sula Sea Lounge, across the main road from Hotel Le Caméléon, just south of Puerto Viejo. The event is open to the public to enjoy a beach BBQ, special drinks and soft lounge music by a DJ.

Le Caméléon is the top luxury hotel in the Caribbean region. The hotel fronts Playa Cocles and the dazzling Caribbean Sea – one of the area’s most beautiful beaches, where golden sand lazes between wild rainforest vegetation and crystal clear waters. The main road connecting the vibrant, bohemian beach town of Puerto Viejo Costa Rica south to the Manzanillo wildlife refuge runs between the hotel and the beach.

The posh hotel opened five years ago with great fanfare, heralding a change in tourism on the sleepy backwater coast toward trendy and upscale. “In April 2009, the hotel was inaugurated by former president and Nobel Prize winner, Oscar Arias, while he was in office. Arias came to mark a new era in the region in the infrastructure and image of the province of Limon and the Caribbean,” said Frederic Spahr, general manager of Le Caméléon. “Le Caméléon was the first luxurious hotel to open in the region. Before, Puerto Viejo was mostly for backpackers.”

Over these five years, Spahr and Ben Abdelkader, president of Le Caméléon, have watched the Puerto Viejo region grow into a popular destination for international jetsetters and wealthy weekend travelers from the capital city of San Jose. “There are new high-level restaurants, lounge bars and shops open. There are also more security and a new main police station,” said Spahr.

Le Caméléon strikes an idyllic balance between relaxing seclusion and the area’s vibrant Caribbean culture. Keeping with their name’s theme, the hotel is decked out in stylish white with splashes of tropical colors that change hue every day. Ultra-chic rooms in four categories are tucked in the jungle and gardens or overlooking the pool. Le Numu Restaurant & Bar serves a fantastic fusion of French and Caribbean cuisine. Numu means chameleon in the language of the Bribri, the area’s indigenous people.

The Costa Rica hotel’s remake of its beach club also sticks to the local indigenous culture for its name, La Sula Sea Lounge. Sula is the Bribri good spirit guardian of souls who nurtures new life in the world and represents the feminine.

The new La Sula Sea Lounge facilities feature five shaded, thatched-roof ranchos/palapas, more day beds and lounge chairs, and a full bar and kitchen onsite serving light beach fare and drinks. Each palapa has a different seating experience ranging from lounge-like couches to more traditional dining – of course, all in white with touches of red.

Hotel Le Caméléon is located 3km south of Puerto Viejo on the road toward Manzanillo, across from Playa Cocles. For information and reservations, call 2750-0501 or visit www.lecameleonhotel.com.

Article by Shannon Farley

In Nosara Costa Rica, it’s all about yoga and surfing

Look up anything about Nosara Costa Rica, and you are going to find mention of yoga and surfing. First surfing, and then yoga, has been a magnet for four decades to the quiet stretch of sand, ocean and tropical dry forest on the Pacific’s Nicoya Peninsula.

Starting in the 1970s, pioneering expats from the U.S. began trickling into the beaches of Nosara, most settling in the beautiful, broad horseshoe-shaped bay of Playa Guiones. They came to “get away from it all”, to surf and seek a healthier and more peaceful lifestyle. Yoga was a natural addition, brought in by Don and Amba Stapleton, who founded the internationally-renowned Nosara Yoga Institute (NYI) in 1994 at Playa Guiones.

Playa Guiones has definitely become a yoga-focused community. Shops sell yoga wear and yoga accessories alongside beachwear, surfing gear, and health products. Most people you see around town are fit and athletic-looking from the area’s two top pastimes – yoga and surfing.

“There is energy here for yoga,” said Hilary Schweitzer at the Nosara Yoga Institute. “Nosara is a magical spot. You have the ocean, the jungle … and it’s in the Blue Zone (for long life).”

NYI is celebrating its 20^th anniversary this year. People come from all over the world for the yoga teacher training and yoga classes at this most well-known landmark in Nosara.

NYI recently expanded its hilltop facilities to open their new Yoga Village earlier this year. Trainees in the Institute’s educator classes now have a place to stay onsite, and visitors are able to come to NYI for all-inclusive yoga retreats on self-guided programs.

New facilities include housing for 56 persons in single, double, triple and dorm-style units, a 25-meter pool, mini-waterfalls and man-made streams, and a huge two-story open-air pavilion containing a vegetarian restaurant, juice bar, lounge, gift shop and coin laundry. The Yoga Village is environmentally designed using gray water recycling, solar panel heating, and capturing rain water for the creeks and waterfalls.

The Nosara Yoga Institute is located just before the town center of Playa Guiones. Public yoga classes are given several times daily, and educator trainings are held most of the year.

Renowned for some of the best surfing in Costa Rica and uncrowded beautiful beaches, the Nosara region was named by CNN one of the 11 Places to Go Worldwide in 2014, and National Geographic noted it as a Best Winter Trip of 2014.

Hotels in Playa Guiones, Nosara:

L'acqua Viva Resort & Spa is a 4-star luxury hotel in Costa Rica tucked between the coastal foothills and the beach at Playa Guiones.

 The Bali-style garden resort is located on the main road just off the beach – all hotels and businesses in the area are set back from the beach to preserve the coastline. Accommodations range from Deluxe Rooms to Suites to Villas. L'acqua Viva Resort & Spa is an Enchanting Costa Rica Hotel.

Article by Shannon Farley

Hotel Tropico Latino in Santa Teresa Costa Rica celebrates its 15th anniversary

Reinventing a business is a process not every company takes the time to tackle. It is like soul-searching. Who are we? What are we about? What are we doing and why? And it is the most urgently talked about business concept over the past five years.

After 15 years in business, Hotel Tropico Latino at beautiful Santa Teresa Costa Rica recently engaged in the challenge of redefining and reinventing their image and goals. According to hotel manager Roberto de la Ossa, they now have a stronger sense of self, a clear direction and a concise message of who they are for their guests and their staff.

“It was very enlightening for everyone to be involved in defining who we are. We had meetings with the owners and management, the supervisors and all of the employees. We’re giving our staff a ‘clear North’ of how we want our hotel to be viewed, how to do their jobs, and what our essence is,” explained de la Ossa.

Over the past 15 years, Hotel Tropico Latino has developed organically, growing and changing over time. “We needed to align our image for the staff to be on the same page working toward the same goal, and that our guests understand clearly what Hotel Tropico Latino is about,” remarked de la Ossa. “Our new image reflects our evolution.”

The hotel’s new logo depicts three leaves for natural sustainability and to represent the three areas of business: hospitality, the spa and restaurant. The colors of turquoise, gold and grey stand for respectively the sea and sustainability, amazing golden sunsets, and the earth and returning to one’s roots. An arc linking them embodies the new beginning of a sunrise.

The Hotel

On the blue Pacific Ocean and wide, light sand beach of Playa Carmen at Santa Teresa, Hotel Tropico Latino is a cozy beachfront hotel for travelers who enjoy nature and personalized, high-level service. It is a place to wander barefoot and sway in a hammock. Pressures of time and the outside world soften into beauty, nature, and relaxed comfort.

Hotel Tropico Latino is like entering a secret enchanted garden. Natural pathways meander through the four-acre property under an old forest canopy inviting you to explore. Some lead to beautifully-designed tropical bungalows tucked here and there into the gardens, or to the exquisite natural Spa area. Others lead to the wide beachfront shaded by coconut palms and tropical almond trees, or to the two yoga decks facing the sea.

Shambala Restaurant

Enjoy breakfast, lunch and dinner right in front of the ocean at the Shambala Restaurant. Award-winning Chef Randy Siles’ distinctive “author cuisine” is represented by the restaurant’s new logo of a butterfly with the body of a fork. “The butterfly represents the liberty to know, to experiment and find spaces full of creativity and pleasure. Shambala is a space to feel good, eat healthy and enjoy memorable cooking,” the hotel’s new vision states.

Yoga & Spa Natural

It is impossible to not feel calm and well cared for at Hotel Tropico Latino’s Spa Natural. Their philosophy at the spa by the sea is dedicated to health and well-being, and you feel it with spa products made onsite from natural ingredients, along with two beachfront yoga decks and daily yoga classes.

Hotel Tropico Latino’s renewed concept is summed up in their Mission Statement 2014:

“Tropico Latino is a small, intimate, warm, welcoming and charming hotel located in front of the sea, created with the mission to provide a warm, personalized and safe experience of hospitality, a unique differentiated gastronomy, yoga and spa. We are a beach vacation destination focused on couples, families, surfers, yoga retreats, well-being and health, that allows people to enjoy in a sustainable manner an ambience immersed in the rich nature of the region, without sacrificing comfort, technology and communication. Our infrastructure, personnel and values permit guests to live and remember a unique experience that inspires them to return. We are a sustainable model of profit for our investors and a source of pride for our community.”

Article by Shannon Farley