Hike, Bike and More! Adventures in Costa Rica
About a quarter of Costa Rica is preserved as a national park.
In this episode, we visit several of the parks to do some hiking, plus spend a couple of days whitewater rafting the Pacuare River near Turialba.
Costa Rica is an adventure lovers paradise! The landscape is exquisite, the friendly locals known as ‘ticos’ are welcoming and the wildlife and abundant flowers are amazing!
Who knew Costa Rica had such tall mountains? In fact, Costa Rica has Central America’s highest mountain, Chirripo, located in Chirripo National Park. Chirripo is over 12,500’ (about 3800 m) high and makes for a beautiful hike through four unique ecosystems.
On our seventeen-day trip, we drove more than I would recommend. I think it’s better to stay in an area for several days so that you really get to know it and so you spend less time traveling. The roads are much improved over my last visit in 2009!
Listen to my stories about my Costa Rica adventure below:
Why Visit Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a stable Central American country that welcomes visitors from around the world.
It is also the adventure capital of Central America! It is a hiker’s paradise, you can raft one of the world’s most beautiful rivers, the Pacuare, you can zip line over tropical jungle canopies, climb volcanoes and so much more!
There are five ecosystems in Costa Rica, from coastal lowlands to tropical rainforests and cloud forests (in fact, you can actually hike ACROSS Costa Rica on their new Camino de Costa Rica, which I did a few years ago (epic!!!).
And since Costa Rica is not that big of a country, you can see the highlights on a typical vacation.
When to Visit Costa Rica
Because Costa Rica is not too far from the equator, you can pretty much visit Costa Rica year ’round, although if you want to go hiking, I would avoid muddy November.
Traditionally, the ‘dry season’ is considered December through April, however the rain pattern can be opposite from one side of the Continental Divide to the other!
You are virtually guaranteed to get some rain at some point on your Costa Rica Camino adventure, but even in the rainy or ‘green’ season’, the rain bursts tend to arrive in the late afternoon, likely after you’ve finished hiking for the day.
What Adventurous Things Can You Do in Costa Rica
A better question is what CAN’T you do! The hiking is AMAZING, however, the hiking trails are often not very well marked, so I recommend hiring a guide, or booking with a quality tour operator like Active Adventures. Another issue : the roads! They are often terrible and full of potholes, so you’ll want someone else to be responsible for the driving and vehicle.
Key Adventures in Costa Rica:
- Hiking, especially Arenal Vocano, La Fortuna waterfall, and Chirripo (if you can get a permit)
- Rafting the Pacuare River
- Zip-lining the Rainforest
- Soaking in hot springs – taking a mud baths
- Kayak Lake Arenal
- Mountain Bike
Rafting the Pacuare River
One of the highlights of my Costa Rica adventure is rafting the Pacuare River! I’ve now done it three times. This stunning river is loaded with Class II and Class IV rapids!
National Geographic named rafting the Pacuare one of the Top Ten day rafting trips in the world! You paddle through rainforests with soaring eagles and giant blue morpho butterflies! Through a stunning canyon that often the guides will let you out of the raft to float, and through the indigenous region of Costa Rica. If you are lucky, you can stay overnight in the jungle!
Pura Vida : The Good Life – motto of Costa Rica
Plan Your Costa Rica Adventure Holiday
As beautiful as Costa Rica is, the infrastructure is not as developed as you are used to, so I recommend that you hire a company to plan and arrange your logistics.
My go to for all my Bucket List trips is Active Adventures (I’ve gone on six of their tours already!).
Active Adventures offers my listeners an exclusive discount!
Email me for the current Active Adventures Promo Code (which is also good for their sister companies: Austin Adventures and Discovery Bicycle Tours!).
The Importance of a Guide in Costa Rica Jungles
On my first two trips to Costa Rica, I was disappointed in how few animals I saw…wasn’t Costa Rica known for it’s beautiful and abundant wildlife???
It turns out that the animals are VERY good at hiding and camoflauge. I hired a guide for my third trip, and low and behold: I was surrounded by colorful frogs! I saw sloths and monkeys!
My eyes wer NOT TRAINED to see them before! It took the guide pointing them out to me, since their eyes are well-trained and they know the habitats (they also communicate with other guides when they find an expecially cool critter in the Manuel Antonio National Park).
It wasn’t long before, I too, could spot one of the many exotic animals in Costa Rica!
Costa Rica Sloth
These VERY slow moving animals are notoriously difficult to find on your own!
Eventually even I could find them in the jungle!
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Do You Have Time for an Extended Hike?
Check out the new 175 mile Costa Rica Camino! The Camino de Costa Rica takes and average of 16 days (although some do it in less). Get complete details HERE.
175 miles – 16 Days
Book your Camino de Costa Rica with UrriTrek (and use my link to save $100!).
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