Though it lacks the beachside location of other tourist hot spots, Costa Rica’s mountainous northern region is home to a plethora of climates and travel destinations, from mountains and rolling green pasture land to tropical rainforests and lagoons. Visitors to the lowlands will encounter a staggeringly diverse collection of wildlife, and those interested in more extreme adventure will find opportunities for windsurfing, rappelling, spelunking, and white-water rafting. Plus, while areas like Fortuna and Arenal see a huge influx of tourists every year, other parts of the lowlands are surprisingly untouristed, with a rich campesino culture mixed city life in towns like Ciudad Quesada and Los Chiles. A gateway to Nicaragua and both the Atlantic and Caribbean coasts, the lowlands contain some of Costa Rica’s most well-conserved examples of tropical rainforests, cloud forests, and marshlands. You can hike through the pristine jungles of Tirimbina Reserve or La Selva, drift along the swampy mangroves of Refugio Nacional Caño Negro, watch the lava flow on Volcán Arenal, and climb through the winding, bat-filled tunnels of the Venado Caves. Whether in search of extreme sports or a morning of relaxing sportfishing or birdwatching, visitors to the Northern Lowlands can strike a balance between tourism opportunities and authentic rural culture in an area distinguished for the richness and diversity of its natural wonders.
Ciudad Quesad A (San Carlos) Hovering amid the Cordillera Central ’s sloping green hills, Ciudad Quesada (a.k.a. San Carlos) marks the fusion of the campo tico with everyday small-city life. Campesinos ...more
One of the best-kept secrets among Costa Rica’s national parks is also one of its largest. This ironic oversight is partly due to the fact that Parque Nacional Juan Castro Blanco is so young. The 14 ...more
Until recently an undiscovered gem, Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí is rapidly becoming a top destination for nature-lovers and thrill-seekers alike. The Río Sarapiquí, which runs just 200m from the main ...more
This private reserve has offered some of the best ecotourism and demonstrations of sustainable development practices since 1983. Located 15km southwest of Las Horquetas de Sarapiquí and bordering Braulio ...more
In between the bustling metropolis of San José and the muggy rainforests of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí lies the misty mountain village of Vara Blanca. Though transportation to the small town is infrequent ...more
La Fortuna is known principally as the gateway to world-famous Volcán Arenal, which awoke from its 450-year dormancy on July 29, 1968, with eruptions that buried two villages and 87 people. It has been ...more
Rural San Rafael, commonly known as Guatuso (pop. 7000), is the capital of the cantón of Guatuso, called “Llanuras de Guatuso” (“Plains of Guatuso”) for its expansive tropical plains. Two percent ...more
Tourism is still a novelty in Los Chiles, a town 101km north of Ciudad Quesada and 3km south of the Nicaraguan border. Its proximity to the border has shaped the town’s character in conspicuous ways ...more
Where there’s water, there’s life, and Refugio Caño Negro has plenty of both. The refuge gets 3.5m of rain every year, and 85% of its land (100 sq. km) is flooded during the rainy season, from May ...more
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