5 best trekking trails of CR

 

 

5 best trekking trails of CR

Ruta Mae

Ruta Manuel Antonio Extreme, it’s a Mountain Trail between Quepos Marina Pez Vela and Playa Biezans, this hike will take you to several hidden beaches along the way, visiting playa la Macha(blonde´s beach), playa la Vaca (Cows beach),playa Tulemar, playa Karolas to end at playa Biezans . The first part between Quepos and playa Tulemar is more like a trekking trail that will bring you thought a wonderful forest along the coast, is a magnificent place to contemplate animal on its habitat, hear the birds and discover new paradise beaches and lookout places perfect for the photography lovers. This is a magic hike, surround for the wonders of the Costa Rican Forest. After Tulemar, the trail is easier perfect for family rides and beginners’ hikers. Still a perfect trails nature lover´s.

Manuel Antonio National Park Hike

This is an easy Two-Mile looped hike through the Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the greatest short hikes on the pacific side of Costa Rica. The trail will take you through a rainforest full of monkey´s, toucan’s, sloths and much more wildlife, on this trail you can also visit playa Espadilla South, Manuel Antonio beach and hidden beach, three of the most beautiful places in the world, swim on it´s warm ocean water and let your senses get full of the beauty that surround you.

Curú Wildlife Refuge Hike

The Curú Wildlife Refuge is located on the southern coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. It is a small wildlife refuge but is full of great and fun hiking trails that will take you through different habitats: tropical dry forest, tropical wet forest, mangrove forest, marine/coastal, and farmland. This place is known as a meeting place for several migratory birds and other animals and one of the few places where you can see the metical Spider monkey. Is a long hike and it´s recommended to do it with a local guide and start early.

Cerro Chirripó Grande Hike

Cerro Chirripó Grande is the highest mountain peak in Costa Rica, it is one of the most challenging hikes in Costa Rica with about nine-miles hike from San Gerardo de Rivas Town at 2800 feet above sea level to Base Crestones (Base Camp) at 11000 feel above sea level, were you rest the first day to get ready to make summit the next night, As Costa Rica is a very vertical country the best way to enjoy the summit is to wake up at 3am get ready and make summit (about two hours hike from base Crestones) just before sunrise, if the weather is good you will be able to see the Pacific and the Caribbean oceans at the same time. Its prohibited to camping on the park, but you can reserve a space at Base Crestones with a local agency.

Corcovado National Park

The Corcovado National Park located on the Osa Peninsula has been labeled by National Geographic as one of the most biological intense places on earth, this Pacific coast national park is home for the most amazing animals like Jaguars, Tapirs, Macaws, monkeys, sloths, and so much more. There are many different hiking trails and entry points into the park. You can choose from a several hour hike to a several days adventure, but you most have a professional guide with you. You can get you guide close to the park.

 

Top 5 beaches in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica

Top 5 beaches in the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica

 

Costa Rica is a small country in the middle of central America, with only 52.000 square milles it has 631 milles of pacific coast and 131 miles on the Caribbean side. Along the coast of Costa Rica, the tourist can find multitudes beaches, all very different from one another, they offer multiple options as white sand, black sand, shells, forest, palms, monkeys, birds, sloths and warm ocean.

Because of this, Costa Rica has become a top 10 vacations destination, having one of the top 5 beaches in the world, Manuel Antonio. Our first beach on the list, but we will explore all top 10 beast beaches in Costa Rica.

 

#1 Manuel Antonio

Located in the middle of the pacific coast of Costa Rica , is considered one of the top 5 most amazing beach on the planet, not only for the beach itself, also for his national park located on the Beach where visitor will be able to see all kinds of monkeys like the white face or Capuchino Monkey, the Titi Monkey , and the mighty Howler Monkey which can be heard 2 milles away, sloths , Tapirs, Iguanas. Etc. Also Manuel Antonio is a place of rest for the Humpback Whale on his migration journey and is possible to see them between the months of July to November and from January to April.

To put a cherry on the cake, Manuel Antonio offer multiple accommodation choices for all different budgets, multiple restaurants and tours on the area to complement your vacations with adventures like Zip Lines or Rafting tours.

Manuel Antonio has been developed for Family tourist and honeymooners, is very typical to see wedding happening at the sunset were the newly weds take advantage of the most amazing twilights to immortalize his special day.

The slogan of this place is “Still more monkeys than people”

 

#2 Santa Teresa

Sitting on the western edge of Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa is a small beach town that attracts a lot of surfers. Its Ranked as the 3rd best beach in central America.

In Recent Years, this quiet town has become a booming tourist destination.

Despites its size, Santa Teresa has been hailed as world class surfing in Costa Rica – with beautiful white sand beaches and waves that put a smile on the faces of surfers throughout the year.

You can also find hiking trails, zip lines, horseback ridding tours on the area.

 

#3 Tamarindo
This beach born as a small surfers town as it has become in a small city on the beach, the economy on the area has been impulse to create a great place for shopping from surf shops to art galleries,  this town has grow in a multicultural population that give a special mix of European – American style that you can feel in every aspect, food, hotels, shops and architecture.

This beach city is the focal point of the area, but you can drive in less that one hour to many beaches near by like Avellanas, Playa negra, Playa Grande, Conchal etc.

 

#4 Avellanas

This is almost a hidden beach but is famous for its perfect word class waves year around, this under-industrialized place is abundant in vegetation around the beach and offers white sand and turquoise waters.

Around the area you can find some hotels and a couple of bars to hang out after the surfing session.

If you visit Avellanas, probably you will meet “Lola” a 200 pounds pig, a local celebrity, who wanders around the beach casually to enjoy the sun and sand. Due to its isolated nature, Playa Avellanas is a quiet place to enjoy a good book or quiet nap. It is also a great place to enjoy a picnic, where you can refuel before hitting the waves in the afternoon.

#5 Dominical

Dominical has always been famous for its surfing, but in the past the road to get there was really bad, not until recent the government finish the pacific coast Highway that this place became more accessible and more popular, Dominical has all the accommodations you need to have a special vacations in CR, and is surrounded by nearby waterfalls and other beaches to visit like Playa Ventana’s and the National Park Ballena where you can see the shape of the wale tail on the beach.  This is a new developing area of Costa Rica and offers everything your senses need to be happy and refresh you spirit.

SEA KAYAK HISTORY & LIFE

Sea Kayak Life

Manuel Antonio, Quepos, Costa Rica

The kayak was invented by the Eskimos, mainly the Inuit tribe of Northern Canada, who called it QAYAQ, but were also used by the Aleutian tribes, Norses of Greenland and Iceland, Lapones of northern Europe and the Koryak and Chukchi tribes of the Siberia, these first boats were built with the skin of seals and used for hunting and fishing in the frozen seas, becoming the main means of feeding for the tribes of the north end of the planet, as the years go by, this activity is It has become one of the most demanded sports worldwide, the practice of kayaking or boating can be done in many ways, from adrenaline-filled rapids to ocean voyages commonly known as Sea Kayak, provided with adequate safety equipment, it can become one of the activities of greatest benefit to our bodies; Rowing alone constitutes a direct connection between the body and the soul, by the combination of exercise and enjoyment of the places that can only be reached by means of a kayak. The word Kayak in Inuit language means “Boat-of-man” or “clothes to walk in the water”, as it was built to suit the rower. The Inuit tribe did not allow the young people to use the kayaks until they reached their age of majority, in this celebration the young man’s family built his own kayak, which he would use in his adult stage to feed his family. The oldest kayak is in the ethnological museum in Munich and is 4000 years old.

 

The Sea Kayak or Canoa de Mar, called the Umiak by the Eskimos, was an open boat where they transported their families, hunting and fishing products, its meaning is “boat-of-woman”. The covered terrace of the sea kayak made him more able to maneuver on the waves. The Umiak and the Qayaq coexisted for the search of useful niches for the transport of people and merchandise to the seasonal hunting grounds, as well as for whaling expeditions. By their forms, the Kayak of Cruise, perhaps sen the current models that more remember the Umiak Eskimos. Its characteristic feature was its bow and stern slightly elevated and very rounded profile that allows them to undertake the waves with better results. They were long kayaks, capable of covering great distances. The sea kayaking trips give us a closeness with the ocean that other boats do not provide, when we paddle in the ocean our body through the hands experience a connection with the water, we fill our lungs with the purifying salty air and we contemplate, Enjoy and harmonize with the scenarios that the ocean coasts offer us as a canvas for our adventure.

 

Rowing over the ocean gives us the opportunity to feel a very special mixture of peace as we glide over the water, observe the birds that fly with an unequaled peace, feel the ocean breeze on our face, the peace of the silence of the ocean and the mantra created by the waves when bursting against the cliffs generate a unique feeling that manages to connect us with mother nature and its wonderful effects on our daily lives, people who practice Kayak sports agree on the cleanliness of spirit and renewal of positive energies that They experience every time they practice any rowing sport. The River, Seas, Lakes, Mangroves, contain the magic of life, it was in these environments that life on earth was generated and continues to generate, Water is the largest source of life on the planet, as well as the largest source of unlimited flowing energy, all you need to get it is to take an oar, a kayak, a life jacket and get ready to share with the universe the best element created by nature, H2O = Water, Water + good attitude = Pura Vida

 

Luis Lamicq

H2O Adventure