Our Costa Rica Top 10

There are lots of amazing break on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. For us the challenge is finding relatively safe and uncrowded intermediate breaks and beautiful backdrops. With a bit of luck and persistence we found what we were looking for including Playa Estrillos, an uncrowded black sand beach with a big but forgiving beach break to the south of Jaco to the reef breaks near Matapalo on the tip of the Osa Peninsula.

Golfo Dulce was one of only two tropical fjords in the world as well as one of only two places in the world with resident dolphins superpods. Despite this fact few people spend much time in the Golfo Dulce, chosing instead to speed past it on their way to Corcovado National Park. But we spent days there and loved it. In addition to going out on the water to see dolphins (year round) or calving whales (best in September), don’t miss the opportunity to kayak through the mangroves.

This is the first cloud forest we went to and we liked it alot (although not as much as Los Quetzales National Park). It’s a great place to go if you want to hike through the forest and pursue a range of “adventures” in private reserves, including canopy tours, canyoneering and hikes over hanging bridges.

As described in our trip report, in our opinion Los Quetzales is even better than the Tilarán Mountains for exploring the cloud forest. But Los Quetzales National also includes 14 other ecosystems, including 3 different types of rainforests. We’d recommend using San Gerardo de Dota as a base (although it’s really the only option).

5. Visiting Santa Maria de Dota – Dota is a beautiful region and home to Costa Rica’s best coffee. It’s also home to the Coopedota where you can take a coffee tour and and even learn how to make coffee drinks like a proper barista (highly recommended if you are coffee snobs like us). Santa Maria de Dota is an authentic, off the beaten path Tico town. If you have the time, visiting San Jose de Dota and Santa Maria de Dota is a great combo.

Mangrove forests are amazing habitats for all sorts of birds and animals. There are numerous places to do this in Costa Rica. We did it on the Pacific coast with the Rafiki Beach Camp and on the Golfo Dulce by ourselves. If possible, try to find a primary Mangrove forest or, even better, a primary old growth Mangrove forest to explore (old growth forests are those that have not been altered by humans, e.g., logged).

There are many amazing rainforests in Costa Rica, including the rainforest surrounding the Rafiki River Lodge (and the nearby campground) and the many rainforests on the Osa Peninsula including Corcovado National Park. If you want to visit Corcovado, I’d avoid it during the busiest months of the high season.