Best Hotels & Lodging In Limn Costa Rica
Home to 60,000 people, Limón is the largest town on the Caribbean coast. A century ago it was a charming port town, shipping bananas and coffee to the U.S. and Europe. Although the nearby port of Moín continues to ship fresh fruit abroad, in recent years downtown Limon has fallen on hard times. The city center is gritty and run-down, and crime is a persistent problem. As a result, most visitors avoid Limón in favor of more beautiful destinations. These days the top reason to visit Limon is to check out the towns annual Carnaval celebration, which coincides with Columbus Day on October 12. Its a week-long celebration featuring music, dancing and parades spiced up with lots of Afro-Caribbean culture, particularly reggae and Calypso Limónense.
Puerto Viejo & Cahuita
In southern Limon, you can find plenty of inexpensive hotels, resorts and cabins in the towns of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Cahuita. For more luxurious accommodations go east along the coast to come across a number of first rate hotels, cabinas, inns, villas, bungalows and lodges for rent. A few miles south of Puerto Viejo is the idyllic town of Manzanillo offering the ultimate getaway for those looking to escape more touristy locations. Meanwhile, the vacation rentals in Southern Limon are usually located along the seashore.
There are no golf resorts in Limon at the moment, however, the beach properties in the southern end of the province are in high demand, which means sooner or later you will find a golf resort out here. If you are looking to play a game of golf, your best bet is to enjoy the wonderful golf courses in San Jose, Heredia and North Puntarenas. Out here, swimming, snorkeling and diving are the most popular activities, along with enjoying the wonderful natural beauty to be found all around.
Six Outdoorsy Things To Do In Limn Costa Rica
Photo: Joseph Jacobs/Shutterstock
Theres a lot of history in Limón, and you dont want to overlook it. Visiting an indigenous community and learning about their sacred plants is a must-do in the region. The BriBri community lies in the foothills of the Talamanca Mountains and dates to pre-Columbian Costa Rica. Today, visiting their community is a complete sensory experience, with the scent of chocolate in the air.
At the Watsi reservation near Limón, Costa Rica, generations of BriBri live together, sustaining their livelihoods solely off of the cacao plant. The visitor experience begins with a medicinal plant tour through their garden, where every plant grown is used either in sacred ceremonies or for cooking and crafting. Tree fibers become necklaces and whistling instruments, and the palmito plant is mixed with coffee and boiled to make a snack most often paired with coffee. When someone dies in the BriBri culture, the Palmito plant is eaten during the ceremony without any salt. They believe that salt came to their land with colonization, so eating it in a traditional way is a small way to reject the influence of the Spanish.
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Places To Avoid In Costa Rica
If you are researching the best places to live in Costa Rica, with just a few keystrokes of an online search youll be presented with hundreds of suggestions. But on the flip side, there is not much warning about places to avoid. General safety? Yes. But you will find few suggestions of places not to live or even visit. It is time to fill that avoidance void.
Just like in nearly every country, there are regions, cities, or neighborhoods of which you want to steer clear. Most of the places I will cover in this article should be avoided based primarily on personal safety. For example, if humanitarian organizations have that particular location on their volunteer warning list, you are not going to want to go there. But there are also other reasons. Some places are simply not expat-friendly. They may lack the housing and amenities foreigners are seeking, or may not offer a social circle of any English-speakers, or it may just be a place lacking in beauty, often due to poverty. Yes, even in the stunningly beautiful country of Costa Rica there are some less-than-spectacular places.
How To Find Cheap Flights To Limon Airport
Looking for cheap tickets to Limon airport? Whether you are looking to find one-way or return flights, here are a few tips on how to score the best price and make your journey as smooth as possible.
- Simply hit ‘search’. We’ve compared plane tickets from all major online travel agents and airlines flying to Limon airport to find the cheapest flights. And with us there are no hidden charges – what you see is what you pay.
- Flex your dates to secure the best fare for your Limon airport flight. If your travel dates are flexible, use Skyscanner’s ‘Whole month’ tool to find the cheapest month, and even day to fly to Limon airport from your chosen departure location.
- Set up a Price Alert. You can easily track the price of your flights to Limon airport by creating an alert. Whenever prices go down or up, you’ll get a push notification or e-mail to help you get the best flight deal.
- Look for direct flights. Only interested in direct flights to Limon airport? Make sure to tick ‘Direct flights only’ when performing a search. If there are direct LIO flights available, these will appear in the results.
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Torteguero A Beautiful And Scenic Place To Check Out In Costa Rica
- The Costa Rican version of the Amazon rainforest.
- This is a massive area that dominates the northern coast and offers a huge range of animal encounters.
Why its so awesome: When youre visiting this country, you absolutely must have as many animal encounters as possible and this is one of the best places in Costa Rica to do that. It stretches across a massive area and includes rivers and canals that crisscross the dense jungle. Its also a known turtle nesting area, so if youre there in the right season then make sure you check out this amazing sight!
What to do there: This area includes the Tortuguero National Park, which is one of the most well-known hotspots in Costa Rica for animals. If youre in the area between April and May, make sure you visit the turtle nesting areas to experience this amazing spectacle. But even if you visit at other times of the year, you can also go hiking, take a canal cruise, or look for the other animals that live in this remarkable area.
Short on time and want to see as much as possible? Check out our sample itinerary for Costa Rica before visiting!
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Tortuguero Canal National Park
The Tortuguero Canal National Park is the third most visited park in Costa Rica. The park has a large variety of biological diversity due to the existence within the reserve of eleven different habitats. You will see a lot in this park, including rainforests, mangrove forests, swamps, beaches and lagoons.
We hopped in a boat and headed down the canals to get to the wildlife. The local inhabitants around the park are only permitted to collect forest products to supplement their income and domestic use. Fishing and tourism are major activities. Regulated guidance to visitors to access creeks, lakes, nature trails, and watching wildlife.
You will see Sloths, Crocodiles, Birds, and Iguanas in the canals. We could hear the monkeys but never saw them on the canals. We did see the monkeys from the side of the road on our way there. Watch our video showing our canal tour through the jungle.
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G & E Chocolate Adventure Company
Once we left the tour we were dropped off back at the port so we could walk around and see the shops. Before we left the tour guide gave us a coupon for a free cup of coffee. We grabbed our coffee at G & E Chocolate Adventure Company and tried the new cacao lotions and oil they had for sale.
I was able to speak with the owner and he has huge plans for his storefront. He took us upstairs and offered to show us around and explain his plans for a gathering spot with a library, local art, bar and seating.
You will also be able to take tours and learn all about the processing of the cacao beans.
Best Hostel In Playa Guiones Nosara Beach Hostel
Nosara Beach Hostel provides guests with a social and friendly atmosphere in a prime location. The hostel is surrounded by wide corridors leading to a garden, where you can find comfortable hammocks along with ping pong and foosball tables. You will love its easy access to Ostional Wildlife Refuge, here you can learn about the protection of local turtles.
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Popular Destinations In Limn
Perhaps the most popular destination in Limón is Puerto Viejo , which is known for its easy-going, beach-based tourism. It is home to the famously long surf break, Salsa Brava as well as lots of internationally inspired Caribbean fusion restaurants. Surfboards and laid-back partying are the two main activities in the center of town. Renting bikes is one of the most common forms of transportation, and its very inexpensive.
Just north of Puerto Viejo is the somewhat more traditional small town of Cahuita, which is home to Cahuita National Park, a protected area that extends along the coastline with sandy trails and exclusive beach access.
South of Puerto Viejo is the beachfront strip of town known as Manzanillo, which is protected along with the jungle and ocean that surround it as part of the Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Gandoca-Manzanillo. In between Cahuita to the north and Manzanillo to the south, there are a number of Caribbean-inspired restaurants, bungalow-style hotels, sloth and wildlife refuges, and, of course, palm-tree lined beaches.
Another fabulous destination is the laid back coastal village of Punta Uva.
Best Bed & Breakfast In Nosara Town & Hilltops Nosara Sunrise B& b
Nosara Sunrise is a beautiful B& B located in the heart of Nosara. Only a short drive away from two of the areas best beaches Guiones and Pelada Beach. It has a rustic style, featuring wooden furniture, open terraces with wooden-beamed ceilings, and a pristine outdoor pool that is magically lit at night.
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Explore Cahuita National Park
When visiting Costa Rica, spending time in nature is a must! A hike in Cahuita National Park will show you some of the best of the wildlife that Costa Rica has to offer. Spot monkeys in the trees, snakes, and lots of rare birds.
Cahuita National Park is located just south of Cahuita town around 45 minutes south of Puerto Limón. The park is open every day from 8 am to 4 and the park asks for a $5 entrance donation per person to keep the park beautiful and preserved.
Exploring Cahuita is done by walking the 5 miles hiking trail through the park. Visitors can walk as far as they want before turning around. Along the trail, there are stunning beaches to explore as well as lots of wildlife. One of the main attractions of the park, and the reason it was created in the first place, is the snorkeling on the reef. With that said, the reef was damaged during an earthquake in 1991 which lifted the seabed 10 feet You need to book a tour in order to snorkel the reef as a permit is now required.
While you can visit and explore this park on your own, there are multiple guided tours you can choose from to have a more in-depth experience. This tour will give you an amazing wildlife experience along with the fauna of the park. It includes transportation to and from your hotel and even snacks!
If you have your own transportation and can meet the guide at the entrance, this tour is an excellent walking tour of the park.
Limon Hotels Offer Everything You Need
Limon offers a variety of hotels for your stay, no matter if you are a budget traveler or have unlimited funds. You can easily find hotels that are a skip away from white sand beaches and a short distance from national parks that offer a close-up look at the amazing Costa Rica habitat.
If you are looking for an eco-tourism destination, Limon should definitely be a contender. In the beaches and national parks, visitors can hike, canoe, swim, surf, bird watch and even visit reserves where the inhabitants lifestyle is still traditional. You can also check out Barra del Colorado National Refuge, the Cahuita National Park and the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge some of these parks even offer their own accommodations.
Many towns on the province offer affordable accommodations. Tortuguero is a great place to stay, as it offers lodges, Bed & Breakfast’s, and all-inclusive resorts. Hotels here are often described as being a remote, peaceful slice of paradise. You can find cheap, shared living for a tight budget, or you can pay $100 or more a night to have your own private room. Dont forget to visit the Tortuguero National Park and look for accommodations next to the park that put you right where you want to be for exploring all the animals and forests.
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Go On A Guided Night Tour
There is so much to see in Limóneven at night! There are amazing species of wildlife that only come out at night in the rainforests. Frogs, insects, and even big cats can be seen during a night tour.
This guided tour is a great option for a night tour leaving from Limón. Any night tours should be done with a guide to make sure you stay safe and avoid getting lost in the rainforests!
Limon Surfing In The Caribbean Water Of Costa Rica
Limon is a doorway to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. The hip, bohemian culture of Costa Rica gets even more intense on the Caribbean region. Splashes of brilliant colors and a whimsical culture combine well with the regions mysterious aura, imaginary hidden treasures and pirates.The capital of the Caribbean coast, Limon features six counties, which include Pococí, Guácimo, Siquirres, Matina, Puerto Limón, and Talamanca. Puerto Limon, founded in 1870, is a capital city of the province of Limon, and also a largest city of the region with a population of 85,000 people. The people are mostly of Afro-Caribbean ancestry. Limon acts as a main port from where cruise ships travel to from Panama Canal. The waterfront city has been hit by many earthquakes rendering it rundown. Still, the city is bustling with colorful outdoor markets, captivating olden architecture, a charming city hall and a number of quaint museums.
Puerto Limon is easily accessible. From San Jose, there is a direct highway that leads to the citys coast. The journey is about 2.5 hours long if you are traveling by your own car. Limon is situated on a rocky cape which means the town does not have a proper beach, but about 4 km away Playa Bonita is present which is nice enough for picnics and frolicking in the waves. Although the town is not exactly tourist oriented, the city has a unique appeal.
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Witchs Rock An Unknown Place To See In Costa Rica
- A rock called Roca Bruja was hurled into the water by a volcano at this spot and has created some of the best surfing in the world.
- No matter how good you are on a board, the waves here are suitable for almost every level.
Why its so awesome: If you enjoy surfing, then you should try it in this area. Located just off Playa Naranjo and close to surf Mecca Tamarindo, this area was made famous in the surf film The Endless Summer II and for good reason. The rock is positioned perfectly to create world-class waves that are suitable for almost every surfer, and as an added bonus its also away from the crowds at better-known surf spots!
What to do there: You can paddle out to the break but its easier if you take a boat out there. This is the perfect place to visit in Costa Rica to go surfing no matter how good you are on the board, so just show up and work on your skills!
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Playa Pelada Coolest Area To Stay In Nosara
Neighbor to the popular area Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada is becoming the new hip place to be in Nosara. Home to a great selection of trendy restaurants, and just a short walk to one of the best beaches, it is no surprise Playa Pelada is increasing in popularity.
Luckily for visitors, prices tend to be considerably less expensive than its popular counterpart Playa Guione, due to its quieter representation, and smaller selection of activities.
Playa Pelada has gained itself a strong expat community with lots of full-time residents. Despite its long-time visitors, the area is full of awesome accommodation options. If you are looking for where to stay in Nosara for a bit of fun on a budget, this is where to be.
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