Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [389]
Resist the temptation to collect corals or shells from underwater sites.
Ensure that you take home all your rubbish and any litter you may find as well. Plastics in particular are a serious threat to marine life.
Minimize your disturbance of marine animals, and please don’t feed the fish.
No amphibians have been reported on the island, though both species of lizards are endemic. Pigs, deer, cats and rats inhabit the island, though humans introduced these mammals long ago, and they are currently the focus of a pest-control campaign aimed at preserving the original ecosystem.
The island’s marine life is equally varied, with 18 species of coral, 57 types of crustacean and tropical fish in abundance, not to mention visiting pelagics such as sea turtles, manta rays, dolphins and sharks. The scalloped hammerhead shark receives top billing, especially since it often schools in the hundreds.
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Tours
Even if you’re normally a fiercely independent traveler, Cocos is one destination where you will have to join up with an organized tour. If it is within your financial means, you may be tempted to visit here on a private sailing vessel, though you’ll have an easier time getting the government to grant you access to the island’s interior if you join a tour.
Two liveabord dive operators, both of which dock their vessels in Puntarenas, offer guided excursions to the island. Diving and food are included in the tour prices listed below, but daily park fees are not.
Okeanos Aggressor (in USA 866-653-2667; www.aggressor.com/subpage10.php) Offers eight-/10-day land and sea expeditions with room for 22 from US$3335/3735 per person.
Undersea Hunter (2228-6613, in USA 800-203-2120; www.underseahunter.com) Offers 10-/12-day land and sea expeditions with room for 14 to 18 people from US$4750/5150 per person.
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Sleeping
While visitors are permitted to make landfall on Cocos during the day, you must return to the boat at night to sleep.
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Getting There & Away
With advanced reservations, both of the tour companies listed above will arrange transfers from either San José or Liberia to Puntarenas, which is the embarkation/disembarkation point for the tour.
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Costa Rica Outdoors
* * *
HIKING & TREKKING
WILDLIFE- & BIRD-WATCHING
SURFING
WHITE-WATER RAFTING & KAYAKING
DIVING & SNORKELING
FISHING
* * *
Lazy strolls along the beach or more active pursuits – in Costa Rica, the choice is yours.
MARK NEWMAN
Exploring the páramo (scrubby trees and grasslands) of Parque Nacional Chirripó (Click here).
LUKE HUNTER
Costa Rica’s lofty tally of national parks and reserves provides an incredible stage for lovers of the outdoors. Natural spaces are so entwined with Costa Rica’s ecofriendly image that it’s difficult to envisage the country without them. Since the designation of the Reserva Natural Absoluta Cabo Blanco in 1963, Costa Rica has lured countless travelers in search of the pristine.
Despite all of the high-octane activities on offer, casual hiking and more intense trekking remain two of the country’s most enduring outdoor activities. For the vast majority of travelers, Costa Rica equates with rainforest, and you’re certain to encounter charismatic wildlife including primates, birdlife and butterflies galore. As first-time visitors quickly discover, no two rainforests are created equal, providing a constantly shifting palette of nature.
Of course, if you want to experience all that this country has to offer, you’re going to have to get wet. Costa Rica proudly boasts some of the world’s finest surfing, white-water rafting and kayaking. If thrills and spills aren’t exactly your thing, fret not as you can always don a mask, fins and snorkel, or alternatively