::Travel Suggestions

Spring Break in Costa Rica
Take advantage of one of a good deal and spend an incredible week in Central America enjoying spring break in Costa Rica!

The incredible palm-lined, sugar-sand beaches of Jaco, Costa Rica, are only the beginning of what this popular destination offers.

Waves here are said to be among the best in the country. And since Jaco was one of the first resort towns developed in this hot spot, the city boasts an abundance of hotels, restaurants, shops, and services.

While surfers naturally choose Jaco for its excellent waves, visitors are also thrilled to find several natural attractions near by, which make for memorable excursions when the call of the surf subsides.

And if sightseeing isn’t enough, other recreational activities abound, including horseback riding, fishing, and kayaking. Visitors often find themselves paddling alongside manta rays or dolphins, and experienced instructors are available to help eager students try their hand at any number of water sports.

Of course, during spring break Jaco heats up, catering especially to the younger crowd. Once the sun sets on the beach, students will find myriad other activities to make spring break 2004 the most memorable vacation of them all.

Starting at under $500, spring break package includes 7 nights lodging, continental breakfast, all hotel and service charges, and roundtrip transfers between the San Jose Airport and the hotel,

 

Costa Rica's Lapa Rios Ecolodge offers Family Vacation Special
Surf, swim, kayak and hike in Costa Rica.

Take advantage of the Lapa Rios Family Package and enjoy the wildlife rich rainforest and sandy beaches of this unique and secluded ecolodge set in a private nature reserve.

A  family package can include deluxe ocean view, meals daily, Puerto Jimenez/Lapa Rios round-trip hotel transfers, visit to the Carbonera School, Family Waterfall and Early Bird hikes, and surfing lessons or ocean kayaking with a guide.

Lapa Rios set in a private nature reserve overlooks the point where the Golfo Dulce meets the wild Pacific coast. Here pristine rain forests and sandy beaches offer a variety of wilderness adventures perfect for families and the 1,000-acre reserve offers a paradise for anyone fascinated with wildlife. Here, howler and white-faced monkeys enliven the surrounding forests and scarlet macaws color the sky.

The ecolodge offers a variety of multi-faceted explorations and activities that allow for nature viewing at its finest. Guided tours offer opportunities to hike up and down through virgin rain forest to pristine waterfalls, splash back along the Carbonera River, share the cool early morning air with the 319 bird species that inhabit the reserve, and surf and kayak among a rainbow of tropical fish.

A special tour takes guests to the local school for a visit with the children for a chance to share and contribute songs, stories, photos and reading.

All guided tours in the Lapa Rios Reserve help to support the ongoing maintenance and pay back the land acquisition of the reserve. By choosing to hike and learn about the area with a knowledgeable local guide, guests can give the community continuing economic support and play a vital role in helping to preserve a rainforest while enjoying all the area has to offer.

Visitors may even contribute to the sustainable development in the Lapa Rios reforestation program by transplanting a primary seedling to an area of second growth.

Accommodations at Lapa Rios include fourteen austerely elegant and spacious bungalows, which open to spectacular ocean views and offer private patios and gardens. Each room has 2 queen size beds lined with mosquito nets, an indoor solar and gas heated shower, a private garden shower, 2 sinks, large closets and a spacious deck with views of the surrounding rainforest canopy.

 

Help Biologists Search for Giant Leatherback Turtles in Costa Rica
Join biologists to study giant leatherback turtles for two nights at Pacuare Reserve in Costa Rica.

Then head to Selva Bananito Reserve for a rainforest adventure. Adventure Life Journeys’ Turtles and Rainforest 8 Day tour is great for families and small groups.

The trip combines 2 nights of research at the most important nesting ground of leatherback turtles in Costa Rica, a day of whitewater rafting and a few days of jungle adventure and relaxing. Groups of no more than 6 guests stay at Pacuare Nature Reserve, helping researchers tag and measure the giant leatherback turtles that nest nearby.

Travelers also help dig up the turtle eggs and rebury them so poachers can’t find the nests.

The journey begins after guests arrive in San Jose and are transported to the Pacuare River for a day of rafting. Here guests will enjoy Class III-IV whitewater as the river plunges through spectacular mountain gorges passing through virgin rainforest filled with howler monkeys, toucans, sloths, and ocelots.

After the excursion guests will dine by candlelight in the Pacuare Nature Reserve against the backdrop of the Caribbean Sea and join biologists to search for leatherback turtles in the evening or relax on a breezy beach house porch.

In Pacuare the emphasis is on research and study of the leatherback turtles. Here guests may wander along the deserted beach and study the tracks left by the leatherback turtles, take an afternoon boat trip through the adjacent canals and into the reserve’s primary rainforest and in the evening accompany one of the biologists on their turtle rounds.

During nesting season guests will have the opportunity to assist researchers with many tasks from locating nests and measuring and tagging turtles to helping with digging up and reburying eggs to thwart the efforts of poachers. Later in the season guests may observe dozens and sometimes hundreds of baby leatherbacks scratching and making their way to the surf and may be invited to help play midwife to these baby turtles trapped below hatchlings at the top of the nest.

While the leatherbacks are hatching, 250 pound green turtles come to these same beaches to lay their eggs, and visitors will assist researchers in searching, measuring, tagging, and hiding the nests of these endangered turtles too.

During the next leg of the journey guests will visit Selva Bananito Reserve for a few days of jungle discovery and adventure. Bordering Costa Rica’s largest and most pristine nature reserve, Selva Bananito is part of the same rich ecosystem as the 1.5 million acre La Amistad International Peace Park. Here visitors may opt to horseback ride and hike along nature trails or climb a giant kapok tree to enter the fascinating world of the rainforest canopy.

The more adventurous may take an all day excursion deep into the jungle where a dip in a pool below a 70-foot waterfall is the just reward for the effort. At the end of each day, locally grown food is served by candlelight before guests retire to the tranquil retreat of a jungle cabana.


To find out more about offerings contact them travel@insidecostarica.com

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