Check out Costa Rica attractions including top tourist and sightseeing travel attractions such as beaches, volcanoes, rainforests, national parks, adventure activities, wildlife viewing, animals, churches, markets, and culture.

Costa Rica Attractions — Beaches

The best beaches in Costa Rica are as follows:

• Playa Samara: A beautiful white-sand beach that is safe for swimming and has minimal surf and is quite isolated during the off-season.
• Montezuma: Wide sandy clear water beaches are found throughout the area around Montezuma.
• Manuel Antonio: There are three longs strands of beautiful beaches in this park and sun bathing can be combined with animal viewing.
• Playa Nosara: The town of Nosara has three beaches Playa Nosara, Playa Pelada and Playa Guiones. The first is remote, the second and third are white-sand long beaches with excellent surfing waves and miles of forest bordering the sand's edge.
• Playa Carrillo: South of Samara is Playa Carrillo and is a white-sand beach protected by an offshore reef. Further south are more blissful beaches.

The top volcanoes for travelers to visit include:

• Arenal Volcano: An active volcano, hot springs and observatory lodge are the attractions at Arenal.
• Barva Volcano: On the western side of Braulio Carrillo National Park, Barva Volcano offers an enjoyable hike through pasture land to a crater lake.
• Poas Volcano: This is the most developed of Costa Rica's parks and a popular travel attraction, as Poas has a well-developed road. Poas is one of the largest craters in the world and rarely erupts.
• Irazu Volcano: This is an easily accessible park from Cartago. From the summit of Irazu Volcano, on a clear day it is possible to see both the Caribbean and Pacific.

Costa Rica Attractions — National Parks

The top rainforests & national parks to visit are as follows:

• Manuel Antonio National Park: The primary rainforest comes down to the water's edge in this park. Visitors can take a hike on one of the rainforest paths, view wildlife along the way and enjoy a beach at the end of the hike.
• Corcovado National Park: Technically known as a tropical wet forest, Corcovado is inundated with nearly 6m (20 ft) of rain each year. This national park is difficult to access and visitors need to be prepared to make an investment of time and energy. Visitors are rewarded with exceptional wildlife.
• Monteverde Cloud Forest: A misty high-altitude cloud forest, Monteverde is home to a multitude of diverse creatures, birds, butterflies, plants, and mammals. In addition, it has a unique history and culture.
• Chirripo National Park: Cerro Chirripo is Costa Rica's highest peak. This park offers a hike to the summit. The park features three distinct life zones — subalpine rainy paramo, cloud forest and marshy grasses.

Costa Rica Attractions — Activities

Costa Rica offers an abundance of adventure and travel activities:

• Surfing: Costa Rica offers year-round waves and makes it a favorite surfing destination.
• Diving: Costa Rica is good for viewing turtles, sharks, dolphins and whales but isn't a turquoise waters and hard coral destination.
• White water rafting: From Class II to V rapids, Costa Rica has fantastic river running opportunities and there are many adventure tour companies specializing in rafting.
• Canopy Tours: Zip lines offer an adrenaline-filled ride down a hillside where, a cable-and-pulley system, cross trees. More than one-fourth of visitors to Costa Rica participate in this sport.
• Fishing: Sportfishing is popular in Costa Rica and enthusiasts can try fresh water, deep sea or simply cast from the shore. The main attraction is the Pacific sailfish but dorado, marlin and tuna are abundant. Fishing is good year-round in Costa Rica.
• Mountain biking: Numerous less-trafficked roads that wind through scenic mountain areas, as well as rugged trails, can be found in Costa Rica. Some trails lead through volcanic areas.
• Hiking: Costa Rica offers one-day hikes and more-extended trips into national parks, cloud forest reserves and along pretty beaches plentiful.

Costa Rica Attractions — Wildlife Viewing

One of Costa Rica's key travel attractions are the wildlife viewing opportunities:

• Monteverde Cloud Forest: A unique landscape with an abundance of wildlife, Monteverde is a must-see on a visitor's to-do-list. The unique ecology is home to a plethora of animals and insects.
• Tortuguero National Park: The canals of Tortuguero offer some of Costa Rica's best wildlife viewing opportunities. More specifically, turtles nest at this site. Tortuga, the root of Tortuguero, means turtle in Spanish. Leatherback, Green, Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and Hawksbill can be found in this park.
• The Ostional Wildlife Refuge: Created to protect the mass nesting of the Olive Ridley turtle, this refuge includes the beaches of Playa Nosara and Playa Ostional. It is one of the two main nesting grounds in Costa Rica for the Olive Ridley turtle.
• Rainforest Aerial Tram: Adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park, the Rainforest Aerial Tram is a 1.3-km (1 mi) ride through the forest's treetops. The tram is 35m (100 ft) above the forest floor. The opportunity to view one of Costa Rica's famous wildlife increases at this height.

There are some animals in Costa Rica that are extinct or near extinction in other Central American countries.

• Monkeys: Costa Rica has four monkey species — the squirrel, howler, capuchin and spider. These monkeys belong to the family Cebidae. Regrettably, they are endangered.
• Jaguars: A wildlife watcher's dream spotting, this magnificent cat is extremely rare and well camouflaged. The best chances to view it are in Corcovado National Park where its prints and droppings can be found.
• Sea turtles: Sea turtles are highly endangered and Costa Rica is an important nesting ground. There are five species of sea turtles that nest in Costa Rica and several important nesting grounds; one in Tortuguero National Park and the other at The Ostional Wildlife Refuge.
• Quetzal: A legendary bird, the resplendent quetzal is one of the top birds on a bird watcher's must-see list. This bird has a national park named for it and is also viewable at Monteverde Cloud Forest.
• Manatee: Nearly extinct, this friendly 600kg (1,500 lbs) marine mammal still populates the waters of Tortuguero National Park.

Although not as rich in colonial history like other Central American countries, the markets, churches & culture of Costa Rica are unique and exciting. Some of the top spots are as follows:

• Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles: Built in honor of the patron saint, La Negrita, this Byzantine structure dominates the landscape in Cartago.
• Zarcero Church: Located in the highlands, this town's church and garden are a must-see. Local sculptor has trimmed the hedges into beautiful creations.
• Sarchi: Ox carts, market & church: This center has an elaborate tourist market where beautifully pained ox carts are seen and the elaborate paste-colored church highlights Costa Rica's early 20th century prosperity.
• Cathedral de las Mercedes: Made from individual sections of metal that are imported from Belgium in the 1890s, this church in Grecia. Grecia was voted the cleanest town in Latin America.
• Indigenous people: The native cultures of Costa Rica are preserved on 22 reservations but are highly endangered. The descendants of Meso-Americans live in remote areas of Costa Rica mostly in the south.
• Stone spheres: Sitting among the trees of Isla del Cano are stone spheres believed to be a pre-Columbian cemetery of the Boruca people. These stone spheres are found throughout Costa Rica and northern Panama and measure up to 2m (6 ft) in diameter.