Located in Central America right between Panama and Nicaragua, the sun kissed country of Costa Rica is surrounded by the North Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea on either side. Though these geographical details can be read up in any high school textbook, this isn’t the only reason why this gorgeous nation draws over a million tourists to it every year. So, if you are planning on traveling to Costa Rica this season, it would be wise to do your homework first and acquire a few basic details and travel information about the country. There are many travel magazines and websites dedicated to educating and providing useful insights to travel enthusiasts about the beauty of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica boasts of a wild yet beautiful wildlife that ranges from crocodiles and sloths to poison-dart frogs and large lizards. You could go on forest treks wherein you’ll get to experience the incredible flora and fauna of this nation. From exotic bird sightings to butterflies and insects hovering all over, visiting Costa Rica is an out of the world experience.

Yes, the country indeed boasts of a fascinating wildlife along with multiple ecosystems that coexist to preserve and maintain the natural reserves. Despite of the political unrest that exists within its neighboring countries, Costa Rica has still maintained absolute peace and harmony with all its neighbors. Throughout its vast and lonely stretch of coastline, tourists can laze on the beaches and soak up the sun or opt for a number of entertaining activities like surfing, snorkeling, swimming and fishing.

Costa Rica is home to a number of rain forests and several active volcanoes. When traveling in Costa Rica, you can choose your preferred mode of transport – right from rental cars to the public transport – traveling within the country is safe. Guides will allow travel freaks to gather enough information pertaining to accommodation and travel agencies. There are many Costa Rica travel packages available today that can help by making your holiday a lot more organized, and more affordable to say the least. To gain an upper edge when traveling within this beautiful country, it would be wise to first collect whatever useful information you can come across before venturing forth.

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SAN CARLOS – After years of sitting lazily on the banks of the Río San Juan, watching the water flow by like a missed opportunity, the Nicaraguan government is finally casting a net into its own waters in an attempt to catch some of the tourism profits that have until now been Costa Rica’s.

“We Nicaraguans are aware of the tourism development that Costa Rica has, and we want those tourists to come to the Río San Juan,” said Francisco Ochomogo, regional coordinator for the Sandinista government’s “Route of Water” tourism development and promotion plan for the San Juan River.

“We don’t want to be egotistical, but we have to say it: ‘We have better things here than in Costa Rica’,” Ochomogo told The Nica Times. “We want people from there to come here. But we are also aware that this should be a shared effort with Costa Rica because we have a common border.”

Since President Daniel Ortega took office in 2007, the Sandinista government has made the 238-kilometer San Juan River, which forms part of Nicaragua’s southern border with Costa Rica, a centerpiece in its program for sustainable tourism.

The government’s Route of Water program, which is operating in conjunction with the dredging operation on the last 22 kilometers of the river, secured a $14.7 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank in 2007 to build tourism infrastructure, provide small business loans, and offer tourism-industry training.

The government also obtained a $90 million loan to build the 120-kilometer Acoyapa-San Carlos Highway, which, when completed next year, will shorten the driving time from Managua to Río San Juan from 12 hours to five.

Though the multifaceted development and river-dredging plan is just getting started, it has already had a dramatic impact on the towns of San Carlos and San Juan de Nicaragua, as well as smaller populations in the riverside communities in between.

“San Carlos used to be a forgotten place, like something out of a novel by Gabriel García Márquez. But it has been improved 100 percent,” said longtime river resident Yaro Ch-Praslin, owner of the nearby Sabalos Lodge.

Ch-Praslin added, “It still needs to be improved another 100 percent, but without a doubt there have been substantial advances made.”

Tourists, though still few in number, have also noted the improvements.

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As a travel planner, I often times hear clients with similar concerns, “how much rain falls in the rainy season” or “I was thinking to come in July but then heard it’s the rainy season so I think I may postpone”. The first thing that always comes to my mind is “not rainy season, Green Season”.

The Green Season in Costa Rica is my favorite time of year and really has a bad reputation that is undeserved. People, who avoid traveling to Costa Rica because of the fear of rain ruining the trip, are missing some of the best times to come and enjoy this magical place.

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EXPOTUR is the industry marketer for the commercialization of tourism in Costa Rica and the regional industry leader for Latin America. This event is held annually by the Costarrican Association of Tourism Professionals. This association groups together more than 1200 distinguished professionals from the tourism sector.

This event has been celebrated without interruption for more than twenty five years promoting Costa Rica and its great variety of offers to the international tourism sector.

Expotour benefits many facets of the industry such as ecotourism, educational tourism, youth tourism, rural tourism, adventure, heath, beauty and relaxation, seniors tourism and tourism conventions and congresses.

The following list shows the success of Costa Rica in its International tourism positioning with impressive designations from World recognized tourism Experts:

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EXPOTUR es la bolsa de comercialización turística de Costa Rica y el encuentro de mayor trayectoria de la industria en la región latinoamericana. Es realizada anualmente por la Asociación Costarricense de Profesionales en Turismo (ACOPROT), Esta organizadora agrupa a más de 1200 destacados profesionales del sector turístico Costarricense.

Este evento se ha celebrado ininterrumpidamente por más de 25 años promoviendo a Costa Rica y sus variados ofrecimientos al sector turístico internacional.

Beneficia a muchas facetas de la industria como, ecoturismo, turismo educativo, turismo juvenil, turismo rural, aventura, belleza salud y relajación, adultos mayores y congresos y convenciones.

La siguiente lista muestra el éxito de Costa Rica en su posicionamiento Internacional turístico con impresionantes designaciones por expertos reconocidos en la materia turística mundial:

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Photo: Safari Surf School

Source: Inside Costa Rica

Safari Surf School, Costa Rica’s premier surfing school and camp, is offering a new “Family Surf & Save” package as well as reduced seasonal summer prices for all visitors beginning May 1 and ending August 31.

While seasonal summer rates already offering significant discounts on single and double occupancy packages, the new special delivers fully customized itineraries that will offer families of four or more a discount of up to 20 percent off normal family rates. That equals a savings of up to $1200 on 7-day family surf packages.

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Source: World Head Quarters

This small Central American country boasts of an amazing 850 species that can be found within its national boundaries.   Read more

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By:Adam Williams

If you don’t have travel reservations for Semana Santa, you’d better act quickly. According to a study by the National Tourism Chamber (CANATUR), hotels, tour operators and car rental companies are expecting an 80.2 percent occupancy rate during Semana Santa, or Easter week, which runs from March 28 through April 4.

Using a survey sample of 61 nationwide tourism companies, CANATUR found that the expected occupancy rate for hotels is 81.9 percent, 70.6 percent for Tour Operators and 93.6 percent car rental companies. Of all reservations, 27.5 percent were made by national tourists.

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By Rikki Dahl

Roller coasters and other such thrill rides are fun, but imagine reaching speed of up to 100 miles per hour on a metal cable, with nothing more then a harness, a helmet… and the air below you.

Around the world, zip lines have become an adrenaline seeker’s favorite, literally allowing you to hurtle through awe-inspiring landscapes at jaw-dropping speeds. In some cases, the mere presence of a zip line can be a decision-maker between two competing travel destinations. Not sure about all this? Strap in and enjoy the ride on these videos, which feature some of best zip lines in the world.

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Costa Rica travel is being stimulated by incentives from hotels and tour companies for the Christmas holidays. That’s great news for travelers who want to stretch their fun budgets to the max. You can stay longer and buy more and it kinda doesn’t come out of your pocket!

One five star resort has offered to reimburse groups of up to six people, four hundred dollars per person for airline costs to attract rental of its townhomes during the holidays. There are many 25 to 50 % off deals at new luxury beach resorts and some tour companies offering up to one thousand dollar savings on complete tour packages.

Costa Rica is an iconic tropical holiday destination, with a satisfying cosmopolitan nature that grows on you quickly. You can find excellent handmade jewelry and gifts, tomorrow’s trends, to take home to loved ones. Hand made Indian crafts made in remote Central American rainforests are a favorite.

So is chocolate, made fresh here by Indians in a variety of concoctions from pepper/lemon chocolate to ginger/mint and coffee combos, all of them addictively delicious. Chocolate covered coffee beans and guava jelly beans by the bag as well as coffee, liqueurs and cigars made in Costa Rica, make friends glow with joy.

But there’s much more. There are books, music, art and fashion, and if you can’t take it by plane you can pop it in the mail or on a ship if you need. Count on plenty of eye candy as you shop, it’s a shopper’s season and beautiful Latinos are out by the thousands and dressed for the occasion.

Relax. Dine in yesteryear elegance and soak in the singular sounds of Tico society. Forbes magazine said Costa Rica ranked the number five cleanest country out of 149 surveyed around the world. Air, water quality and natural vitality were studied by scientists from Columbia and Yale universities. Costa Rica is also the safest Central American country and has recently received awards from the World Travel and Tourism Council as well as the Sustainable Tourism Certification Program.

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