Puntarenas
Costa
Rica and The Province of Puntarenas
This coastal
area of Costa Rica extends from Puntarenas in the north to Quepos-Manuel
Antonio area in the south and includes expansive, semi-deserted
beaches such as Playa Hermosa and Esterillos known to surfers
around the globe, as well as Jaco Beach, Costa Rica’s most
popular beach resort with both locals and tourists for over 20
years and Herradura beach which is home to the World Class Marriott-Los
Sueños Resort and residential development with its outstanding
marina and golf course.
At the northern
end is the town of Puntarenas with its new Sea Aquarium and a
popular stop for many cruise ships and at the southern end is
the sport fishing town of Quepos and its adjoining neighbor, the
extremely popular Manuel Antonio National Park.
This area
of the country is currently experiencing a building and tourism
boom, especially in and around Jaco beach due to its proximity
to the capital city of San Jose, which is less than 2 hours away
via some very scenic roads. This area will really take off in
the near future (2-3 years) when the long awaited “San Jose-Ciudad
Colon-Orotina-Caldera Highway” is completed which will cut
the driving time in half. The five major bridges on this highway
are now completed and the $150+ million highway construction project
is scheduled to begin construction this year.
The
Carara Biological Reserve and Manuel Antonio National Park make
this a must visit area for tourists year round but there is something
for everyone here. If your idea of paradise is walking down a
deserted, misty beach accompanied only by the sounds of nature
then welcome to the beaches of Hermosa, Esterillos, Bejuco and
Palo Seco. On the other hand if all the luxury and excitement
of a World Class Resort is your cup of tea, then the Marriott-Los
Sueños Resort and Marina with its 5 star accommodations,
luxury condominiums and residences and an outstanding golf course
shared only with an occasional monkey or two awaits your enjoyment.
Looking for
something in between, no problem, this area offers a wide variety
of lodging, entertainment, shops, restaurants and tours ! In between
Jaco and Quepos (about 47 miles) you will pass the town of Parrita,
which along with the surrounding beaches is still relatively undiscovered
by foreign tourists and offers miles and miles of undisturbed
beaches and wetlands. As you drive past you will see miles and
miles of African Palm plantations neatly arranged row after row
and only separated by the occasional company town built around
a town square and with the ever-present company store seemingly
frozen in time.
Several new
bridges have been completed on this road and after crossing the
very last one you will have arrived in the laid back town of Quepos
which still reflects a part of its past. In the 1930’s banana
plantations were established, turning Quepos into a busy shipping
port. In the 1950’s, a banana blight swept throught the plantations
and the Standard Fruit company switched to the African palms we
still see today.
On the Pacific
slope the rainy season begins in May and runs its course until
November. Here again, days often begin sunny and pleasant, with
rains coming later in the day. This is a period in which the trade
winds coming from the north-east are much reduced in intensity,
and as a result storms often come in from the Pacific Ocean in
September and October. In the northern half of the country the
Pacific slope experiences an intense dry season, in which no rain
may fall for several months. The forests of the North-West are
to a large extent deciduous, letting their leaves fall in order
to conserve water. Winds can be very strong, occasionally reaching
speeds of 90 km/hr in the lowlands, although they average more
around 20 km/hr. The whole Central Valley, in which the capital
is situated, experiences a mild, pleasant dry season that is matched
by moderate temperatures for most of the year, and a lower than
average amount of rainfall. Early settlers prized the area for
both its mild climate and fertile soils. The southern half of
the Pacific slope is much wetter than its northern counterpart,
with a shorter dry season and longer and heavier afternoon rains
in the wet season.
In a discussion
of the climate in Costa Rica one cannot omit El Niño, "The
Child". It is a poorly understood weather phenomenon that
occurs every two to seven years. It is originally detectable as
an unusual warming of a section of the Pacific Ocean.
In 1997 El
Niño struck Costa Rica once again, disrupting normal weather
patterns considerably. Some scientists have postulated that this
phenomenon might have been partially responsible for the disappearance
of several species of frogs in the late 80's, which are extremely
dependent on water. Each time it occurs analysts across the world
hold their breaths waiting to see the effects it has on different
regions, because they can often be disastrous.
A
tropical getaway at your pace
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Rica Rentals Contact
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