Naturally Costa Rica – Balboa to Puerto Caldera

One of the entrances to the Panama Canal on the Pacific side, the port of Fuerte Amador, founded in 1519, is a short drive from Panama City. In Panama City, the best are found at the market in Balboa.

The Paridas archipelago, an emerald scatter of over 50 uninhabited tropical islands in Panama’s Pacific coast, about 35 miles south of the border with Costa Rica. Many native Panamanians are not even aware of the islands’ existence and this is how the chain came to be known as the “Lost Islands of Barú”.

Shore Excursion Port Tips The former banana-exporting town of Quepos is your basecamp for a day of rainforest adventure. Take a walk along trails that weave up to waterfalls, or ride horseback to a beautiful jungle pool. A float trip through a mangrove swamp populated by monkeys, crocodiles, egrets, and herons is also available. Or you may choose a nature walk through Manuel Antonio National Park, with its lovely beaches, easy trails, and animal life.

Curu Reserve: Spend a morning exploring the Curu National Wildlife Refuge—a private reserve of which two-thirds is preserved as primary forest. The reserve includes 4.5 kilometers of coastline, with tiny coves and three beautiful white-sand beaches. Although it is small, there is an abundance of wildlife to be seen in this reserve—including up to 200 species of birds! There is good swimming and snorkeling close to shore, where lobsters and conches are plentiful. Be on the lookout for capuchin and howler monkeys, as well as sloths and anteaters.

Playa Flamingo is one of Costa Rica’s most popular beaches with fine white sand. It has pristine clear blue waters, lagoons, vegetation and abundance of activities. The Playa Flamingo area offers a wide variety of secluded beaches and lagoons due to the mountain formations reaching into the sea.

Tiny Caldera is situated between the volcanic beaches of Golfo de Nicoya and some of the country’s highest mountain peaks.