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Costa Rica Puntarenas Hotels |
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Description:
Puntarenas is the province with the largest Coast Line, most Beaches, most vacation hotels and resorts on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Located about 110 km West of San José, in the nearer past it was the main destination of the people from Costa Rica's Capital San José to enjoy a few days at the long sandy beach.
Puntarenas is situated at the end of a sandy peninsula ( 8 km long but only 100 m to 600 m wide). The Capital of the Province has the same name is also the biggest coastal town of Costa Rica about 50,000 habitants. During the 19th century the access to the Caribic Coast from San José was very difficult. At that time Oxcarts took the long and dangerous journey to the Main Port Town called Puntarenas. The goods, mostly Coffee had to take a long trip around the Horn to Europe.
In 1981 a big port was opened at Puerto Caldera, about 18 km southeast of Puntarenas, and the town turned to its current means of economic survival: tourism.
You can stroll along the beach or the aptly named Paseo de los turistas, stretching along the southern edge of town. Cruise ships make day visits to the eastern end of this road, and a variety of souvenirs stalls and sodas are there to greet passengers. During the wet months, the city is much quieter.
The city has 60 streets running north to south but only five avenues running west to east at its widest point.
There are several bigger hotels available in Puntarenas City, some small Cabins and Villas along the Coast and a larger All Inclusive Deluxe Resorts.
Generally the Pacific Coast, with exception of the southern end, is more developed for tourism than the Caribbean Coast. If you are looking for luxury beach and resort accommodations, golf courses and high end residential areas and condominiums, the Pacific Coast of Puntarenas and Guanacaste are the places to look for it.
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Wheather: Being Costa Rica's largest province (11,277 sq. km.), Puntarenas includes practically all of the climate regimes found in this small, but tremendously varied, country. From tropical dry forest to rain forest, and from mangrove swamp to cloud forest to subalpine paramo, this sprawling province contains at least a little bit of everything.
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Atractions: There are many other popular Vacation Spots in the Province of Puntarenas and its Pacific Coast. These well-developed places include Swimming, Horseback riding, Sport fishing, Golfing, Boating, Sailing, Water sports and Surfing. Beach Resort towns, like Montezuma, Mal País, Playa Tambor, Herradura, Jacó, Quepos, Manuel Antonio with its world famous Manuel Antonio National Park offer a great variety of Hotel Accommodations, sports, tours and activities. There are also miles of undeveloped stretches of beautiful beaches, Biological Reserves and National Marine Parks.
Puntarenas is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the western part of the country, covering most of Costa Rica's Pacific Ocean coast.
The province covers an area of 11,266 km², and has a population of 357,483 (2000). It is subdivided into 11 cantons. For administrative purposes, the island Isla del Coco, 500 km offshore in the Pacific Ocean, is considered a part of this province.
The principal attractions are on the Pacific coast itself. The islands located in the Gulf of Nicoya are within the boundaries of this province as well as part of the Tilaran and Talamanca Mountain Ranges. Port Caldera, located 16 km south of the city of Puntarenas has become the most important port of call for some of the major cruise liners.
History
The peculiar shape of Puntarenas province has a very sensible explanation. During the first 350 years of Spanish presence in Central America, the southern Pacific portion of what is now Costa Rica remained quite isolated from the developing population centers of the region. The high mountains between this area and the Central Valley presented a formidable barrier to the available means of terrestrial transportation. Thus, the few early settlers that ventured into the southern region came either from Panama to the south, or by boat from the port of Caldera in the Gulf of Nicoya.
Despite the use of the Gulf of Nicoya as an entryway to Costa Rica's inland territory, the port of Puntarenas was not developed until 1840 when coffee production in the highlands reached exportable volumes. In 1879, a stretch of railroad track was completed which connected Puntarenas with the town of Esparza where the oxcart trail came out of the mountains. Eventually, the railroad was built all the way through to San José and service was inaugurated in 1910.
With the railroad connection to the Central Valley, the Pacific port's activities continued to be a major part of the region's economy throughout the 20th century. However, due to the aging and deterioration of the port facilities and the need to accommodate the much larger vessels of modern shipping fleets, a new port was constructed in the 1980's to the south of Puntarenas. The site chosen was Caldera, where ships had anchored during colonial times.
Prior to the Spaniards' arrival, the area that is now Puntarenas province was home to numerous groups of native peoples with varied lifestyles depending on the habitats in which they lived. The greatest of the Costa Rican pre-Columbian mysteries comes from the southern part of the province, near the towns of Palmar Norte and Palmar Sur, where hundreds of large stone spheres have been found.
Unfortunately, the chance for archeological interpretation of the spheres was forever lost when the aforementioned area was converted into banana plantations and bulldozers moved the stones from where they had been placed long ago by the natives.
Not until 1870 was a horse trail put through from the Central Valley to the Valley of El General. However, given the difficulty in traveling to this new frontier, colonization did not immediately follow the construction of this trail. In fact, the southern part of Puntarenas province remained sparsely populated by non-natives until the mid-1930's when banana plantations in the Caribbean lowlands were severely affected by a fungal infection known as "Panama disease" leading the United Fruit Co. to abandon those areas and look for somewhere to begin new plantations.
The heat and high rainfall of the southern Pacific lowlands made for an ideal banana-growing climate, and so it was that between 1936 and 1955 this area experienced an unprecedented wave of human impact.
Ports were built in the banana company towns of Quepos and Golfito for the purpose of shipping the fruit to markets.
In the mid-1950's, disease in the banana plantations again caused serious problems for the local economies that were dependent on the production of this crop. Along the coast to the north and south of Quepos, the banana company actually destroyed the banana plantations and converted them to fields of African oil palm.
An important aspect of the provincial economy today is tourism. The country's most popular beach resorts, Puntarenas (including Doña Ana and Barranca beaches), Jacó, and Manuel Antonio, are all found in this province, as are 12 national parks and reserves -- more than in any other province.
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Others: Driving South, you can find lots of deserted beaches, wildlife and small coastal towns. Reaching Playa Dominical you'll find again some hotels and cabins on the beach.
Head to the South Pacific Area. There is a very good high way called 'La Costanera' from here all way down to Palmares and Golfito.
In the green Season road access to some of the nice places like Corcovado is difficult. Normally you would drive to Sierpe and stay there, take a boat from Sierpe to the Drake Bay area. Rates are similar to the Hotels in Tortuguero calculated All Inclusive food land or plane transportation, because the Hotels will pick the tourists up in San José and bring them back there at the end of their vacation.
From Bahía Drake it is not difficult to hike to the Corcovado National Park along the coast. It takes between 4 and 7 hours to reach the San Pedrillo Ranger Station. From this point hiking trails continue into the Park. The best time for the walk is during low tide, since on some places one can get cut off during high tide.
The exciting part of the Corcovado National Park is its long trails that all lead to a ranger station. This National Park with its enormous amount of different Flora and together with Tapirs, five species of Cats, Crocodiles, Peccaries, Giant Anteaters, Monkeys and Sloth. There are over 400 species of birds, even the almost extinct Harpy Eagle can be found here.
The big selection of different activities and immense Bio-Diversity in this area makes a stay of at least 3 - 4 days recommendable. Activities range from canoeing, scuba diving to nature hikes.
A little further on that road only passable with a 4 x 4 vehicle, you'll reach Golfito. There are several medium-sized hotels along the town. This port town once used by the point where bananas left Costa Rica on ships, but today the main attraction is a duty free zone at the very north end of Golfito. It also is a good point from where to start expeditions to Puerto Jiménez, the Corcovado National Park or take a small boat and go to the nearby Playa Zancudo.
About 15 km south of Zancudo is the Bahía de Pavón. It is famous for its Surf; Surfers say it is the best in all Central America. April to September is the time with the highest waves. A big long left can give you a three minute ride. But besides surfing, there is not much to do in this area. The so called Pavones comprises the two beaches Río Claro and Pavones.
Remember, Puntarenas is also: Monteverde, Sierpe, Drake Bay, Puerto Jiménez, and Golfito, Tambor, Orotina, Miramar, Dominical, Herradura, Jacó, and Manuel Antonio.
National Parks
Peñas Blancas National Wildlife Refuge
Guayabo, Negritos and Pájaros Islands Biological Reserves
Curú National Wildlife Refuge
Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve
Carara Biological Reserve
Manuel Antonio National Park
Ballena Marine National Park
La Amistad International Park
Corcovado National Park
Caño Island Biological Reserve
Golfito National Wildlife Refuge
Cocos Island National Park
South Puntarenas
South Puntarenas includes Drake Bay, the Osa Peninsula and places like Pavones.
Presents a hot tropical climate throughout the year, this area receives a lot of rainfall, producing one of the most lush and dense tracts of forestation in the country.
South Puntarenas is blessed with an abundance of exotic and diversified flora and fauna. Home to the largest last remaining stretches of Pacific coastal rainforests in Central America nestled within the gorgeous Parque Nacional Corcovado, this region of Costa Rica plays host to some to the world’s most endangered species of wildlife.
Also found in Southern Puntarenas are a number of hidden and secluded beautiful beaches. For those who enjoy snorkeling, visit the stunning Isla del Caño off the coast with its fantastic underwater marine world, while for those who enjoy sportsfishing the area of Drake Bay is the avid angler’s dream.
The coastline of Southern Costa Rica is also known for its strong waves, which are great for surfing. Given the right conditions you can ride the waves here for as long as 2 whole minutes.
North Puntarenas
Home to a fantastic array of flora and fauna, this province is great if you want to have an incredible eco-adventure or just lie back and take in the gorgeous surroundings.
North Puntarenas extends right up past the Manuel Antonio National Park.
There is much to see and do in North Puntarenas from long easy walks on the beach to riding the white water rapids that flow down the Cordillera de Tilaran. Ideal for those who prefer fast or slow paced vacations, North Puntarenas has a number of beautiful national parks and refuges that one can visit to enjoy the beauty of this province. The regions most popular attraction is easily the Parque National Manuel Antonio.
For those who are interested in catching some good waves, head down south to Dominical or visit Mal Pais on the Nicoya Peninsula. These beaches are paradise for those who want some peace and quiet. While the coastline has strong waves and is great for surfing, it does produce strong rip tides, making it quite treacherous for swimmers.
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