Costa Rico is not an Island

There are many misconceptions about Costa Rica and two of them are the name (most common is calling it Costa Rico) and the countries location (it is not an island in the Caribbean).

Commonly confused as Costa Rico, this country has no connection to Puerto Rico.   Although the name Costa Rico sounds similar, uttering it brings many awkward stares when mentioned among the natives, known as Ticos.   However, just for fun, we will use it in the rest of this page.

The other major misconception is that Costa Rico (Costa Rica) is not an island.   It is part of the main landmass that connects North America to South America that is known as Central America.   Costa Rico (Costa Rica) borders Nicaragua on the north and Panama on the south.   This common mistake has been made by many, including publicly by a US president and the author prior to his first time to the beautiful country.      

Costa Rico (Costa Rica) boasts many natural attractions including one of the most active volcanoes in North America, the Arenal Volcano.   The Volcan Arenal, as its known in Costa Rico (Costa Rica), is continuously active and its eruptions can be seen on clear days and cloudless nights from the nearby town of La Fortuna, Tabacon Hot Springs or even Lake Arenal.    

The Pacuare River in Costa Rico (Costa Rica) is also a popular tourist destination.   This whitewater-saturated river has many lodges and camp sites that make overnight trips through the jungle a must for any adrenaline seeking adventurer. White water rafting Costa Rico style can't be beat!   

Another destination for tourism in Costa Rico (Costa Rica) is some of the many beaches.   Although putting together a top ten beaches of Costa Rico is a hard task some of the top contenders would include Manual Antonio and Manual Antonio National Park, the Nicoya Peninsula, also known as Guanacaste, Jaco or even Dominical on the Pacific side and Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of the country.

Although there are many different vacation spots and national parks to visit in Costa Rico (Costa Rica) we recommend you contact us so that we can put together an custom travel package to where ever you would most like to see.   Be it an Arenal travel package, a Tortuguero travel package, Guanacaste travel package or even a Monteverde travel package we can put together a custom vacation package that suits all your needs.