Costa Rica is a resort country with a total of 74 resorts located on its territory. Lush greenery, mountains and ocean – that’s what you should come here for. The country’s main attractions are: national resorts, mountains and underwater caves, waterfalls, picturesque valleys and volcanoes. More than 25% of the country’s territory are occupied by government-protected natural parks.

The first attraction is Arenal Volcano – the most famous active young volcano in Costa Rica. All in all, there are about 120 volcanoes located on the country’s territory, with 70 active ones. Arenal is a high cone-shaped mountain, which is illuminated at night. Indians thought the volcano was a sacred animal. It was very active prior to the XVI century. Then in 1968, after approximately 400 years of dormancy, the volcano erupted again. Nowadays tourists from all over the world come to La Fortuna de San Carlos, an Indian settlement situated by the foot of the volcano. However, sometimes the mountain is all covered with clouds and is hard to see. There are also lots of swimming pools, ponds and waterfalls found by the Arenal. Tourists will also like local mini zoo with tropical butterflies, snakes and other animals.

Poas Volcano is one of the country’s most visited volcanoes. Its crater is 1,5 km big and is one of the largest craters in the world. Entrance to the national park is closed during the volcano eruption. You should definitely observe a beautiful Botos lagoon located in one of the local craters. There is also a Sarchí town not far from Poas. This is the centre for Costa Rica wood handicrafts, where you can buy excellent hand-made things.

Irazú Volcano is situated 31 km north-west of Cartago. This is the highest of the active Costa Rica volcanoes. There is also a national park surrounding it. The top of the volcano is often compared with the moon surface and its crater contains a mineral lake, which changes its colour from red to green.

Costa Rica is also famous for its parks. Local nature is almost the same as it was a million years ago. Two of the most famous parks in Costa Rica are: Tortuguero National Park and Manuel Antonio national park, framed by wonderful beaches with clean white sand. Manuel Antonio park is ideal for bathing, fishing and wildlife exploration: there are iguanas, red crabs and lizards living here.

550 km from Costa Rica coast there is an uninhabited Cocos Island, 24 sq. km big. Jacques-Yves Cousteau called it the most beautiful island in the world. This is a wild forest-covered place, untouched by civilization. The island is also the centre for diving and thousands of people from all around the world come here every year to dip into crystal-clear waters. Among the other islands to visit in Costa Rica are Negritos and Los Pájaros.

There are about 10 types of rainforests located on the country’s small territory. Monteverde is a cloud forest located on top of a mountain. The level of humidity is really high, and there are about 120 Amphibia and reptile species living here along with 100 mammal species and 400 bird species (including the famous quetzal – many people come to Costa Rica just to see this bird). Order a skytrek “fly” to have a look at the rain forest from the high trees.

These are just a few of Costa Rica’s natural attractions – but the number of them is really high, since the country’s economy depends on travel industry. However, for some reason, travel business is mainly oriented on beach vacations and not eco tourism. But the number of eco tourists is getting bigger and bigger every year.

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