Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast extends some 200 kilometers—from Nicaragua to Panamá. The zone—wholly within Limón Province—is divided into two distinct regions.

North of Puerto Limón is a long, straight coastal strip backed by a broad alluvial plain cut through by the Tortuguero Canals, an inland waterway that parallels the coast all the way to the Nicaraguan border. Crocodiles, caimans, monkeys, sloths, and exotic birds can be seen from the tour boats that carry passengers through the jungle-lined canals and freshwater lagoons culminating in Tortuguero National Park and Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge.

A few roads have penetrated to the northern frontier far inland of the coast, but they are often impassable except for brief periods in the dry season. For locals, motorized canoes (cayucos or canoas) and water-taxis are the main means of getting about the swampy waterways.

South of Puerto Limón is the Talamanca coast, a narrow coastal plain broken by occasional headlands and coral reefs and backed by the looming Cordillera Talamanca. A succession of sandy shores leads the eye toward Panamá. The beaches are popular with surfers.

The coast is sparsely settled and, except Puerto Limón, what few villages lie along the coast are ramshackle, browbeaten by tropical storms and the curse of an ailing economy recently given a boost by the tourism boom.

Life along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is fundamentally different than in the rest of the country. Life is lived at an easy pace. It may take you a few days to get in the groove. Don’t expect things to happen at the snap of your fingers.

More than anywhere else in Costa Rica, the peoples of the Caribbean coast reflect a mingling of races and cultures. There are Creoles of mixed African and European descent; black Caribs, whose ancestors were African and Caribbean Indian; mestizos, of mixed Spanish and Amerindian blood; more Chinese than one might expect; and, living in the foothills of the Talamancas, approximately 5,000 Bribrí and Cabecar indigenous peoples.

The early settlers of the coast were British pirates, smugglers, log-cutters, and their slaves who brought their own Caribbean dialects with words that are still used today. During the late 19th century, increasing numbers of English-speaking Afro-Caribbean families—predominantly from Jamaica—came to build and work the Atlantic Railroad and banana plantations, eventually settling and infusing the local dialect with lilting parochial patois phrases familiar to travelers in the West Indies. Afro-Caribbean influences are also notable in the regional cuisine.

Until recently, most of the people lived a subsistence life of farming and fishing as past generations had done. Before the growth of tourism, 95 percent of the area’s income was derived from farming and fishing. A few farmers still grow cacao; the coconut palm, too, is the “tree of life.”

West Indian life might be typified by the Rastafarians—specialists in coolness, composure, and witty repartee—one meets in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. Some of the young males here appear sullen and lackadaisical, even antagonistic (some seem to harbor a resentment of white tourists). But most locals have hearts of gold, and there’s a strong, mutually supportive community that tourists may not easily see: When a local has a need, such as medical care, locals often band together to pay the bills.

The Caribbean coast is generally hot and exceedingly wet (averaging 300–500 cm annually). Fortunately, light breezes blow consistently year-round. The region has no real dry season, and endures a “wet season” in which the rainfall can exceed 100 centimeters per month. Rains peak May–August and again December and January, when sudden storms blow in, bowing down the coconut palms and deluging the Talamancas.

The Best of Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast

• Rainforest Aerial Tram
• Tortuguero National Park
• Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge
• Cahuita
• Puerto Viejo
• Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge