Costa Rica Guide
The Central Pacific and southern Nicoya
Tárcoles
The village of Tárcoles, two kilometres south of Carara's ranger station and a further one kilometre west along a rough road, sprawls along a dusty street and parallels a beach that is too polluted for even the briefest of toe-dippings. Two local companies run crocodile boat tours on the Río Tárcoles, complete with crocodile-feeding antics straight out of the Steve Irwin school of shameless wildlife harassment. Jungle Crocodile Safari ( 
637-0338, 
www.junglecrocodilesafari.com ; $35 and $10 for pick-up in Jacó) is the less brazen of the two and has a strong emphasis on bird-watching on their two-hour tours with bilingual guide.
About 5km east of the turn-off to Tárcoles village is the entrance to the Catarata Manatial de Agua Viva (daily 8am–3pm; $15; 831-2980 or 645-1017); at 200 metres high, this cascading waterfall set amid a pristine rainforest valley is supposedly the highest in the country, and it's a difficult two-kilometre climb downhill to reach its base. While there's no designated place for swimming, there's nothing stopping you from cooling off in the river. If you'd like the vista without the climb, head one kilometre up the road just before the village of Bijagual to Pura Vida Garden & Waterfall (daily 8am–5pm; $15; 645-1001, www.puravidagardensandwaterfalls.com ). Only avid hikers can get close to the waterfalls from this private botanical garden, although a look-out point does provide dead-on views of the falls as well as the surrounding valley and Pacific coast. The jungle has been tamed into submission here, but as Carara National Park is next door visitors are very likely to see scarlet macaw and poison-dart frogs while strolling the manicured nature trails. There are four smaller waterfalls on the grounds and a small restaurant. Horseback-riding tours to the waterfall can be arranged just up the road at Bijagual Stables ( 645-1092).