Limón Province and the Caribbean coast We were at the shore and travelling alongside a palmy beach. This was the Mosquito Coast … Massive waves were rolling towards us, the white foam vivid in the twilight; they broke just below the coconut palms near the track. At this time of day, nightfall, the sea is the last thing to darken: it seems to hold the light that is slipping from the sky; and the trees are black. So in the light of this luminous sea, and the pale still-blue eastern sky, and to the splashings of the breakers, the train racketed on towards Limón.
Paul Theroux, The Old Patagonian Express
The Caribbean or "Miskito" coast (in Spanish, Mosquito) forms part of the huge, sparsely populated Limón Province, which sweeps south in an arc from Nicaragua to Panamá. Hemmed in to the north by dense jungles and swampy waterways, to the west by the mighty Cordillera Central and to the south by the even wider girth of the Cordillera Talamanca, Limón can feel like a lost, remote place.
Those seeking palm-fringed sands and tranquil crystalline waters that the word "Caribbean" conjures up will be disappointed. Limón has very few really good beaches to speak of and most are battered, shark-patrolled shores, littered with driftwood, and huge, bucking skies stretching out to sea. However, you can watch gentle giant sea turtles lay their eggs on the wave-raked beaches of Tortuguero; snorkel coral reefs at the unspoilt Cahuita or Punta Uva; go surfing at Puerto Viejo de Talamanca; or go animal- and bird-spotting in the region's many mangrove swamps. The interior of Limón Province is crisscrossed by the powerful Río Reventazón and Río Pacuaré, two of the best rivers in the Americas for white-water rafting.
Although Limón remains unknown to the majority of visitors – especially those on package tours – it holds much appeal for eco-tourists and travellers off the beaten track. The province has the highest proportion of protected land in the country, from the Refugio Nacional de Fauna Silvestre Barra del Colorado, on the Nicaraguan border, to the Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Gandoca-Manzanillo near Panamá in the extreme south. That said, however, the wildlife reserves and national parks still offer only partial resistance to the considerable ecological threats of full-scale fruit farming, logging, mining and tourism.
The Caribbean coast exudes a greater sense of cultural diversity than anywhere else in Costa Rica – a feeling of community and a unique and complex local history. Puerto Limón, the only town of any size, is one of several established "black" Central American coastal cities, like Bluefields in Nicaragua and Lívingston in Guatemala. A typical Caribbean port, it has a large, mostly Jamaican-descended Afro-Caribbean population. In the south, near the Panamanian border, live several communities of indigenous peoples from the Bribrí and Cabécar groups, none of whom has been well served by the national government.
Options are limited in getting around Limón Province. From San José to Puerto Limón, you have a choice of just two roads, while from Puerto Limón south to the Panamá border at Sixaola there is but one decent route (not counting the few small local roads leading to the banana fincas). North of Puerto Limón there is no public land transport at all: instead, private lanchas ply the coastal Tortuguero canal, dug in the late 1960s in order to bypass the treacherous breakers of the Caribbean. The canal connects the port of Moín, 8km north of Puerto Limón, to the Río Colorado near the Nicaraguan border.
Daily flights travel from San José to Barra del Colorado and Tortuguero. A reliable bus network operates in the rest of the province, with the most efficient and modern routes running from San José to Puerto Limón and on to Sixaola. Gas provision is generally poor, except on the highway from San José; take a spare can with you if you plan to do much driving south of Puerto Limón or down into Panamá. Language can be a problem when travelling around Limón. While English is spoken widely along the coast (in Puerto Limón, Tortuguero and Barra del Colorado), don't expect everyone to know it. Your best bet is to make your first approaches in Spanish, if you can; people can then choose in which language to answer you.
The area's diverse microclimates mean there is no best time to visit the Caribbean coast. In Tortuguero and Barra del Colorado, you'll encounter wet weather all year round, with a small dry spell in January and February. South of Limón, September and October offer the best chance of rain-free days.
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Caribbean Cuisine
Sample the region's traditional Caribbean cooking, from coconut-scented rice-and-beans to "rondon", a vegetable and fish or meat stew cooked with tender plantains and breadfruit.
Carnival, Puerto Limón
Revellers in Afro-Caribbean costumes and spangly tops parade through the streets to a cacophony of tambourines, whistles and blasting sound-systems.
ATEC tours
Learn about traditional plant remedies and indigenous history on a tour to the Bribrí and Cabécar villages, led by the grassroots organization ATEC and locals whose families have been in the area since the eighteenth century.
Playas Cocles, Uvita and Manzanillo
The idyllic beaches of Cocles, Uvita and Manzanillo dot one of the most beautiful stretches of Costa Rica's Caribbean coast.
Tortuguero Canal
Spot moss-covered sloths, chattering spider monkeys and crocodiles and caiman as you float up the beautiful Tortuguero Canal.
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