This wonderful beach town on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica holds many surprises. With its laid back attitude and Caribbean life style, you can be assured of a relaxing Costa Rican holiday. Naturally, for those of us who like a more active holiday, Puerto Viejo has it all. Long walks on pristine beaches, experiencing exotic flora and fauna in a wildlife refuge, snorkeling or diving among the many reefs in our crystal clear waters, world-class surfing, mountain biking, kayaking and cultural visits to indigenous peoples.
It is a popular destination for all types of tourists. It is known worldwide in the surfing community for the biggest and most powerful wave in Costa Rica, known as: “Salsa Brava”. It is also home to beautiful beaches, such as Playa Chiquita and Punta Uva, which are a couple of Costa Rica’s most spectacular beaches which can be found between Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo. Manzanillo is a popular location for kayaking and is 13 km (8 mi) south along the beach.
Most of the people here are of Afro-Caribbean decent and were brought either from Jamaica or other Caribbean Islands to help work on the railroads or in the banana plantations that still support and make up much of this province’s exports. If you tour Southern Limon today, you will find numerous banana plantations as bananas are now a major cash crop out here.
Head into any of the towns along Costa Rica’s Southern Caribbean Coast and you will find yourself in what can only be described as mini Jamaica’s with dreadlocked Rastafarians, reggae and calypso music being played in the streets, delicious Costa Rican Creole cooking aromas, and a confusing mix of a Spanish – English dialect that is spoken here. Welcoming strangers with open arms, these towns are an experience in themselves. In this part of the country one also gets the chance to come into contact with many indigenous Indian tribes that have lived in this region for hundreds of years.