Top Things to do in Province of Limon
Top 10 Things to do in Province of Limon, Costa Rica
Discover the best top things to do in Province of Limon, Costa Rica including La Ceiba, Chocorart, Tortuguero National Park, Finca La Isla, Cahuita National Park, Tortuguero Canal, Veragua Rainforest Park, La Feria Legendaria de Playa Chiquita, Explore Limon, Puerto Viejo Beach.
Restaurants in Province of Limon
1. La Ceiba
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 155 reviews
In this magical place the nature has survived to the destructive madness of human. Here some men are putting all their efforts to save animals when others wanted to annihilate them. La Ceiba RN, 50hec. of Primary forest (Gandoca-Manzanillo National Refuge) where the Jaguar R. C. reintroduces the animals that come through the Jaguar RC.
Reviewed By Quinn302 - Brooklyn, United States
Our children will never forget Costa Rica, in large part because of our stay at La Ceiba! We stayed there for two nights over Christmas 2019. It was such a beautiful way to experience Costa Rica. Upon arrival, we were all thrilled to ride a little lift over the stream and literally into the rainforest. We were met by our guide, Ashli, who proved to be incredible! We were traveling with our two children (ages 8 and 10). Our son is blind, and has a dream of one day working to preserve and rehabilitate wildlife. Ashli immediately formed a bond with him, and patiently answered all of his many questions! The walk up to the houses was beautiful, as we were surrounded by huge trees all around. We even saw a monkey near the main lodge! Ashli explained that they were trying to release that monkey back into the wild, but it continued returning to the lodge. We watched silently as their talented staff carefully put the monkey on their shoulder and started the long walk back out to re-release it. Once in our tree house, our children were in heaven! They spent an hour just swinging in the hammock and taking it all in. I should note that my husband and I were a little unprepared for how "natural" it literally all is...this is an open-air treehouse, so you have to be comfortable knowing that wildlife can and will come quite close! When we were staying there, a family of bats were living in the upstairs eve. Our son didn't mind, but our daughter was freaked out by this. She slept in our bed with us (zipped under the mosquito netting!). On another occasion, we were hanging out on the porch when a parrot came right up to the ledge! Ashli had trained us to scare the birds away, so that they don't get used to humans. On our first night, we made sure to walk up to the lookout tour. From there we could see howler monkeys! You can hear them all around you as well. Please note that it is quite humid in this area in December, so if you choose to wash your clothes, they will likely not air dry! We made that mistake on the first day of our visit, after washing some sandy clothes from the beach. We then had to drive with wet stinky clothes in our car for a few days! While hot water is provided at La Ceiba, you do have to be careful not to use too much too quickly, or you may run out for the day. We appreciated the home cooked meals by the staff at La Ceiba, and enjoyed hearing about their adventures while eating together. You should note that there is not an open bar or cafe of any sort once you're at La Ceiba; you should break drinks and snack food in with you. On Christmas Eve, we were lucky enough to take a nighttime guided walk with Ashli. It's hard to explain how incredible that was!!! It was one of the coolest things I've ever done in my lifetime. Not only did we see incredible wildlife and learn so many amazing facts (Ashli is so passionate about her work, and had so much knowledge to share), but we were also able to stand in the middle of the rainforest in the complete dark with all lights out, and just listen to the sounds all around us. I'll never forget that. You should absolutely make sure to take this nighttime tour!
2. Chocorart
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 233 reviews
In the Chocolate tour you first visit the cacao plantation and receive an insight of the work involved in growing, care taking cacao trees and harvesting the cacao pots. There are other tropical fruit trees and large up to 60m tall shade trees native to the area of tropical rainforest, inhabited by diverse wildlife such as the howler monkeys, agoutis, kinkajous, sloths and many birds among others. All is managed organically, respecting the natural environment. You learn about the fermentation process and visit our traditional sun drier covered with the cacao beans. We taste different fruits from other trees depending the season. In our workshop you will receive a fruit juice of the farm and appreciate all the manual work to manufacture the chocolate, the way how the cacao beans are roasted on fire, then broken with stone and grinded by hand. You will come into the enjoyment to taste an ancient special chocolate drink and at the end a tasty dessert with the freshly made chocolate.
Reviewed By pebse2017 - Nelson, Canada
I didn't get to go on this tour as I was in injured, but I sent my teens and husband. When I asked my teen how it was, he said it was amazing....so that says a lot! What made it special was all the fruit that the gentleman picked along the way and shared ( a tropical fruit wonderland) and the process of making chocolate by hand. It was a very close to nature experience for my kids, which they rarely get to see anymore. Hard to look up as this person doesn't advertise very well, but I think the tour is at 2 or 3pm on most afternoons.
3. Tortuguero National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,389 reviews
Reviewed By dianemorton5 - Essex, United Kingdom
Amazing Abundance of Wildlife including very rare species, Sloth, Croc, Monkeys etc, a trip to this park is a must for visitors to Costa Rica, wonderful memorable experience
4. Finca La Isla
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 137 reviews
Established in 1987 in an abandoned cacao farm the botanical garden is a permaculture farm with a mature collection of fruit and spice trees in production and lots of tropical flowers. Corridors of rainforest make it into a fascinating nature park. Visitors will be able to try a fresh fruit drink, taste fruits in season, sample homemade natural chocolate, and learn about medicinals and ethnobotanicals. Finca la Isla is a working farm producing black pepper, fruits, and ornamental plants in commercial quantities. Besides the opportunity to see very rare tropical plants visitors will learn about tropical crops like bananas, black pepper, and nutmeg. The botanical garden is one of the very best places in Costa Rica to see frogs in the wild. Our rainforest will provide the chance to see four different kinds of poison dart frogs, reptiles, toucans and many other birds, sloths, and the marvel of symbiosis and diversity that is the tropical rainforest. Visitors are guaranteed to see the red poison dart frog in the wild.
Reviewed By Sightsee624321
Had a great experience today walking through the garden. Alan was a dream host and spent an hour after our walk chatting with us and allowing us to try different fruits. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. for only 3500 c you see wildlife, learn about plants, and get to try some local fruits. Thank you Alan for your excellent hospitality!
5. Cahuita National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,895 reviews
This coastal park contains white sandy beaches and coral reefs.
Reviewed By willmW2416OC
1. Easiest entrance is via the Kelly Creek ranger station and walk along the coastal path up to Punta Cahuita. It’s possible to carry on and walk around the peninsula to Peurto Vargas ranger station or, you could enter via here. 2. If your aim is to see wildlife then take a guide. Yes, you can walk though on your own but you won’t spot much and like many people we saw, you’ll just walk past many animals and reptiles, so don’t skimp on hiring a guide. Avoid going in a large group of more than 4 people if you can as you’ll see and hear much more. We had a guide through Cahuita Tours (+506 2755-0000), and would recommend them. 3. Shorts and T shirt are fine. Trainers or even better trainer sandals are good but you could even wear flip flops. Walking shoes are not necessary as the paths are good. However, if you want to go swimming then I recommend you take beach shoes because the sand gives way to broken shell and coral and unless you have soles like an elephant, you’ll find it very uncomfortable to walk over! This is one thing we weren’t told and when we tried to go for a swim off the beach near Punta Cahuita ( which is much quieter than Playa Blanca that gets very busy), we couldn’t do it due to the sharp broken coral, which kind of spoiled our visit a bit! 4. If you walk slowly and take time to look you will see quite a bit. Please don’t do what we saw some idiots doing and run along the path! It isn’t a running track and this just frightens the wildlife away.
6. Tortuguero Canal
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 410 reviews
Reviewed By Nush525 - Utrecht, The Netherlands
Get a boat ride with Desmon Garth - he's super skilled at maneuvering the canal, would spot all sorts of animals and stop so you get to see them. ????
7. Veragua Rainforest Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 520 reviews
A day at the Veragua Rainforest is the perfect way to experience firsthand as many of Costa Rica’s wonders as possible. Glide through the rainforest treetops on an aerial tram (gondola) looking out for monkeys, sloths and colorful rainforest birds. Visit the world-class Frog and Reptile Habitats-- and mingle with hundreds of butterflies at the Butterfly Garden, including the famous blue morpho! Journey into the forest on diverse walking trails, admiring the sights and sounds of wild flora and fauna. Enjoy a walk to the riverbank or hike to a spectacular cascading waterfall, feeling the thunderous spray almost at your fingertips. Or experience the most exhilarating canopy zip-line ride in the Caribbean-- the Original Canopy Tour-- as you glide silently through the Costa Rican rainforest on specially-built traverses and platforms, marveling at the commanding views from the treetops. And don’t forget to visit The Foundation for Rainforest Research,where university RESERVATION REQUIRED
Reviewed By johnsB5340VB - Thornhill, Canada
We visited this Park as a day trip from a cruise line. There is so much to see in the Park, including an exhibit area providing live wildlife (separated by glass to keep them and us safe), a wonderful butterfly exhibit of mounted specimens, and an area enclosed by netting with many of the butterflies from the previous exhibit flying around us. We had a short but very interesting presentation by one of the researchers explaining aspects of the work they are doing in the Park. The aerial tram ride provided a wonderful swatch through the park allowing us to capture some of the vastness of this place. We were even able to see our ship in the distance at one point. At the bottom of the ride we walked a platform further into the rainforest. Although we saw limited wildlife, it was amazing just to be able to walk through this facility. Great care was taken to keep us on the platform. Our guide, Wendy, who was with us from the time we left the ship until our return, was well versed in her country and added many details was we visited the Park. She was careful to point out camouflaged frogs and snakes in the exhibit area. We were disappointed at the poverty and excessive garbage in many of the areas during the one hour bus ride to and from the Park. The road was also quite rough, which could be a problem for anyone susceptible to motion sickness. With such a spectacular Park, one would have expected the local government to assist with cleaning up the road in. We and those we spoke with on our tour were definitely glad we signed up for this one.
8. La Feria Legendaria de Playa Chiquita
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 393 reviews
Reviewed By jimmypO7437GC
This is one of the best beaches in Costa Rica, you can find your spot where can be alone and watch birds and if you are lucky sloths.
9. Explore Limon
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 64 reviews
At Explore Limon we specialize in historic tours around the city of Puerto Limon. Our themes are culture, art, gastronomy, music, nature, and others that make up the identity of the city. The tours last 2.5 hours and cover the main monuments, buildings and natural sites classified as Costa Rican National Heritage sites. The routes do not have an established rate, the participant decides at the end of the tour to give the value that they believe is adjusted to the quality of the activity.
Reviewed By Botanicalpainter
You arrive on your cruise ship in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. Five minutes’ walk away across the road from the port is Limon City, or Puerto Limon to those unwilling to differentiate between the port area and the commercial/residential district beyond. We wanted to explore Limon City, but not on our own as we had been fed dire warnings about the prevalence of crime there. Was there any truth in these advisories? It’s difficult to say because crime statistics specific to Limon City/Puerto Limon are difficult to find and even then not easy to interpret. Still there’s nothing wrong with being sensible so we booked a guided walking tour through the organisation ‘Explore Limon’. All our arrangements were made by email prior to leaving England. Our guide was Sergio from ‘Explore Limon’ and he arranged to meet us in Parque Vargas by the Gazebo situated just a few minutes from where our cruise ship was berthed. And we certainly felt safe enough in his company. Our immediate concern prior to meeting with Sergio was that our ship was frustratingly late docking and allowing passengers ashore. By the time we disembarked and cleared the port area would he still be at our pre-arranged meeting point? We rushed past the lines of locals and their offers of excursions and fast walked into Parque Vargas. Would Sergio still be there? He was. At first glance Limon City was unprepossessing. Looking around you could not fail to gain the impression that this once thriving city is in a state of long drawn out terminal decline. Yes, it does need some TLC and could certainly benefit from regeneration projects. But what you see first of all is just surface. Sergio is a highly knowledgeable and experienced guide. With him we were able to see beneath this superficiality. He is passionate about this place - his city - and enthusiastic about promoting its virtues of which there are any number to Limon’s visitors. He is an inspiration. Our tour was scheduled to last for two and a half hours, but ended up being nearer three and a half. Sergio invited us to meet any number of Limon residents, who despite the state of the national economy - an enviable GDP growth, but high national debt coupled with high unemployment - seem to maintain a very positive outlook on life. Led by Sergio we visited buildings that had once been part of M.C. Keith’s 19th century United Fruit Company empire at the centre of the banana industry, but now only lightly occupied and no longer concerned with the banana trade. With Sergio interpreting we enjoyed impromptu conversations with local residents whom we met in the course of our tour. Several were street traders operating from stalls, tables on pavements, or just the carrier racks on the backs of their mopeds. A visit to an art gallery established and run by a local fine arts enthusiast made us realise that this gallery is at the centre of a community of talented painters many of them working en plein air. This was followed by a tour of what had once been a vibrant indoor market, but was now clinging tenaciously onto life thanks to the determination of a handful of stall holders. There is a number of historically important buildings standing deserted and no longer maintained. These are listed, or protected, buildings which cannot be demolished and which would also be uneconomic to revitalise and put to new uses. Consequently they are simply left to decay. Our tour ended at the Catedral Sagrado Corazon de Jesus dedicated in 2010 and replacing the previous cathedral so badly damaged in the 1991 earthquake. The architecture is unapologetically Brutalist, which is to say its imposing concrete masses and planes are not easy on the eye. But step inside. The singular most striking feature is the ceiling, which Sergio explained was constructed to resemble the keel of Noah’s ark. In the imaginary waters beneath the keel and set into the exterior walls are fine stained glass windows allowing shafts of colour to permeate the interior space. In its own way the Catedral Sagrado Corazon de Jesus symbolises what we come to understand about Limon City. What you see on the exterior belies what exists within. To appreciate the sense of the place you do need to dive beneath its surface. We thoroughly enjoyed our excursion through Limon City and can highly recommend not only the tour, but also Sergio who brought it to life for us through his narrative featuring the history, economy, geography, politics and social aspects of this interesting place. Our walking tour arrangements were made through [email protected] and there is no fixed fee. At the end of your tour you pay what you feel the experience was worth to you. Our one regret was that having noted the risk of crime we had erred on the side of caution and taken only a modest amount of USD ashore with us. We gave Sergio what we had feeling it was not enough and wishing we could have given him more. He certainly deserved it.
10. Puerto Viejo Beach
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,306 reviews
This public beach is popular with surfers.
Reviewed By macmarill - Colorado Springs, United States
We were 200 meters from the playa niegra beach part of the Puerto Viejo beach and in early January they have some big waves. The sand where we were was black. The beach was clean except the part that is situated alongside the road. They need trash cans for people to leave their trash, otherwise the water is warm and clean.
