The perfect place for beach and adventure lovers: Manuel Antonio

Costa Rica is famous for its incredible wildlife diversity, its beaches and its forests. But you don't have to travel all around the country to find them...

There is a place that I love called Manuel Antonio, where you can find all that and more...lots of restaurants, luxury hotels and spas, and a great night life.

When it comes to finding a place to stay the town of Quepos is the best option. Here is where you will find most of the hotels and restaurants. There is also a dock from where most o the sports fishing tours depart from. It’s also very close to one of the major attractions of the area: The Manuel Antonio National Park.

The town of Quepos used to be filled with banana plantations and docks from where they exported all that banana produce. Later, in the 80′s African oil-palms replaced the bananas but wasn’t as successful as the banana market. Today, the docks in Quepos are used for a very popular activity: sport-fishing.

This national park is known for being home to amazing beaches, forests and over 100 animal species such as monkeys and sloths. That is why this has turned into Costa Rica’s second most visited park after Poas Volcano, attracting around 160,000 visitors each year. It is also the smallest national park of Costa Rica.

Some of the most common tours of the area are:

-Flying through the forest’s canopy in zip lines

-Surfing in some of the great beaches this area has to offer

-Horseback riding along the beach or in the middle of the forest

-Hiking the trails of the Manuel Antonio National park searching for some animals

-World class sport fishing

-Cruising crystal clear waters

-Snorkeling

-And a bit of racing in jet skis