Costa Rica has over 100 volcanoes, five which are still active. The Poas Volcano has 3 craters which one of them is still active. This is located in the Poas Volcano National Park. Visitors can hike to the top of the crater to get a peek at the steaming vapors. You may also want to visit the Arenal Volcano National Park. There are nightly tours available guided by the park rangers, where you may see the sky light up with the lava from the volcano. The volcano also feed the under ground fires creating the hot spring. The Balneario Tabacon hot springs are like a natural Jacuzzi with water temperatures running as high as 100 degrees.

If you are more interested in the sun and beaches you may want to travel to Guanacaste, Puntarenas or Limon. The beaches in Limon are on the Caribbean Sea coast and Guanacaste and Puntarenas beaches are on the Pacific coast. The Caribbean coast has 5 beaches while the Pacific coast is home to over 40 beaches. On the pacific coast you will find white, gray, brown and beautiful black sand beaches. The pacific coast is more popular among tourist.

Costa Rica has 7 provinces, which are: San José, Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Guanacaste, Puntarenas, and Limón. San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica. San Jose is the most populated province, located in the central valley of the country. Here you will find world class museums, parks, hotels, national theaters, and historic buildings. Heredia is the smallest of all the province, home to many of the coffee plantations. It is also home to the dormant Barva volcano, located in the Braulio Carrillo National Park, A tropical rain forest home to hundreds of species of animals and plants. If you are the more adventurous type there is the Sarapiquí River, great for white water rafting.

The official language of Costa Rica is Spanish. English is the second most used language. The entire country is a total of 51,100 square kilometers (19,730 square miles) Twenty five Percent of the country is protected by National Parks. The country is home to over 500,000 species of animals. Over 400,000 are invertebrates, 1,200 species of butterflies, 175 amphibians, 894 species of birds, and over 100 species of mammals.

When planning a vacation to Costa Rica you must first decide when you will be traveling. A major factor you should consider is the seasons. Costa Rica only has two seasons: wet and dry. The dry season is generally between late December and April, and the wet season lasts the rest of the year. The Caribbean side is usually wet year round.

Hi, this is my first BLOG. I will be researching traveling to Costa Rica. In order to get the most out of the vacation I have planned in November, I want to research the country.