North Pacific Region

Guanacaste is located in the Northwest part of the country, it is a province. This territory was annexed to the country in the 25th of July, 1824.
Nicoya was apart of Costa Rica because it was part of Nicaragua. When the Spanish courts needed to choose the parliament of the court joined Nicoya to Costa Rica. Guanacaste by its extension it is the second greater province of the country, but also the most populated. It limits in the north with the Republic of Nicaragua, in the east with Alajuela, in the south with Puntarenas and in the west with the Pacific Ocean.
Its capital is Liberia. Guanacaste takes the name of the national tree. Its geography is rough because of the Mountain range .Some high zones are located in the Peninsula of Nicoya. In the political division it has 11 cantons. The economic potential of Guanacaste is in the tourism, because of its beaches and the great attractive scenic. It has a hot climate.

Guanacaste has its second international airport that now is having a lot of movement.

In Guanacaste it is possible to be enjoyed great part of Costa Rica’s traditions. Most of Costa Rica’s folklore comes from Guanacaste. Most of the Guanacaste people are from Nicaragua; this is because the economical situation is better in Costa Rica, so they just pass the frontier.

This zone has beautifull beaches, the most famous are, Papagayo golf, Hermosa beach, Coco beach, Big Beach, Tamarindo, Flamingo, Avellanas, Brasilito, Samara, Nosara, Puerto Carrillo and many others. It also has many national parks and protected areas.

Guanacaste has 11 cantons and 47 districts. Liberia, Nicoya, Bagaces, Carrillo, Cañas, Abangares, Tilaran, Nandayure, Tilaran, La Cruz and Hojancha.

Inter-American Highway

The North Inter-American Highway crosses Costa Rica in 2 ways. This route gets start in the Central Park in San Jose, with the cero kilometer. This is where the highway arrives. It pass throw San Jose, Heredia, Alajuela, Puntarenas and Guanacaste. From San Jose to Manolo’s (know restaurant after the airport, it is in the entrance of La Garita.) this route has 3 lanes in each sense because of the traffic jam.
It has many tolls, when there are many cars they are opened with a free step. National Refuge of Wild Fauna Peñas Blancas
It is normally confused with the coast border of Nicaragua because of the same name. This refuge has 2400 hectares. It is located in the south part of the Tilaran mountain range. The elevations in this area are of less than 600m and over 1400m above the sea level.
These white cliffs were created to protect the plants species and animals. The Ministry of Energy and Environment (MINAE) use this money to develop infrastructures in this entire zone.

The dry season is from January to April.

Next to this refuge an important gold mining town called Miramar is the closest town. In this zone the camping is permitted but there are no facilities.

Costa de Pajaros

This place is located between Punta Morales and Manzanillo. It is very famous because it represents millions of bird’s species. A very important place is the Birds Island, which is less than one kilometer and use by the pelicans and the seabirds to lie out.

Las Juntas

Its full name is Juntas de Abangares; it is a small town on the Abangares River. This place in the 19th and the 20th century was a gold mining industry. This place is now-days a relaxing town full of farmers. It is starting to get develop and to have tourism, big resorts are initiating their buildings.

Monteverde

Is the town were you can appreciate the livings cultures. It has two cloudy forests. Its climate is perfect for cattle. It has two ecosystems, warm winds from the Caribbean coast and cold winds with rain from its forests. In 1983 National Geographic named this place as a perfect landscape. This place also has variety of birds, tourist enjoy taking pictures. Monteverde also is characterized because it is an organic and a recycled place. You have plenty of activities like visiting the butterflies farm, the ranarium, the serpentarium, you can also hike, go throw the canopy adventure, walk throw the trams and in the hanging bridges.

Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve

The Tropical Science Center was the administrator of this forest until 1975.
In 1986 the Monteverde Conservation League wanted to buy this land and to expand the reserve. Two years after, they made a Children Foundation for protecting rain forests all over the world. Today they raise money to buy and to save tropical forests contiguous to the reserves.
They have 10.500 hectares of reserves.
This project is very important because people are making these changes alone; they are not waiting to the government to obtain the park administration.
The cloudy forest is rainy. This reserve allows a limit of 160 people.

There are two reserves in Monteverde, Santa Elena and Monteverde. Monteverde reserve is closer to the town and it has better streets conditions.
It is very hard to expect to see a great wild life, because this place is so big that animals are all around. Animals already know the tourist trails so they avoid them; this is why it is so hard to see them.

Santa Elena Reserve

It has 310 hectares. They have more than 200.000 annually visitors and less than 20.000 visitors daily. These cloud forest was created in 1989 and open in 1992. It is located 6 km northwest of Santa Elena. There are lots of monkeys and sloths. It is a trekking experience. It is a very humid and cold place. The trails are very moistly.

Friendship Bridge

It was founded with the help of Taiwan’s government. This bridge helps reducing the transit on way to Nicoya beaches.

Cañas

After cursing the Inter-American road, Cañas is the first town. This town has a population of 25.000 people. Cañas is the driest canton in Guanacaste. The people emphasize on been a quiet and a clean place.
It is typical town, every one has a slow life, when is the lunch hour they shut down their business. Travelers prefer Liberia town.

Tenorio Volcano

This is located 6 km northeast of Cañas. It is one of the newest parks and part of the Conservation Arenal Area (ACA). Rio Celeste is located 1, 5 km from the Tenorio Area; it is known for its transparent and blue water. You will find many cascades in the way with really white and clean water comprise of this Volcano.
The volcanic activity this surrounded by fumaroles, hot springs and a possibility to arrive at the crater in a cavalcade of two days.

Miravalles Volcano

Miravalles volcano is located in the province of Guanacaste. Its boiler formed back as a result of several massive eruptions of pyroclastic flow between 0.6 and 1.5 million years.
The only eruption documented was relatively small gas explosion that was registered in the southwestern flank in 1946.
This Volcano is the highest of the Guanacaste Mountain Range, it has 2028m. All hot springs are located in the north of La Fortuna.

Bagaces

Head of the canton of Bagaces in Guanacaste, It was originate by a consequence of the total destruction of the city of Esparza by pirates incursions in 1687. In 1687 the ecclesiastical town hall of Leon in Nicaragua authorized the construction of a hermitage, who was finished in 1988. It was located between the rivers Tenorio and Corobicí, and in the borders of the Villa Vieja and Aguascalientes Rivers.
Bagaces is the administrator of many reserves and protected areas.

Palo Verde National Park

National park Palo Verde is a protected natural space in Costa Rica. It is located in the province of Guanacaste.
This national park was declared the 13 of June, 1980 and has 19,000 hectares of extension. It has low and lacustrine areas that included limestone hills with a low altitude. In 1991 it was include in the Ramsar List, which denote the volcano international importance.

The major rivers drain in this region, this creates a mangrove swamp, marshes and evergreen swamps .It has permanent lagoons who permit a big wild life development. This forest has the greatest waterfalls and a lot of bird’s variation. Birds, mammals and reptiles are all over this park. The dry season is the best time to visit this park, from December to March.

Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve

It has 2646 hectares. It is partly unit with Palo Verde. It is known because it protects many trees and many animals. It has more than 200 birds’ species, 250 different bees’ species, big crocodiles and many butterflies. It protects an important tree called the big bang reproducer. This tree is filled with yellow leafs in the dry season. This reserve has a tropical dry climate.

Liberia

Liberia is the head of the province of Guanacaste. It arose in second half of century XVIII with the town name of Guanacaste, as a result of the establishment of an aid parish in this location Liberia is approximately 4 hours long from the capital of Costa Rica. It is usually called “the White City” because in the past its streets were done of “gravel”, a dusty material of white color.

Its climate is hot, dry and humid from November to May and in September and October strong rains appear. It has an annual average of 27ºC.

Liberia has the second international airport of the country, which increases the tourism in a great amount. The Daniel Oduber International Airport opens the door to flights from Spain, London, United States and also for national planes. Most of the people continue the old Sabanero culture, which was working on land, wearing jeans, a hat and a machete (long knife used to cut grass and hard stuff).
Liberia now- days, has increased commercially, for example in the public schools, English courses are more, because of the great traffic of tourism. The town of Liberia is almost been the second capital of the country.

Rincon de la Vieja National Park

This national park has 14.161 hectares. It has 1895m. This Volcano has multiple fumaroles, warm hot springs. This park was created in 1973to protect 32 rivers. It has a volcanic activity since 1960 and with the lately condensation and lash in 1997. Today the Volcano is calmly active but it is not dangerous. This park is also the native place of the national flower, the Guaria Morada. (cattleya skinneri)
This place is also known for its hot therapeutic springs. It is also important to know that outside this park there are lots of lodges who provide tours and transportation to any part of the zone.

Junquillal National Bay and Wild Life Refuge.

This is 505 hectares of wildlife refuge. This territory is part of the Conservation Area from Guanacaste (ACA).This is a silence and peaceful beach were you can swim, boat or even you can have some snorkeling.
Many species of marine birds, mangroves, pelicans and turtles habit all around this zone.
From here you can see the Orosi Volcano.

Guanacaste National Park

This park is the newest part of the Conservation Area of Guanacaste (ACA).It was created in the 25th July, 1989.
It has 34.651 hectares.
It has a dry climate.
From this place you can climb towards two volcanoes, Orosi and Cacao. This park also provides refuge for people who are moving inside this coast and highlands.

Maritza, Cacao and Pitilla Biological Station

These 3 stations are located in the park boarders. They are perfect for watching wildlife.
Volunteer positions are always available.

Maritza station: Newest station with a modern laboratory. There are been found hundreds of petroglyphs(images created by removing part of a rock surfaces by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading) that have been found in volcanic rocks. The petroglyphs were created by the Chorotega culture.

Cacao station: It is on the top of the Cacao Volcano. It is at 1060m. It has irregular trails to walk all over the reserve, sometimes they connect with the Maritza station trails.
It is located in the south part of Guanacaste’s park.

Pitilla station: It is situated in the southeast side of the Orosi Volcano. The surrounds forests are humid and cold.

La Cruz

La Cruz is the tenth canton of the province of Guanacaste. The canton covers an area of 1,383.90 km² and has a population of 18,004.
Its capital city is also called La Cruz.
The canton is in the north of the country. It surrounds the Pacific coastline with Nicaragua, in the south with Bahía Nancite, including Santa Elena peninsula.
La Cruz has important settlements of the Costa Rican ancient architecture.

Salinas Bay

It is a beautiful place in Costa Rica. It is especially for windsurfing (sport on a sail. that consists on sliding on a sailboard a move with the waves movement) is also the best place for kite boarding because of the vegetation around.
Inside Salinas Bay there is an important island named Bolaños Island. It protects a large amount of seabirds.

Tilaran

Tilaran is a canton located in the mountainous zone in the end of this Guanacaste province, specifically in the Mining Mountain range. It has seven districts: Central, Libano, Santa Rosa, Tronadora, Arenal, Quebrada Grande, and Tierra Morena.
From the city of Tilaran it is possible to discern Miravalles and Tenorio Volcano and from a few kilometers to the east also the Arenal Volcano could be seen.

People say that Tilaran name came from the indigenous word Tilawa, which means “winds and rains place”. Indeed by the breeze of the plains in San Carlos and the location of 560 meters on the level of the sea, the climate of Tilaran is fresher than in the rest of the province of Guanacaste.

Upala

It is located 40 km northwest of Guatuso, 10 km south from Nicaragua’s border.
From Upala’s road you can reach to Tenorio and Miravalles volcano.
Upala’s only town is named, Bijagua. This town is the center of the cheese making.