18 Unique Things To Do In Costa Rica & Most Beautiful Places To Visit

Piscoandbier between palm trees at Santa Teresa beach with hammock and ATV

Planning a Costa Rica vacation and looking for the most unique things to do in Costa Rica and the most beautiful places to visit?

We have spent several weeks road-tripping through Costa Rica and its lush and beautiful nature in Central America, living the Pura Vida lifestyle. On our Costa Rica road trip, we discovered amazing waterfalls and secluded beaches, soaked in the prettiest hot springs we have ever seen and watched magical sunrises and sunsets over the Pacific Ocean. We had the time of our lives!

In this Costa Rica Travel Guide, we want to share our most beautiful places to visit in Costa Rica with you, along with incredible pictures and the most unique things to do in Costa Rica as well as useful travel information for along the way.

Most Beautiful Places & Unique Things To Do In Costa Rica

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. Full disclosure here. As an Amazon Associate, we may earn a small commission when you use the links and make a purchase at no additional cost to you. We also run ads to keep this blog running. All opinions are always our own. Many thanks for supporting our website.

The Most Beautiful Places In Costa Rica

Beautiful Waterfalls In Costa Rica

Costa Rica is home to the some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. Visiting at least one waterfall should be at the top on your list of must do things in Costa Rica.

Couple getaway at Tabacon Hot Springs Resort in Costa Rica — Unique Things To Do In Costa Rica

1 | La Fortuna Waterfall In Arenal

Impossible to capture all the 70+ meters of La Fortuna Waterfall

La Fortuna is one of the most popular places in Costa Rica and Catarata La Fortuna Waterfall is a must-see when in the Arenal area! The waterfall drops an impressive 70+ meters.

It is probably the most popular waterfall in Costa Rica.

Exploring Catarata La Fortuna Waterfall

There is an awesome waterfall hike tour where you’ll explore Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna waterfall, and hot springs.

On another La Fortuna waterfall tour you adventure over incredible suspension bridges in the rainforest, see the volcano and Catarata La Fortuna waterfall.

Find more La Fortuna waterfall tours here!

Check out our post about La Fortuna Waterfall to learn more about one of the best waterfalls in Costa Rica.

2 | Turquoise Rio Celeste Waterfall

Stairs leading to Rio Celeste waterfall in Tenorio Volcano National Park in Costa Rica — Overlooking Rio Celeste Waterfall and its turquoise water.

Catarata Rio Celeste waterfall is probably the most famous landmark in Costa Rica. Rio Celeste, as the name gives away, has the bluest waters off them all!

Fed by a volcanic river and due to a process called miescattering the water of Rio Celeste is actually that turquoise. It is not photoshopped!

We haven’t seen anything like this before. It is so unique, and cannot be missing on your bucket list with the best things to see in Costa Rica. Trust us, it’s super cool!

Rio Celeste Waterfall is located in Costa Rica’s Tenorio Volcano National Park.

Exploring Rio Celeste & Tenorio National Park

There is a full-day tour from La Fortuna to Rio Celeste which will take care of the transfer from your hotel to the national park and guide you through the park and to the waterfall. After the 4 hour hike, you will enjoy an authentic Tico lunch and make the way back to La Fortuna.

You can also take a full-day tour from San Jose to Rio Celeste.

If you are staying on the Pacific Coast near Tamarindo you can take this day tour from Tamarindo to Rio Celeste Waterfall.

Find more Rio Celeste waterfall tours here!

3 | Catarata Llanos de Cortes Waterfall

Beautiful Catarata Llanos de Cortes waterfall is located just off of Costa Rica’s Panamericana between Liberia and Bagaces.

Llanos de Cortez is a lesser-known waterfall and a bit more out of the way but not less pretty at all.

Exploring Llanos de Cortes Waterfall

There is a tour going to Llanos Cortes in combination with visiting Rio Celeste and a Sloth Sanctuary.

Read more about this and other amazing waterfalls in our post Chasing Waterfalls in Costa Rica. We loved exploring Llanos de Cortez waterfall and definitely recommend it as a must-see when in Costa Rica.

4 | Montezuma Waterfall & River Crossing

Piscoandbier sitting in front of Costa Rica's Montezuma waterfall. — Montezuma waterfall

Another top place to visit in Costa Rica is the Montezuma waterfall.

Even though not as majestic as La Fortuna Waterfall or Catarata Llanos de Cortes or blue as Rio Celeste Waterfall (in all honesty, it is hard to top these amazing waterfalls) the Montezuma Falls are still very pretty and a must-visit when you are in the Montezuma or Santa Teresa area.

Check out our post about the Montezuma Falls in Costa Rica.

The Most Beautiful Hot Springs In Costa Rica

5 | The Springs Resort & Spa Hot Springs In La Fortuna

Piscoandbier couple kissing in hot spring pool of The Springs Resort and Spa in Costa Rica in front of volcano El Arenal and pastel colored sunset — The most amazing sunset view at The Springs Resort & Spa.

Located on top of the hill, outside of Costa Rica’s hot springs and adventure town La Fortuna, The Springs Resort & Spa offers incredible views of El Arenal volcano.

To top it off, you will have this amazing view directly from the main hot springs pool. The Springs Resort and Spa is our all-time favorite hot springs and place to stay in Costa Rica.

See more amazing hot spring photos in our post about The Springs Resort here.

6 | Tabacon Hot Springs In La Fortuna

Piscoandbier bathing in hot springs pool in-between lush tropical forest at Tabacon in Costa Rica — The iconic waterfall cascades at Tabacon Resort.

Costa Rica is famous for its hot springs. Tabacon Resort is another absolutely amazing hot springs resort in La Fortuna. With its tropical vibes and famous cascade waterfall, Tabacon Resort makes you feel like you are in a tropical rainforest paradise. Which you are!

Visiting Tabacon Hot Springs From San Jose

If you are staying around San Jose and want to visit the Tabacon hot springs without staying in La Fortuna you can take this full-day hot spring tour.

The tour includes the transfer between San Jose and Tabacon and back. After you make a stop to see the Arenal Volcano you will arrive at Tabacon to soak in the incredible hot springs. The tour provides lunch and in the evening an amazing dinner buffet from the 5-star Tabacon Resort is included. The food is so so good, you will be blown away. You can find more information on the Tabacon hot springs tour here.

➾ For more details and photos of the thermal resort, read on in our post about the Tabacon hot springs in La Fortuna here.

7 | Rio Negro Hot Springs & Mud Bath

Floating in thermal pool of Guachipelin's Rio Negro hot springs — Deep relaxation at Rio Negro hot springs

Nestled in the tropical forest of Costa Rica’s Rincon de la Vieja National Park, Rio Negro Hot Springs offers various pools along the river run. In addition to the natural hot springs, you can enjoy a little spa time with self-made mud masks sourced right on location.

Rio Negro Hot Springs belong to Hacienda Guachipelin and for hotel guests, the hot springs are free of charge.

Exploring The Rio Negro Hot Springs

There are several combo tours exploring the Rincon de la Vieja National Park and ending the day with a relaxing soak in the natural thermal pools at Rio Negro.

On the full-day Guachipelin Adventure tour, you will do zip lining, horseback riding, and river tubing and end the day full of activities at the Rio Negro hot springs.

If you are more into hiking there is a Rincon de la Vieja Volcano Hike & Waterfall tour which ends the day at the thermal baths.

Find Rio Negro hot springs tours here!

Check out our post Best Costa Rica Mud Bath & Rio Negro Hot Springs In Guanacaste for more information on the on the hot springs in Rincon de la Vieja Nationalpark.

More Amazing Hot Spring Tours In Costa Rica

If you don’t want to rent a car or are not planning to visit the hot springs on your own, there are plenty of great tours on which you get to enjoy the best hot springs in Costa Rica – hassle-free!

8 – 10 | Costa Rica’s Most Beautiful National Parks & Reserves

Bridge over blue water at Rio Celeste in Tenorio Volcano National Park — Blue water at Rio Celeste in Tenorio Volcano National Park

Costa Rica is of course known for its lush flora and fauna. There are 28 national parks in Costa Rica covering almost 30% of the country’s land. If you are visiting Costa Rica, you should definitely explore some of the parks and nature reserves.

These are some of the most popular national parks to visit in Costa Rica:

Top Costa Rica National Parks & Reserves

Arenal Volcano National Park
near La Fortuna

Manuel Antonio National Park
Central Pacific Coast

Rincon de la Vieja National Park
Northwest close to Nicaragua

Tenorio Volcano National Park & Rio Celeste
Northern part near Lake Arenal

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Northeast, between San José and Liberia

8 | Tours To Explore Tenorio Volcano National Park

There is a full-day tour from La Fortuna to Tenorio National Park which will take care of the transfer from your hotel to the national park and guide you through the reserve and to Rio Celeste Waterfall. After the 4 hour hike, you will enjoy an authentic Tico lunch and make the way back to La Fortuna.

You can also take a full-day tour from San Jose to Tenorio National Park.

If you are staying on the Pacific Coast near Tamarindo you can take this day tour from Tamarindo to Tenorio Volcano Reserve.

9 | Exploring Rincon de la Vieja National Park

There are different kinds of tours to explore Rincon de la Vieja National Park. For the adventurous ones, there is a full-day adventure combo tour with ziplining, horseback riding, river tubing, and hot springs.

If you like hiking you can join a full-day hiking tour in Rincon de la Vieja National Park where you hike past mud pots, fumaroles, and volcanic craters. You will also visit Oropendola waterfall and Rio Negro hot springs during the tour.

10 | Exploring Arenal Volcano National Park

At the Arenal National Park hiking tour, you take a hike around Arenal Volcano and learn about its unique ecosystem and the surrounding flora and fauna.

The full-day Arenal Volcano adventure tour from La Fortuna includes three adventurous activities in one day: Hiking to Arenal Volcano, visiting the Arenal Hanging Bridges, and swimming at La Fortuna Waterfall.

If you are not staying near La Fortuna you can take this full-day tour from San Jose where you see Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna waterfall, and afterward soak in hot springs near Arenal Volcano.

Unique Things To Do In Costa Rica

11 | Cross Suspension Bridges In The Rainforest At Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park

The Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park is located in the Volcan Arenal National Park area near La Fortuna. On a 3 km roundtrip, you cross a series of 15 bridges. 6 of which are suspension bridges high up in between the treetops of the rainforest.

If you are staying in nearby La Fortuna and are looking to get to the suspension bridges without having your own car, taking a tour is your best option.

Tours To The Arenal Hanging Bridges

You can find a half-day tour with pickup in La Fortuna here. You will be picked up and dropped off again at your hotel in La Fortuna. If you prefer a smaller group size, this hanging bridges small group tour is the way to go for you.

There is also an amazing hanging bridges full-day tour on which you see Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna Waterfall, and explore the suspension bridges.

Good To Know Before You Go

The rainforest wouldn’t be the rainforest if it wouldn’t rain. And for us, it did rain! A lot! We got soaked from head to toe during our visit to the hanging bridges. Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun crossing the suspension bridges and exploring the forest. Just make sure to bring a rain jacket and umbrella.

12 | Wake Up To Magical Sunrises In Montezuma

Amazing pink sunrise at Casitas Sollevante in Montezuma Costa Rica — Infinity Pool at Casitas Sollevante

Montezuma is known for its hippie community, yoga, and tide pools. But did you know that it has to offer the best sunrises as well?

Find yourself a place to stay in the Montezuma hills, like Casitas Sollevante, and wake up to the most incredible sunrises you have ever seen.

There are only a handful of places to stay in Montezuma. We have listed the best places with ocean view and infinity pool here:

Infinity Pool & Ocean View Hotels In Montezuma

Check out our post below and find out more on where to watch the best sunrises in Montezuma.

13 | Learn Surfing At Surfer Beach Town Santa Teresa

Piscoandbier watching the sunset in surfer paradise Santa Teresa, Costa Rica — The best surfing and sunsets in Santa Teresa

Learn How To Surf And Watch The Most Incredible Sunsets In Santa Teresa

Santa Teresa is the best place to go in Costa Rica if you are into surfing and love remote beach towns. Located on the Pacific Coast in the South of the Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa is only accessible via plane to nearby town Tambor or via dirt road.

We rented a 4×4 rental car and did the long and bumpy drive via Costa Rica’s famous dirt roads ourselves. As it looked like on our way there, Costa Rica is in the process of building a new and paved road, which eventually will make accessing Santa Teresa easier and faster.

Santa Teresa is super up and coming, but not overly crowded yet. The surfer beach town is very international and has lots of great restaurants serving food from all kinds of corners of this world.

The top thing to do in Santa Teresa is definitely surfing. If you haven’t tried it yet and want to learn it, sign up for a surf lesson.

Griss Lodge & Villas is a great and central place to stay in Santa Teresa. If you are into surfing, Griss Lodge offers a surf camp and is located just steps from a surfboard rental place and the beach. Furthermore, they have a nice pool and an entire outside yoga studio and gym that are free to use for guests. We loved staying at Griss Lodge and can only recommend it when in Santa Teresa.

14 | Rent An ATV In Santa Teresa And Explore Secluded Beaches

The worst road to drive on was actually not the road to Santa Teresa, it was the town’s main street that goes all the way along the beach.

To explore the nearby areas of Mal País and beaches like Playa Hermosa, Playa Manzanillo or even go to Montezuma and see the waterfall, renting an ATV is the best way to get around. It’s super fun and you don’t have to worry about your rental car.

There are many rental places along the main street. Renting an ATV in Santa Teresa cost us around 75 USD for 24 hours. It’s not cheap, but was totally worth it to explore all the places we would have otherwise not been able to explore.

15 | Adventure Through The Monteverde Cloud Forest

Hiking through the Santa Elena Cloud Forst in Monteverde

Quite a dramatic change of temperature will wait for you in Monteverde. High up on the mountain, Monteverde is famous for its tropical cloud forests.

HIKE ONE OF MONTEVERDE’S RAINFOREST RESERVES

There are three different cloud forests to explore in Monteverde. You should go on a hike in at least one of them. We went to explore the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. It rained and it was super muddy but a lot of fun and and adventure.

Monteverde Cloud Forests

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

* * *

Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve

* * *

Bosque Eterno de los Ninos.

Visiting The Monteverde Cloud Forest Via Tour

If you are coming from San Jose you can take a guided day tour to Monteverde and explore the cloud forest and its famous hanging bridges.

Pro tip: Bring layers of clothes and shoes to hike in and discover this tropical nature reserve with its diverse flora and fauna.

The Sky Areal Tramway In Monteverde

Another activity in Monteverde is to take The Sky Tram Areal Tramway up to the highest mountain in Monteverde from which you will have amazing views of the surrounding cloud forests.

There are also day tours leaving from San Jose to do the Monteverde Sky Tram and hanging bridges tour.

There are also several other private nature parks besides the rain forest reserves:

Selvatura Eco Park

At Selvanatura Park you can zipline through the canopy of the Monteverde cloud forest. The Selvatura zipline tour takes about three hours and has amazing views of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. The Extreme Adventure tour includes the hanging bridges through the cloud forest.

Fly Like Superman At 100% Adventure Park

At 100% Adventure Park you can do a zipline course, rope bridge, rappel, and ATV buggy ride. The most popular activities at the park are the Mega Tarzan Swing and the forward-facing Superman zipline. The 100% Adventure Park tour includes hotel pick-up and drop-off.

Take The Plunge At Monteverde Extremo Park

At Monteverde Extremo Park you can do an insane bungee jump from a suspended tram into the lush green cloud forest valley. The plunge is said to be the highest bungee jumping spot in Central America. The Monteverde bungee jumping tour will pick you up and drop you off at your hotel.

If this extreme bungee jump is a little bit too much for your taste you can also do a zipline tour at the park.

16 | Discover The Hidden Unique Trees In Monteverde

Hidden Natural Tree Roots Bridge

Discovering the fallen ficus tree that makes a natural bridge in the forest of Monteverde — Ficus tree in Monteverde, Costa Rica forming a natural bridge

Monteverde Hollow Ficus Tree

Piscoandbier at hidden ficus tree in Monteverde Costa Rica — Hidden ficus tree in Monteverde

Tree Top Climbing Monteverde
Monteverde Private Guided Nature Walk

Hollow ficus tree in Monteverde Costa Rica — Hollow ficus tree in Monteverde

17 | Visit Coffee Farms & Roasteries In Monteverde

Us being coffee snobs, we also loved exploring Monteverde’s coffee farms and roasteries. There are several coffee tours that you can take to explore the coffee plantations and roasteries, learn all about the coffee production in Costa Rica and of course do some coffee tasting.

Coffee Tours In Monteverde

Don Juan Coffee Tour Monteverde

El Trapiche Tour

Café de Monteverde Tour

El Cafetal Tour

Monteverde is also home to one of Latin America’s hip and cool Selina Hotels.

18 | Discover The Playa Carillo Beach Paradise & Sámara Beach Town

Playa Carillo

Playa Carillo is a long and beautiful beach located on the Nicoya Peninsula. What makes Playa Carillo so beautiful is that the beach is perfectly lined with lots and lots of palm trees. Perfect to hang your travel hammock!

Carillo beach is located right next to popular beach town Sámara.

There are only very few hotels directly by Playa Carillo. In the following you will find the hotels and apartment rentals that are directly at Playa Carillo. Most are a few steps up the hill and have an amazing view of the ocean.

Hotels At Playa Carillo

Nammbú Beach Front Bungalows

Puerto Carrillo Sunset B&B

La Puesta del Sol B&B

CHEZ NOUS

Casa Sabina

Hotel Esperanza

Villas Welcome to Heaven

Hotel Amira – B&B

Playa Sámara

Sámara is a small beach town especially popular among German travelers and Italian expats. If you find Tamarindo too crowded and touristy, you will love Playa Sámara.

There are lots of great food options in Sámara. You can find authentic Italian food at chic Gusto Beach restaurant and if you want it more casual, you’ll find the best street food at FOX05 Gastrobus food truck. We still dream about their amazing chicken pita pockets.

Playa Sámara’s main attraction is the beach. We stayed at Locanda Samara Beach, one of the most popular hotels in town. One of the other few hotels directly by the beach is Macao Beach which is right next door.

FAQ

What Are The Most Instagrammable Places In Costa Rica?

The most instagrammable places in Costa Rica are the hot springs and waterfalls, as well as the hanging bridges. Find our top insta-worthy places in Costa Rica here:

Best Photo Spots In Costa Rica

What Are The Best Beaches In Costa Rica?

Our favorite beaches in Costa Rica are Playa Santa Teresa, Playa Hermosa, Playa Carillo and Playa Samara.

We absolutely did not like to vibe of Playas Coco and do not understand what people like about the beach town.

Costa Rica Vacation Guide

Travel Insurance For Costa Rica

Most Beautiful Places In Costa Rica &

Unique Things To Do In Costa Rica

We hope you enjoyed our Costa Rica Unique Places Guide with the best and most unique things to do in Costa Rica and got some useful information and inspiration for your upcoming trip to Central America.

Leave us a comment and tell us about your Costa Rica experience.