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Activities Costa Rica's national parks offer a huge variety of hiking - the following are just two of the highlights. The Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja, north-east of Liberia in north-western Costa Rica, is a volcanic wonderland of cones, craters, lagoons, boiling mud pools and sulphur springs. The park can be explored on foot or horseback, and visitors can bathe in the hot springs. There are long-distance hiking trails in the Parque Nacional Corcovado, which is in the south-western corner of the Peninsula de Osa in the south of the country. The trails offer visitors the chance to spend several days walking through lowland tropical rainforest. Make sure you visit in the dry season, and keep your eyes peeled for wildlife. There are shorter walks around Monteverde and in the coastal Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, south of Quepos. Bird-watchers should head to the rainforests at La Selva (in the central north) and to the Parque Nacional Tapanti (southeast of Cartago), Parque Nacional Palo Verde (at the head of the Golfo de Nicoya), Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Cano Negro (east of Upala) and the area around Tortuguero. Turtle-watchers should visit Parque Nacional Tortuguero, where they can visit nesting sites and watch the turtles lay their eggs. There are also turtles at Parque Nacional Santa Rosa. Different species of turtle lay their eggs at different times of the year; check your biology textbooks for details. Pavones on the Pacific Coast reportedly has some of the best surfing in Central America. There is also good surfing at Playa Naranjo in northwestern Costa Rica, and at Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. Windsurfers should check out the artificial Laguna de Arenal, near the spectacular volcano. There are snorkeling and diving possibilities at the Reserva Biologica Isla del Cano, 20km (12mi) west of Bahia Drake, off the northern part of the Península de Nicoya and in the Parque Nacional Isla del Coco - an isolated island 500km (310mi) southwest of Costa Rica in the eastern Pacific. Golfito is a center for deep-sea fishing, and there are plenty of opportunities to charter boats for several days or more. Parsimina, a small village at the mouth of the Rio Parsimina, 50km (31mi) northwest of Limon, has several excellent fishing lodges and good offshore reef fishing. Río Reventazon, in central Costa Rica, is one of the most exciting and scenic rivers in Costa Rica and a favorite with river rafters and kayakers. The river is navigable year-round, but June and July are the best months. Río Pacure, the next major river valley east, is perhaps even more scenic and offers the best white-water rafting in the country through spectacular canyons clothed in virgin rainforest. Turrialba is the best base for these excursions.

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