Limón (Costa Rica)

The major places of interest to tourists are:

• Bribri - close to the Reserva Indigena Bribri y Cabecar
• Cahuita - little town next to the National Park of Cahuita
• Parismina
• Puerto Limón - just a stopover place for most tourists, although the central market is worth a visit, as is the city during Carnival
• Punta Uva
• Puerto Viejo de Talamanca - the south Caribbean coast
• Tortuguero - accessible only by boat or airplane, it is located in the Northern part of Limón
• Sixaola - banana territory close to the Panamanian border

• Cahuita National Park
• Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge near Punta Uva
• Pacuare River and Protected Zone

Although Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica and is understood by practically everyone, due to its large population of people of Jamaican descent, many locals in Limón also speak an English-based creole known as Limonese Creole (Mekatelyu), which was derived from and is very similar to Jamaican Patois. As such, Jamaicans should be able to make themselves understood by speaking Jamaican Patois. Standard English is not widely spoken, though English speakers may be able to communicate with some difficulty due to the fact that Limonese Creole is based on English.

There is frequent bus service (hourly) from San José to Puerto Limón. Some buses continue along the southern Caribbean Coast to Sixaola, with stops in Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. To travel to a number of other destinations, you'll need to change the bus in Puerto Limón.
One of the best ways to see the southernmost Caribbean islands or surrounding South American islands is via a cruise.

The Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge is located south of Puerto Viejo near Punta Uva. The refuge is free to visit and can be reached by a bus to Manzanillo. You can as well get to Gandoca from Sixaola via taxi or private car. From the highway, it is 8 km until the beach of Gandoca which lies pretty much on the border to Panama. In Gandoca you can stay as well over night. From February until May, turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs there.