Active Pursuits

While Puerto Jiménez has typically been a staging ground for adventures much farther out toward Carate and the park, quite a few activities and tours can be undertaken closer to town.

If you're looking to spend some time on the beach, head just east of town for a long pretty stretch of sand called Playa Plantanares. The waves are generally fairly gentle, and quite a few hotels have begun to pop up here. If you head farther out the peninsula, you'll come to the beaches of Pan Dulce, Backwash, and Matapalo, all major surf spots with consistently well-formed right point breaks. When the waves aren't too big, these are excellent places to learn how to surf.

Kayaking trips around the estuary and up into the mangroves and out into the gulf are popular. Contact Escondido Trex (tel. 2735-5210; www.escondidotrex.com), which has an office in the Soda Carolina. There are daily paddles through the mangroves, as well as sunset trips where you can sometimes see dolphins. These folks also do guided rainforest hikes and can have you rappelling down the face of a jungle waterfall. More adventurous multiday kayak and camping trips are also available, in price and comfort ranges from budget to luxury (staying at various lodges around the Golfo Dulce and Matapalo). They'll even take you gold-panning (although there are no guarantees that your panning will pay for the trip).

If you're in Puerto Jiménez, be sure to check out the Herrera Botanical Gardens (tel. 2735-5210). These gardens are just outside of town, and the entrance is across from Crocodile Bay. The whole project encompasses over 260 acres of botanical gardens, working permaculture gardens, and secondary forest. There are even a few platforms built high in the trees here and reached by climbing a ladder. A 2 1/2-hour guided tour of the gardens costs $15 (£7.50), although you can wander the gardens yourself, with a self-guiding map, for just $4 (£2).

For a real adventure, check in with Psycho Tours (tel. 8353-8619; www.psychotours.com). These folks, who also call themselves Everyday Adventures, run a variety of adventure tours, but their signature combo trip features a free climb up (with a safety rope attached) the roots and trunks of a 200-foot-tall strangler fig. You can climb as high as your ability allows, but most try to reach a natural platform at around 18m (60 ft.), where you take a leap of faith into space and be belayed down by your guide. This is preceded by an informative hike through primary rainforest, often wading through a small river, and followed by a couple of rappels down jungle waterfalls, the highest of which is around 30m (100 ft.). You can do either one of the above adventures separately, but I recommend the 5- to 6-hour combo tour, which costs $110 (£55).

If you're interested in doing some bill-fishing or deep-sea fishing, you'll probably want to stay at or fish with Crocodile Bay Lodge (tel. 800/733-1115 in the U.S. and Canada, or 2735-5631 in Costa Rica; www.crocodilebay.com). This upscale fishing lodge is close to the Puerto Jiménez airstrip. Alternatively, call Mike Hennessy at Cabo Matapalo Sportfishing (tel. 8382-7796; www.cabo-matapalo.com). Mike is a longtime resident and one of the best captains around. You can also check around the public dock for notices put up by people with charter boats. Rates can run between $400 and $2,400 (£200-£1,200) for a full day, or between $100 and $900 (£50-£450) for a half-day, depending on the boat, tackle, number of anglers, and fishing grounds.

If you want to learn to surf, contact Mike's Surf School (tel. 8382-7796), which is also run by Mike Hennessy, and located near some excellent learning waves on Pan Dulce beach.

To explore the rugged roads, trails, and beaches of this area by ATV or mountain bike, contact Osa Discoveries (tel. 2735-5260; www.osadiscoveries.com). Osa Aventura (tel./fax 2735-5758 or 8830-9832; www.osaaventura.com), Sol de Osa (tel. 2735-5702; www.soldeosa.com), and Tom Kayak's Osa Info (tel. 8838-2314) are other local tour companies that offer a host of guided tours around the Osa Peninsula and into Corcovado National Park. Rates run between $35 and $120 (£18-£60) depending upon group size and the tour or activity chosen.