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 here 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. 735-5210; 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).
Closer to town, be sure to check out the Herrera Botanical Gardens (tel. 735-5210). These gardens are located 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 Everyday Adventures (tel. 353-8619; www.psychotours.com). These folks, who also call themselves Psycho Tours, 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 60 feet, where you take a leap of faith into space and are 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 100 feet. The 5- to 6-hour tour 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 735-5631; www.crocodilebay.com). This upscale fishing lodge is close to the Puerto Jiménez airstrip. Alternatively, call Mike Hennessy at Cabo Matapalo Sportfishing (tel. 382-7796; 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 $250 and $1,200 (£125-£600) for a full day, or between $100 and $600 (£50-£300) for a half-day, depending on the boat, tackle, number of anglers, and fishing grounds.
If you want to learn to surf, contact Tres Amigos (tel. 382-7796), which is also run by Mike Hennessy, and located near some excellent learning waves on Pan Dulce beach.
Osa Aventura (tel./fax 735-5758, or 830-9832; www.osaaventura.com), Sol de Osa (tel. 735-5702; www.soldeosa.com), and Tom Kayak's Osa Info (tel. 838-2314) also offer a host of guided tours around the Osa Peninsula and into Corcovado National Park.
