Attractions

Not Your Everyday Gardens

One of the nicest ways to spend a day in Puerto Viejo is to visit the Finca La Isla Botanical Gardens (tel. 2750-0046 or 8886-8530; crgarden@mac.com), a couple hundred meters inland from the Black Sand Beach on a side road just north of El Pizote lodge. Peter Kring and his late wife Lindy have poured time and love into the creation of this meandering collection of native and imported tropical flora. You'll see medicinal, commercial, and just plain wild flowering plants, fruits, herbs, trees, and bushes. Visitors get to gorge on whatever is ripe at the moment. There's also a rigorous rainforest loop trail leaving from the grounds. The gardens are generally open Friday through Monday from 10am to 4pm, but visits at other times can sometimes be arranged in advance. Entrance to the garden or loop trail is $5 (£2.50) per person, or $10 (£5) with the guided tour.

Cacao Trails (tel. 2756-8186; www.cacaotrails.com) is a one-stop attraction featuring botanical gardens, a small serpentarium, an open-air museum demonstrating the tools and techniques of cacao cultivation and processing, and a series of trails. There's also a large open-air restaurant, and a swimming pool for cooling off. You can also take canoe rides on the bordering Carbon River, and even watch sea turtles lay their eggs during the nesting season. Admission to the attraction is $25 (£13), including a guided tour. A full-day tour, including lunch and a canoe trip, as well as the guided tour, costs $47 (£24). During turtle nesting season, they do night tours to watch sea turtles lay their eggs.

Near Punta Uva, you'll find the Punta Uva Butterfly Garden (tel. 2750-0086). This small yet well-run facility is the only butterfly-breeding and production facility along the coast, and it's open daily from 8am to 4pm. Admission is $5 (£2.50) for adults; children enter free.

Finally, down around Playa Chiquita, at the Tree House Lodge, there's the Green Iguana Conservation Tour (tel. 2750-0706; www.greeniguana.com). This educational tour focuses on the life cycle, habits, and current situation of this endangered reptile. The tour features a walk around a massive natural enclosure, as well as a video presentation. The cost is $15 (£7.50).

South Caribbean Music Festival

Each year, the folks at Playa Chiquita Lodge organize a month-long festival of concerts and workshops featuring local and national musical groups and solo artists. The dates vary, but the festival tends to fall somewhere during the months of March and April and always ends the week before Easter. Concerts are usually held on Friday and weekends at Playa Chiquita Lodge and other venues around the area.