By now almost everybody is sick of winter and thinking about some place warmer. Costa Rica has become the vacation place of choice, in part, because of its reputation for being one of the most beautiful countries in the world. This small Central America country is only a couple of hours south of Florida and has spectacular tropical mountains and volcanoes, and some of the great beaches on the globe. Tourists come for its terrific surfing beaches, beach party towns with daytime fun and adult nightlife, and deserted beaches where tropical mountains meet the shore.

Few visitors to Costa Rica realize its rich history or how it got its name. About 10 years after he discovered what is now the United States, Christopher Columbus returned and sailed south. His wooden craft took him below Limon where he named his discovery Costa Rica! The name means the rich coast and has stuck for over 500 years.

Fortunately, Columbus left a lot of places to discover for yourself. With nearly 400 miles of Caribbean coastline, you are sure to find that very special vacation spot, but do not expect to find the same attractions that are found along the Pacific. The Caribbean has a distinctive reggae-type, Bob Marley, feel to it.

For many nature lovers, no Costa Rica vacation is complete without touring one of the country’s Seven Wonders, Tortuguero National Park. Tortuguero is the largest nesting area for the green sea turtle in the western hemisphere. When Columbus landed, these oldest of reptiles, dating back millions of years before the first dinosaur, nested here in unfathomable numbers and surely provided fresh meat for his crew. For centuries, beaches here were some of the world’s largest hunting grounds for these gentle animals. That changed in 1961 when it was transformed into the world’s premier reserve and leading center for turtle monitoring and research. In addition to green sea turtles, three of the other six surviving endangered sea turtle species come ashore to nest. You will find a growing number of tours and lodges which service an increasing number of vacationers, eco tourists. Wildlife is very abundant and the rivers and ocean provide great fishing.

The city of Limon is south of Tortuguero and most tourists go through it to reach remote Tortuguero and Barra Honda beaches north or to turn south to a number of small beach communities and kilometer after kilometer of beautiful beaches. Limon should be considered as merely a jumping off point to head north or south because it is not a recommended destination. However, for those who travel south sailed by Columbus, Puerto Viejo awaits. It features the world famous La Salsa Brava wave, a spectacular large wave that challenges the best surfers on the planet, particularly when at its largest between November and April. Less experienced surfers go a bit farther south to Playa Cocles.

About 25 miles south of Limon and a short distance north of Puerto Viejo is Cahuita, a very small, laid-back community with kilometer after kilometer of pristine beaches, some almost black and others sugar white. September and October are the least-rainy months of the year and visitors who come around October 12 take in Carnaval at Limon, a week-long fiesta celebrating Columbus Day. Cahuita is famous for its great reef snorkeling around its two shipwrecks. Not a lot of nightlife here so head a few miles south to Puerto Viejo.

Do not expect DisneyWorld here. When Columbus docked here 500 years ago, it was remote, wild, tropical. It remains remote and tropical. The sea are as pure now as when first sailed. Marine turtles still come ashore to lay eggs on the deserted beaches, though in far smaller numbers. Think there is nothing left to discover here? Maybe. Maybe not. Just a few years ago scientists discovered a freshwater porpoise in a river that pours into the Caribbean here, but nowhere else in the country. Just offshore lies Costa Rica’s largest coral reef. Rent scuba equipment, and even get PADI certified, while on vacation. Or just take in the area’s fabulous wildlife: monkeys, sloths, macaws and hundreds of other kinds of birds.

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