Luxury Hotels in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica – Experience the Tranquility of the Beach

Hotels in Malpais, Costa Rica are varied and offer different facilities as well as wonderful experiences. If you are quick enough then you should be able to find millions of package holiday bargains. These all offer different things, whilst some offer self catering others are all inclusive. All inclusive deals are great if you are taking the whole family and don’t want to take much spending money.

In this beautiful environment you will experience a holiday of a lifetime. There is diverse wildlife nearby as well as monkeys, birds and fish. The hotels in the vicinity are beautiful and usually offer a range of different facilities. Montezuma hotels nearby are also fabulous.

If you enjoy nightlife and loads of other outdoor activities then this is the place for you. This area is great for families and also good for couples. It offers something for everyone no matter what their interests are.

There are millions of tropical under water fish and even dolphins. As well as sea and beaches many people bird watch. With so many tropical birds and a nature reserve you will be spoilt for choice. If you just want to sit and relax by the pool this is of course an option as well. There are many food places where you can sample the local food which is delicious.

Many a Montezuma hotel has plenty of land for you to walk around. Wildlife in the area includes monkeys as well as birds. There is a national park in the vicinity and plenty of other places to explore. People come from all around the world to experience Costa Rica and many people come back time and again.

Depending on your needs there are a whole host of different accommodation types. From bungalows, self catering apartments, five star hotels and budget ones you will have many to choose from. If you don’t mind roughing it a little then there are also camp sites in the area. Santa Teresa and Malpais camping are great ways of taking in the natural beauty of the area and making lots of friends in the process.

The majority of hotels have on site eating places, laundry facilities, swimming pools and many acres of land to explore. If you are attending a malpais wedding then you might want to make a group booking in advance where you might be eligible for a discount. Most hotels offer breakfast either included in the price or as an extra. It all depends on what your specific needs are. No matter what be sure to bring your bathing suit and towel as you will probably do a lot of sunbathing and swimming.

This area is a subtropical paradise with so much to do that you will never feel bored. If you don’t come on holiday to spend time carrying out sports and other activities then you can also enjoy relaxing, perhaps sunbathing. If you have spent the day relaxing maybe the ideal evening would be spent eating out and enjoying a cocktail in one of the many bars.

If you are a visitor searching for a Costa Rica hotel on your vacation, then click Malpais Hotels or Santa Teresa Hotels.

Rent a vacation home or villa in the paradise town of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Welcome to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world: Malpais and Santa Teresa, known for their rugged jungle beauty, unforgettable sunsets, and especially the epic surf in Santa Teresa. The area has also become known as a hot spot for amazing cuisine in Costa Rica, since many amazing chefs have moved here from different parts of the world.

When you arrive in Santa Teresa and Malpais, you’ll instantly become aware that you’ve found an amazing and unique place, very different from most other villages in Costa Rica. The Malpais area has been compared with Hawaiin beach towns decades ago, but with monkeys in its forests, or with a warm-water version of Santa Cruz, California.

Despite its popularity, the Malpais area still has beautiful beaches that you can often find almost deserted, many beautiful waterfall hikes, and secret surf spots where you can have a great wave to yourself.

Santa Teresa is known primarily as a great location for incredible surfing. This remote beach town was unheard of only 10-15 years ago, but now is a favorite destination for surfers from around the world. Costa Rica and Santa Teresa’s surf is consistent year-round, as the area faces the open Pacific Ocean, with warm waters that are comfortable throughout the seasons. The Malpais/Santa Teresa area has many surf schools, surf instructors, and surf shops.

Many tourists come from South America and Europe, not only the United States and Canada. Many have stayed in the area and found a way to make a living by creating unique little restaurants, hotels, and rental houses. The food in Santa Teresa has become among the best in Costa Rica. Many five-star chefs have built restaurants here and do their own cooking, creating a plethora of dining opportunities.

The beaches of Santa Teresa have become very popular among Costa Ricans as well, and many families travel here to surf or enjoy the waves during weekends and holidays. The ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera is often a very lively scene with people starting to party before they even arrive. Malpais mean “badlands” because it is a virtual desert from December to April, with hardly a drop of rain. That also makes it very popular among tourist who don’t want any rainy days during their holidays.

Santa Teresa, Costa Rica offers a variety of luxurious villas and vacation rental homes. The most consistently popular are the beachfront homes, which always fulfill the tropical beach fantasies of their rental clients. These range from $350 to $2000 per night, although there are a few cheaper options. Even the highest price vacation rental houses are frequently booked, and many celebrities and movie stars have been seen here escaping the cameras of the paparazzi. This may be because Forbes Mazazine voted the beaches of Santa Teresa to be among the top ten most beautiful in the world.

Renting a vacation home in Santa Teresa has become increasing popular. Many tourists enjoy the independence of having their own rental villa instead of a hotel room, for the privacy and extra space, often at no additional cost. Plus it creates a very unique vacation experience.

Malpais area hotels are extremely popular as well, especially the beachfront ones, which range in price from $100 to $1000 per night for a room, depending on the season. Most Santa Teresa hotels that are beachfront have great surfing waves right in front. The owners are from different countries all over the world… Americans, Canadians, Germans, Italians, Swedes, etc. All have the same dream of living in paradise on one of the most beautiful beaches and passing that thrill to their hotel clients. The area has also become very popular for weddings and honeymoons.

Want to find out more about renting a house in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica? Then visit Geoffrey McCabe’s vacation and tourism information site on Santa Teresa Vaction Rental Homes for your needs.

What To Do In Jeffrey’s Bay South Africa

Jeffrey’s Bay is the world famous surf favourite of legends like Kelly Slater and Andy Irons. However, even the most successful surfer needs a break sometimes, and J’Bay is sure to produce some of the most fun, exciting, or relaxing activities in and around the city centre.

For the adventurous traveller, Bloukrans Bridge offers the world’s highest bungy jump, boasting a breathtaking height of 216m! Access to the jump point in the centre of the bridge is provided via a specially-engineered walkway underneath the road. Bridge walking tours are also available.

The indigenous bush along the beachfront provides amble walking and hiking trails that are even popular amongst the locals. This is where one can experience the beautiful Eastern Cape at the very beginning of the Garden Route on foot. These trails, or walks, range from a comfortable 3km to a more challenging 15km, allowing both the novice and the veteran hiker an enjoyable, relaxing experience. Because of the wide selection of choice in the distance of these trails this activity is suitable for families with young children. Most of these trails have picnic spots and specially-appointed outlook points with spectacular views.

There is a quaint Shell Museum that provides an affordable outing for the whole family. Jeffrey’s Bay is known through out the world for its abundant and diverse array of shells along its coastline and even hosts an annual Shell Festival. The museum displays a huge selection of shell species in tastefully arranged display cabinets. There is also a small Shark Aquarium that will give the visitor a glimpse into the many shark species that inhabit the waters along the coast of Jeffrey’s Bay.

If you are looking for the perfect seaside resort with endless prospects of some quality rest & relaxation, where there is no opportunity for boredom, come to Jeffrey’s Bay. For an authentic South African environment, whether you are on a surfing holiday, a family trip, or a business appointment, Jeffrey’s Bay guarantees a fun, convenient stay.

Eco tourism In Costa Rica: Tirimbina Rainforest Center

[I:http://www.travelthem.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/VictorCKrumm1.jpg]

Eco tourism in Costa Rica takes many shapes and forms and is experienced or enjoyed in different ways. Indeed, the word “eco tourism” means different things and has different connotations to different people.

For many travelers, Costa Rica eco tourism is about enjoying and experiencing Costa Rica’s biological diversity. This little country comprises only about 1/10,000 of the world’s land surface (the size of West Virginia) yet, unbelievably, nearly one of every five species of plant and animal on the globe are found in Costa Rica. The country has more kinds of butterflies than in all of the countries on the entire African continent put together. Costa Rica has recorded almost 900 different kinds of birds, nearly as many as are in the continental United States. The world’s largest Green Sea Turtle preserve has been created off the Caribbean Coast at Tortuguero National Park. 35% of the world’s different species of whales and porpoises (cetaceans) are found in its offshore waters. Humpback whales from Antarctica travel thousands of miles north to Costa Rica every year while Arctic humpbacks swim thousands of miles south to the very same waters. For that reason, Costa Rica has the longest humpback viewing season anywhere. Corcovado National Park is just 20 miles long and some 8 miles wide but, according to National Geographic, is “the most biologically intense place” on the globe. Tens of thousands of persons visit Costa Rica annually to see or experience these kinds of things. I call them “vacation eco tourists.”

But, Costa Rica eco tourism is more diverse than Costa Rica whale watching, or a Costa Rica photography tour, scuba diving off magnificent Cocos Island, or hiking lovely jungle trails to waterfalls. And, few places exemplify that diversity of eco tourism experience better than the Tirimbina Rainforest Center. I bet you never heard of it.

The Tirimbina Rainforest Center sits on about 345 hectares, or 850 acres, of primary rain forest. This is the original rain forest that covered 99% of Central America when Christopher Columbus explored its Caribbean coast in 1502. Indeed, when you visit primary rain forest you will literally see trees that have been around since Columbus’ es time. Unfortunately, over the following five centuries, burning and logging decimated most of the Central American rain forests. Today, only vestiges of this important resource remain.

The Center’s history goes back to 1960 when an American, Robert Hunter, went to Costa Rica to work for the Inter-American Institute for Science and Agriculture and bought the land now occupied by the Center. He invited American scientists to the property, one of whom was Dr. Allen Young of the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Public Museum, and an internationally acknowledged expert on rain forests and cacao cultivation. Dr. Young, and others, like him, who have visited the Center over the last decades are “research eco tourists.” Their professional curiosity and work on rain forests have proved invaluable.

Dr. Young ‘s fascination with Tirimbina carried over to the Milwaukee Public Museum itself. In 1986, it created a permanent exhibit about the tropical rain forest that it called “Exploring Life on Earth.” Over the next several decades hundreds of thousands of children, men, and women visited the Tirimbina exhibit as “virtual eco tourists” and their increasing awareness of the importance–and fragility-of rain forests have contributed to tropical forest preservation demands by the public. The Museum bought the Tirimbina Rainforest Center and managed it until its 2006 sale to a Milwaukee nonprofit called the Pura Vida Foundation. Today, the Center belongs to a Costa Rica nonprofit organization, the Asociacion Tirimbina Para La Conservacion, Investigacion y Educacion.

Should you be interested in conservation and eco tourism I recommend visiting the Tirimbina Rainforest Center if you are: (a) A “tropical research eco tourist.” The Center is a working rain forest research site with many national and international projects. For 30 years, doctorate research, graduate studies, and museum related projects have taken place there as well; (b) An undergraduate looking for a unique study abroad opportunity. Recently, Ball State University of Indianapolis announced a new Study Abroad in Costa Rica program that will be at the Tirimbina Rainforest Center starting Spring Semester 2010. Students will get college credits and live with local families. Modeled after two very popular Ball State study abroad programs in London and Australia, it will have a uniquely Costa Rica flavor. Each participant will be a “student eco tourist”‘; or (c) Looking to see or visit a working tropical forest research center that also hosts family activities and educational projects like hiking through primary rain forest (there are five miles of trails); a frog tour; a bird tour; a bat tour; even a chocolate tour. There is an aerial tram tour and boat tour as well plus a great number of optional activities (visit the Tirimbina Rainforest Center website for a list). Accommodations and a restaurant are on site for “family ecotourists” who want to stay overnight or for several days.

Even though the tropical rain forest research community has known about the Tirimbina Rainforest Center for over 40 years, just 8,000 Costa Rica eco tourists a year typically visit. It is off the beaten path but if you are planning to travel to Costa Rica and are a serious eco tourist, give the Center serious consideration.

Jeffrey’s Bay As The Golfing Destination

Jeffreys Bay has the reputation of been the ideal holiday destination for good reason, not to mention the miles of pristine beaches, fun and affordable accommodation and probably the best surfing spot in the world it also has the year long temperate Eastern Cape climate which makes it ideally situated for golfing. This activity can be enjoyed through out the year without once putting on a wetsuit or getting your feet wet.

In 1976 Piet Vermaak designed a nine hole course that became the Jeffreys Bay Golf Course. The club house is smart-casual and a great place for the holiday maker to mingle with local golfers, and swop heroic tee-off tales. The Jeffreys Bay Golf Course has a 72 par rating for both men and women and the SAGA rating is 70 for men and 71 for women. A blend of Bayview Fairways and Kikuyu grasses make up the green and there is a Bar, Boardroom, Chipping Green, Halfway House, Pool Room, Pro Shop, Locker Rooms, Putting Green and Function Facilities build on the premises.

In St Francis Bay, which is just a short car trip from Jeffreys Bay you will find two 18-hole golf courses. One of these esteemed courses is the St Francis Bay Golf Club. This par 71 golf course is a link-style course that is ideal for most levels of golfing proficiency. In 1975 a man by the name of Leighton Hulett opened the course, back then it was only a 9 hole course but due to its popularity and idyllic setting in which it lies it was soon forced to grow.

There is another exciting development in Jeffreys Bay pertaining to golf and that is the Jubilee Lakes Estate with its 18-hole course designed by world famous Jack Nicklaus that is set on a thousand hectare property next to olive groves and fruit orchards. Jubilee Lakes Estate focuses on maintaining a healthy lifestyle while enjoying the luxurious benefits of authentic estate living.

Whether you are in Jeffreys Bay alone for business, backpacking with friends, or with the family, a round of golf is almost always in order. Enjoy the variety of course available, while remaining confident that beautiful surrounds and a friendly round are standard features of the area.

Cocos Island: One of Costa Rica’s Seven Wonders

Cocos Island is one of the treasures of the planet. The famous Jacques Cousteau called this Costa Rica island the most beautiful island he had ever seen , Costa Ricans have voted this little national park one of its Seven Wonders, and it is being considered as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

Though it is a small island located nearly 350 miles off the Costa Rica Pacific coast, it is world famous for its incredible scuba diving. Indeed, its waters are filled with fish, porpoises, whales, and sea turtles, and there are sometimes so many sharks, it is often called Shark Island. Experienced scuba divers travel here from across the planet because it is renowned as the greatest place in the world to dive with large sea animals.

The island has been famous for pirates, real and imagined, for centuries. It is believed by many that Cocos was the inspiration for Robert Lewis Stevenson’s famous pirate adventure Treasure Island but sometimes real pirates sailed to it to escape the English fleet and to bury their treasure. Two great treasures, the Devonshire Treasure and the Lima Treasure, worth hundreds of millions of dollars today, may still be buried there.

It also fired the imagination of Michael Crichton whose world famous Jurassic Park is set off the coast of Costa Rica.

The island is uninhabited except for a few Costa Rica park rangers who are stationed there to protect its waters from poaching. For eons its isolation safeguarded the island’s rainforest and undersea creatures from depredation .

If you are one of the lucky few who get to visit Cocos, you will need previous permission from the rangers to go ashore and you will not be allowed to camp overnight. But, as you walk the shores, thinking of pirates and imagining where the buried treasure is, you will see many rocks along the shore bearing inscriptions from sailors over the centuries. Way before Kilroy was here, sailors wrote their names and dates of visits. There is even find one bearing the name of Jacque Cousteau’s son, who signed a rock a couple of decades ago.

Costa Rica Beaches: First Discovered by Columbus And Now You

Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful countries on the planet, world-famous for its beaches, tropical mountains, and volcanoes. Beaches in Costa Rica are unbeatable in their beauty. There are white, brown, and black sand beaches, coral beaches, and rugged boulder strewn beaches with magnificent surf, along two oceans.

The Caribbean beaches were first discovered and explored by Christopher Columbus, who was so taken that he named his discovery Costa Rica, the rich coast. The Spanish were soon followed by English sea captains like Sir Francis Drake (he is the same fellow who defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588). Indeed, Drake Bay along the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica is named for this captain who docked there on his explorations.

Fortunately, Columbus and Drake left a lot of places to discover for yourself. With nearly 800 miles of coastline, you’ll find some special place for you. There are popular beaches with beautiful girls and mile-after-mile of virtually deserted beaches for peace and quiet. The Caribbean has a reggie, Bob Marley, feel to it while the Pacific has attraction after attraction close at hand, not to mention places where the magnificent tropical forests nearly come to the beach.

With year-round warm weather, a great tourism infrastructure, and friendly folks who like Americans, Canadians, and Europeans (and everybody else) tourists flock to Costa Rica. They take advantage of warm, clean waters, two fantastic coastlines, and almost limitless attractions close-at-hand. Fishing, surfing, rafting, hiking, ecotourism, swimming, adult nightlife, volcanoes, and tropical mountains are just a few of the attractions.

There are so many beaches to explore that you could spend months, even years, in Costa Rica and still not manage to see them all. Many tourists and expats travel to or live on the magnificent Nicoya Peninsula along the country’s north-central coast. It is filled with spectacular beaches and the area is replete with non-beach attractions.

One of the more famous beaches on the Nicoya Peninsula is Playa Grande. It is said to be haunted by the spirits of an ancient people because it is situated on the site of their burial ground. It is a great beach for surfing, and there is camping in the area, though you may find some clothing optional folks.

It is impossible to name or describe all the wonderful beaches in Costa Rica. This little country is dedicated to sustainable development and takes pride in what it calls its Blue Flag beaches. In a country filled with great beaches these are the cleanest, most pristine of them all. For those who like to be alone on the beach, Playa Grande, Mal Pais, Bahia Ballena, and Hermosa (not to mention hundreds more) beckon like a siren. For those who like the beach and an active adult nightlife, Jaco and Tamarindo are very popular.

Regardless of which beach you choose, whether Tamarindo, Flamingo, Conchal, Tambor, or some beach without a name, if you enjoy beach life, a wonderful experience is awaiting you. Some of the beaches are easy to reach by car or bus. Others require more unconventional means, like flying into nearby areas or boating or even hiking. But the trouble of getting to them makes the stay all that much more worthwhile.