Cruising Golfo Dulce
Many travelers are drawn to Costa Rica to explore its Arenal volcano, to lounge on the beaches along the Guanacaste peninsula and to hit the zip lines all over this jungly Central American nation. But fewer outsiders have discovered the quirky-shaped Osa Peninsula, the country's most eco-rich environment. It sits on the south Pacific coast, hard against the Panama border, where there are few roads and fewer towns. The gulf is lined with fine and mostly empty beaches; inland, dense nature reserves are home to monkeys, birds and endangered cats. As a vital part of the ecosystem, mangrove swamps spread out from the deltas of tributary rivers.
In Partnership With
Puerto Caldera (Puntarenas), Costa Rica
One of the stops along the Panama Canal route, Puerto Caldera isn't your ordinary port of call, positioned as it is within easy day-trip distance of the country's multiple national parks.