The Most Beautiful Island In The World

Take it from Jacques Cousteau: Costa Rica’s is “the most beautiful island in the world.” The modern world’s most famous ocean adventurer couldn’t have been more right.

Isla del Coco, or Cocos Island, is Costa Rica’s gem. This uninhabited island covers all of 22 square kilometers of rocky terrain covered in rich lush forest. Most of the action, however, happens in the wet.

Snorkelers and beginning divers are welcome, but the beauty of the waters off Cocos Island lies in the big fishes that inhabit its clear waters. And unlike most diving destinations where these creatures can only be seen in the deep dark, the waters’ 100-foot visibility ensures an underwater safari filled with big game: reef sharks, hammerheads, dolphins, and manta rays are framed in schools of colorful reef fish.

Bear in mind that Cocos Island is a national park (it became such only in 1978) so specialty tourism and research visits frequent the area. Visiting it requires a commitment to travel at least three days on the open sea, and live boards (the Oceanos Aggressor and Undersea Hunter operate dive trips here) can run into more than $3,000.

It is relatively inaccessible compared to Costa Rica’s other islands owing to its craggy terrain and 480-kilometer distance from shore. The best time to visit? Depends on what you came for. November to May is considered the dry season (ergo, calmer seas) and this is the time the sharks come to visit. Hammerheads make their appearance during the rainy months.

Landlubbers aren’t left out of the fun. There are more than 200 waterfalls scattered all throughout the island, and the varied and thick forest cover ensures that it is home to a collection of plant and animal species that could keep a modern-day Charles Darwin giddy with excitement.

The Costa Rican mainland also has some sights to offer. Lake Arenal in Costa Rica’s central northern plains is considered one of the best freshwater windsurfing spots on the planet. Caribbean trade winds deliver up to 80 kph of propulsion. December through April is the ideal time to windsurf on Lake Arenal, but if you happen to be on the island a little earlier or later (say, August), Bahia Salinas on the northwest Pacific coast will do just fine.

For a bit of sabanero (cowboy) culture, go to Guanacaste on the country’s northwestern side. And for a more authentic look at these hardy Costa Ricans, visit the smaller towns of the Nicoya Peninsula, where a less glitzy but certainly rougher rodeo and bull roping can be witnessed.

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