Home to one of the world’s most diverse landscapes, Costa Rica is an ideal destination for those who wish to explore fragile habitats teeming with life – while helping to protect them. From ecological lodging to conscious, yet adventurous tours, Costa Rica is a leading destination providing comfort, surprise and delight for environmentally aware travelers.
In addition to helping the natural environment, ecotourism places a strong emphasis on ventures that significantly contribute to the local economy. While the owners of Costa Rica’s lodging and tour companies typically hail from abroad, ecotourism ventures make a point to hire people from the local community – more than just the maid and laundry service – and keep a large portion of the profits inside Costa Rica.
EcolodgesArchitecture that works with nature, not against it, is the essence of ecolodging in Costa Rica. Ecohotels and ecoresorts are located in untouched rainforests, alongside the stunning coastline and near the inland’s mountainous cloud forests. They allow for sustainable tourism by promoting conservation while housing tourists who seek to vacation in harmony with the land.
The cuisine is often delectable, and the comfort a notch above, yet everything is prepared, built and operated with environmentally friendly standards, and the staff is pooled from the local community.
EcotoursTrekking through the jungle, scaling an active volcano, diving alongside delicate reef – there is always a potential for damaging the fragile native habitat. Ecotours tread lightly upon the earth, while bringing you to breathtaking heights and mysterious depths of Costa Rica’s forests and waters.
Swing from treetops on an ecofriendly canopy tour, or hike out to rustic locations and see rare turtles during the nesting season. The miracles of nature abound, and you can observe them harmoniously.
Things to watch out forEcotourism has obvious appeal, especially in a place like Costa Rica, whose beloved natural landscape and wildlife populations inspire awe among travelers. Unfortunately, many tour operators seek to capitalize on this without actually implementing ecologically friendly practices in their tours and lodging facilities.
Therefore, it is important to be vigilant, and do some research on the company you plan to go with. Sometimes people come back from Costa Rica with horror stories of “ecoguides” who show flagrant disrespect for the local flora and fauna, or “ecohotels” that simply cut corners, engaging, for example, in a hiring policy that contributes little to the local economy.
The following resources provide checklists and things to watch out for, in order to make sure that your ecotourism adventure in Costa Rica is as ecofriendly as your intentions are:
Additional Resources
America University - Pros and cons of Costa Rica ecotourism
University of Michigan - Becoming an informed ecotourist
Stanford - South America ecotourism [doc]