Costa Rica photos

Costa Rica images:

Black sands Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica	Rock outcrop Samara, Costa Rica	Costa Rica coastline Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
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Palm trees Samara, Costa Rica	Idyllic cove Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica	Secret falls Monteverde, Costa Rica
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Cloud forest Monteverde, Costa Rica	Shake Joes Samara, Costa Rica	Evening boats Manuel Antoio, Costa Rica
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Active Arenal Arenal, Costa Rica	Having a nap San Jose, Costa Rica	Lonely boat Samara, Costa Rica
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Costa Rica trees Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica	Beach head Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica	Stormy jungle Monteverde, Costa Rica
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Bike horns Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica	Reflective ocean Samara, Costa Rica	Incoming storm Arenal, Costa Rica
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Costa Rica pictures

Hill top tree Arenal, Costa Rica	Drive by volcanoe Arenal, Costa Rica	Arenal tree Arenal, Costa Rica
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Green stream Monteverde, Costa Rica	Surf boards Samara, Costa Rica	Waterfall Monteverde, Costa Rica
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Two trees Samara, Costa Rica	Hedge creation San Jose, Costa Rica	Jungle house Samara, Costa Rica
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Arenal and tree Arenal, Costa Rica	Rastaman Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica	Jungle stream Monteverde, Costa Rica
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Taking photos around Costa Rica

The following are tips on sites, places, areas of interest that make great opportunities for photography around India (in order of the towns I visited). Of course in the end you should not force a photograph, let it find you.

San Jose
Monteverde
Arenal
Samara
Manuel Antonio
Puerto Viejo

San Jose photos

San Jose is the capital city of Costa Rica and of the more ‘grimy’ capitals I’ve visited over my travels. There aren’t many photography highlights in this city but there are quite a few interesting museums to visit. I would use San Jose as a central base from where you would go on to more entertaining towns.

Monteverde photos

From San Jose I made my North towards the forest region of Monteverde. Monteverde made for some interesting photos as its located in a cloud forest and thus in one moment you can see a clear shot of the valley and in the next you cant see more than a few metres in front.

This sort of lighting and weather effects can make your photos look eerie and subjects appear as if they are in a Tim Burton film. Make sure you spend time walking around some of the nature reserves there, they can be spectacular including the Monteverde and Santa Elena reserves. There is also a great waterfall to photograph … although it’s a proper trek in the humidity.

Whilst taking shots hanging by a wire 1000’s ft above a jungle is probably a bit tricky I would certainly recommend the ‘zip wire’ activity. Its great fun and will certainly help you get over any vertigo.

Arenal photos

Arenal was a fascinating town reminiscent of ‘Pompeii’ in that is lay underneath an imposing active volcanoe. There is of course a safety line where you should not venture due to obvious dangers but you can take some really interesting photos. I found the contrast between the grey volcanic ash and lush green jungle and appealing subject to photograph.

I can also recommend checking out the natural spas underneath the volcanoe. There’s nothing like dipping yourself in a hot pool with a cocktail in one hand and the tip of the Arenal volcanoe glowing through the tree canopy.

Samara photos

From Arenal I headed West to the quiet beach town of Samara. Although it may not be the prettiest beach around there were still some cool coastline shots to take. There were also a number of fishing boats to take and I took a few action shots of the fishermen at work.

Manuel Antonio photos

After Samara I went to the more renowned reserve of Manuel Antonio. This area has been made a reserve due to the fantastic nature on offer. Pristine and idyllic white beaches are boarded by frothy surf one end and dense green forest on the other. On top of this there there are mangrove swamps and lagoons.

If you enjoy taking photos of animals and nature then make sure you pack your zoom lenses as there is an assortment of creatures including monkeys, iguanas, huge array of birds etc. I ‘luckily’ encountered two huge snakes, unfortunately I was not carrying the camera but it just shows the wealth of nature on tap.

Puerto Viejo photos

Finally I headed to the Caribbean coast town of Puerto Viejo. Personally I preferred the Pacific coast to the Caribbean however there were a couple of highlights to photograph. including the rather odd ‘black sand’ beach and also the Finca La Isla Botanical Garden