Abundant wildlife, beaches and world-class resorts

Costa Rica is a country of just 19,700 square miles, which makes it bigger than Maryland but smaller than West Virginia. Despite these modest dimensions, it has both a Caribbean and a Pacific coastline and landscapes that range from intensely cultivated pineapple fields to virgin cloud forest. National parks and reserves cover nearly a quarter of its area, and there are no fewer than 66 volcanoes, including the tallest, Irazú, which rises to an elevation of 11,260 feet. In addition to its astonishing biodiversity and abundant wildlife, Costa Rica offers stirring scenery, distinctive cuisine, hospitable people, a benign tropical climate and a surprising number of world-class resorts.