Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí travel guide

On arriving, it’s difficult to believe that Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí is the largest town in the northwestern lowlands and was once a flourishing port moving people and produce northwards down the Sarapiquí River to join the River San Juan and from there to the Caribbean. There are still possibilities for river travel but you will need time, plenty of cash and a fair amount of patience if you want to make it to Tortuguero. For the moment at least, the opportunity to jump on the banana boat has long gone.

Today’s Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí is a couple of roads linking the small riverside dock with the bus station and not much of interest in between. You enter town at the junction a few hundred metres west of town. The town limps along in that empty, bored way so common of defunct docks. But it isn’t as though people don’t visit the area – the road west to La Virgen and the road south to the main highway are littered with ecolodges, private reserves and river rafting opportunities. River trips on the Sarapiquí can be organized from, or near, Puerto Viejo – upstream is whitewater trips, downstream float trips – but most people book from San José.

Tours to agricultural centres come and go. The Banana Plantation tour may reopen again soon, but you could always try a Pineapple Tour. Mainly aimed at groups, explore the options at http://www.agritourscr.com or http://www.sarapiquicostarica.com.