Fishing Frenzy

Has the world got you down, Bucko? Are your better days behind you? World passing you by? A Costa Rica vacation may be just what the doctor ordered. Consider:

1. Airfares have not been this low in years. The world economic downturn has come to Costa Rica. Tourism in Costa Rica is down by at least 15% this year, presenting terrific travel deals to a frugal, informed traveler . Want luxury at an affordable price? Budget-conscious folks who travel Costa Rica can stay at very nice Costa Rica hostels (some with private rooms) for about $12.00. If you are a bit more flush with cash, but still looking for a deal, the Hilton Papagayo Resort is offering accomodations around $160.00 a night. Seniors can get an extra discount. Travel Tip: always ask the hotel, resort, or hostel if there is a discount for cash. And, keep in mind that the very best rates are between May to mid-November and the premium prices are over the holidays.

2. With almost eight hundred miles of coastline visit some of the exquisite Costa Rica beaches. Boat off of Drake Bay, named after Sir Francis Drake, who visited the southern Costa Rica Pacific coast a decade before sinking the Spanish Armada and saving England in 1588. You can even walk the same Caribbean beach where Columbus named Costa Rica six centuries ago. Black, brown, and white sand beaches, sea shell beaches, rugged rock-strewn beaches are everywhere.

3. Frolic on the same Costa Rica beaches enjoyed by Mel Gibson and Britney Spears. Do not forget to bring your surfboard because some of the best surfing on the planet is found here. Most beaches are completely free but if you prefer to visit a very popular national beach park called Manuel Antonio, there will be a small entry fee.

4. Become an ecotourist. Costa Rica ecotourism has become very popular and is helping to preserve endangered sea turtles, exotic macaws, and many other species while bringing in much needed revenue to local communities. Be sure to check out Ostional National Preserve on the popular Pacific Gold Coast, where thousands of olive ridley sea turtles come ashore in massive nestings, called "arribadas", perhaps the largest spectacle of its kind in the world. Arribadas occur every month but the biggest (sometimes involving hundreds of thousands of turtles) typically are from July through November when the moon is in its last quarter.

5. Called the "Switzerland of Latin America," this mountainous little country has nearly as many kinds of birds as in the entire continental U.S. and more species of butterflies than are found in all of Africa. It is so diverse that twenty percent of all animal and plant species in the world are found in this country. It even has the only butterfly that makes a sound and a vegetarian spider.

6. If you are really into nature, visit magnificent Corcovado National Park on the southern Pacific Coast, a place National Geographic calls "the most biologically intense place on earth." Don't expect all of the amenities of life in this sometimes rugged place that hosts the largest remaining population of scarlet macaws in all of Central America, including crocodiles, monkeys, and six kinds of wild cat, including the spectacular jaguar, not to mention some of the tallest primary forest remaining in this region of the world. Bring your camera, bug repellant, and band-aids for blisters.