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DETAIL MAP OF THE MONTEVERDE AREA
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Detailed Road Map of the Southern Nicoya Peninsula
and Puntarenas County Costa Rica
The
inland portion of Puntarenas Canton is home to the famous Monteverde Cloudforest
Preserve, driving to the northeast of the Interamerican Highway. Puntarenas also
extends to the coast of the Gulf of Nicoya, and also covers the southern
Nicoya Peninsula. The city of Puntarenas is built out on a barrier island
or finger of land extending into the Gulf of Nicoya at the river mouth of
the Puntarenas Estuary.
Taking the coastal highway south from Puntarenas, you will find the Port
of Caldera, arrival point for many of the cruise ships that visit Costa Rica.
That road continues inland a ways to Orotina before it turns south along
the coast leading to the Jaco Beach area.
Puntarenas has plenty of tourist attractions, the most popular being boating
and watersports in the Gulf of Nicoya. Boat tours to the various islands
in the Gulf are frequented by birdwatchers seeking many rare and endangered
migratory raptors and waterfowl species.
There is a Puntarenas ferry, and water taxi services, available to take tourists
across the Gulf to the many beaches and resorts along the southern Nicoya
Peninsula, such as Paquera, Curu, Tambor and Montezuma. From there, travelers
can rent a car and drive to the Pacific Coast side of the Nicoya Peninsula
to enjoy Cabo Blanco Reserve and the surfing beach areas of Mal Pais, Santa Teresa
and Manzanillo.
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