Rincon de La Vieja National Park
It's located 35 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal.
Rincon de La Vieja is ONE of the Highlights in the Area your vacation in Costa Rica will not be completed without visiting La Cangreja waterfall there is a hike 6 miles at these place you also have the chance to see a lot of wildlife such a Howler Monkeys,Spider Monkeys,White faced capuccino Monkey good amount of Birds,and plants.
Monteverde Costa Rica
It's 82 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal. Set atop the spine of Costa Rica’s continental divide, Monteverde is a world above the coastal towns that dot the country's famous shoreline. It is a place of cloud forests and coffee plantations, monkeys, mist, and friendly locals. The town of Santa Elena is small and quaint, filled with tasty restaurants and folksy artisan shops, while the nearby rainforest hosts a remarkable amount of biodiversity.
Due to its high altitude – some 4,662 ft (1,440 m) above sea level – Monteverde is privileged to receive a steady supply of clouds and the life-giving moisture that they contain. This moisture, often in the form of fog, catches on the branches of the tallest trees and drips down to the other organisms below. This helps to support a complex and far-reaching ecosystem, one that harbors over 100 species of mammals, 400 species of birds, tens of thousands of insect species, and over 2,500 varieties of plants, 420 of which are orchids alone.
Visitors can explore this internationally recognized environment from trails and trams, along canopy tours or inside museums. It’s wise to plan on spending at least a few days to adventure through this verdant and mountainous world.
Barra Honda National Parks
It's 53 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal.
Barra Honda is unique among the National Parks of Costa Rica: its main attraction is a large, intricate system of limestone caverns, decorated with a multitude of capricious forms and figures.
The hill of Barra Honda hides many surprises.
The nearly flat mesa of the Barra Honda hill looms 300 m above the Tempisque valley and has its highest peak at 450 m altitude. Its base consists of a former coral reef dating back over 60 million years. Tectonic faulting uplifted it from its former seabed and rains created underground waterways. The constant dropping of rainwater on calcium carbonate has then created these underground art galleries - fancies of nature slowly grown over millenniums of years.
Until now only 19 of Barra Honda's 42 caves have been explored. The cave system was only discovered in the late 60ies. Before that people believed that Barra Honda was a volcano. They took the whirring of bat wings for volcanic activity and the smell of guano for sulfur fumes.
In fact, the bat's cave, called Pozo Hediondo (Fetid Cave), is home to a colony of around 5000 bats. Soon after sunset these flying mammals surge from their underground dwelling to swoop into the night.
The caves of Barra Honda are well preserved because their vertical entrances are difficult to negotiate. Nevertheless have human skeletons and pre-Columbian artefacts been found in the 30 m deep Nicoa Cave.
Entrance to the Terciopelo cave
The deepest of the Barra Honda caves is Santa Ana which drops to 249 meters below surface, while La Trampa (the trap) has the deepest precipice - a 30 m vertical entrance. Speleologists and spelunkers from around the world are drawn to Barra Honda.
One of the largest and most beautiful caves is Terciopelo which along with la Cuevita, is the only one open to the public. Tours must be accompanied by a local guide. At the entrance to the cave you are fit with a rappelling harness and helmet. The harness is only a security for the initial 17-meter descent on an aluminium ladder.
Tenorio Volcano National Park
It's 59 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal.
Celeste River is a river in Tenorio Volcano National Park of Costa Rica. It is notable for its distinctive turquoise coloration. The Celeste River also borders several hot springs and has one large waterfall. It takes about an hour to hike to the waterfall from the park's entrance.
The source of the river's distinctive turquoise color is not a due to a chemical species but to a physical phenomenon known as Mie scattering. Celeste River is fed by two colorless rivers, the Buenavista River and Sour Creek. Buenavista River carries a large concentration of aluminosilicate particles with a small diameter. Sour Creek, as its name implies, has a high acidity due to volcanic activity. When these two streams mix to form Celeste River, the drop in pH causes the aluminosilicate particles to aggregate and enlarge to a diameter of about 566 nm. These suspended particles produce Mie scattering which gives the river a strong turquoise color.
The beautiful of the river and the waterfall is unbelieveable.
Ostional National Wildlife Refuge
It's 60 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal.
The main attraction of the park starts in July and lasts until December when hundreds of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles assemble off the coast then barrage the beachhead during the nights that precede a full moon. These mass beach arrivals that occur every three or four weeks are known locally as arribadas. Each arribada lasts about a week, as wave after wave of turtles swim ashore, sometimes totaling up to 150,000. The Ridley can be sighted making its way inland at all times of the year-though far less frequently after the typical mating season. Leatherbacks and Pacific green turtles can also be sighted from October to January.
Residents of Ostional have collaborated with state officials to organize an imaginative conservation effort that benefits both the Ridley and the local economy. The number of turtles during the Ridley's arribadas can be so great that eggs laid on the first few nights are frequently destroyed by the next wave of turtles storming the beach. Thus, the locals are allowed to harvest the first clutches of eggs and sell them at a fair market price. This sanctioned cultivation has actually resulted in the hatching of more eggs, while simultaneously weakening the black-market for plundered eggs.
Aside from the turtles, many other animal species make the national refuge home including iguanas, monkeys, coatis, crabs, and many birds. The south end of the refuge near the Nosara River is home to many estuaries and mangroves rich in neotropical fauna.
In a short way from The Lighthouse Ocotal you can find a lot of beaches. Some of them fit for swimming with children, some for snorkeling and kayaking or surfing. Different colors of sands like white , gold and black give you the choice of a background for your pictures. There is a lot of fish in the ocean. You can easily organise unforgettable fishing, snorkeling and diving . And of course stunning sceneries of Costa Rica joy you a whole time.
Santa Rosa National Park
It's 42 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal.
The park is home to Costa Rica's most famous monument, the Hacienda Santa Rosa-also known as La Casona-which marks the fall of filibuster William Walker's professional mercenaries to a local makeshift peasant army in 1856. The Casona serves as a history museum that pays tribute to the battle.
Ten unique habitats span the 122,350 acre park, ranging from mangrove swamp to dry tropical forest, each of which provide sanctuary for copious animal species. A total of 250 species of bird inhabit the park as well as 115 species of mammals which include iguanas, deer, monkeys-white faced, howler, and spider-five species of big cats, and a plethora of bats.
A kilometer or so beyond the entrance to the Santa Rosa sector is a rusting antique armored car-a remnant of an unsuccessful Nicaraguan military campaign to invade Guanacaste in 1955. 3.5 miles (6 km) up the road is the newly rebuilt Hacienda, a replica to replace the old one that burned to the ground in 2001 by arsonists. From here trails branch out into the park's interior. The mile long (1.5 km) Naked Indian Trail forms a loop through the dry forest, along streams and waterfalls teeming with local fauna. Several watering holes line the Los Patos trail, making it ideal for spotting wildlife.
8 miles (13 km) beyond the Casona, via rugged dirt road, lies Naranjo Beach which is known for its exceptional surfing. Alongside is Nancite Beach which limits its visitors (30 per day) in order to prevent disruption to one of the most significant nesting sites of the Ridley turtle in Costa Rica. As many as 10,000 turtles at a time may swarm the beach during the months of September and October.
The entrance to the Murcielago sector is 6 miles (10 km) beyond the Santa Rosa park entrance, along the Inter-American Highway. A sign at the village of Cuajiniquil will direct visitors to take a left at the fork-in-the-road that leads to the Murcielago park entrance about 5 miles (8 km) beyond. The road passes the old CIA training camp where contras were trained to fight in neighboring Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime's tenure. It's no coincidence that the Murcielago sector was once the private property of the Samoza family, which ruled Nicaragua with an iron fist. After the death of the last Samoza dictator, Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the land was expropriated by the Costa Rican government and subsequently incorporated into the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa.
Beyond the old CIA training camp, now used by the Costa Rican police force, is a secret airstrip that Oliver North had constructed to supply the contras. A mere 5 kms further is Murcielago's entrance. The isolated white-sand beaches of Blanco Beach are 10 miles (16 km) beyond the park's entrance, an excellent place for birding. Nearby Cuajiniquil Canyon is a unique clammy microclimate that hosts some interesting flora and fauna.
The Santa Rosa sector's park entrance can be accessed via the Interamericana, 23 miles (37 km) north of Liberia, on route to the Nicaraguan boarder. Busses depart from Liberia and La Cruz daily-ask the bus driver to drop you off at the park entrance.
Dry season is the best time to visit as roads are easily navigable and vegetation is sparse, making for easy observation of fauna.
Arenal Volcano Costa Rica
It's 84 miles from The Lighthouse Ocotal.
Positioned within Costa Rica’s fertile northern lowlands, the Arenal Volcano is an unavoidable presence while traveling within this part of the country. It is tall and imposing and has a reputation that precedes itself. Arenal’s perfectly symmetrical shape makes it a sightseer’s dream, while its abundance of outdoor activities makes it an easy place to check things off your “must-do in Costa Rica” list.
Until 2010, it was Costa Rica’s most active volcano. Much to the enjoyment of its visitors, Arenal spewed enormous amounts of lava, gas and ash on a regular basis. That eruptive cycle – which began with the infamous eruption of 1968 – ended recently. In October 2010, Arenal entered into an indeterminate resting phase. For the time being, visitors will be unable to watch the much-loved explosions, although that could change within a matter of months or years. Travelers to Arenal will still enjoy its bountiful sights, sounds and activities— there are mountains to be hiked, lakes to be fished and rivers to be floated. As one of the country’s most scenic and accessible areas, it is a requisite stop on any tour of Costa Rica.
Around the Arenal area you can find the numerous attractions like zip-line, hot springs butterfly gardens and etc.