There’s plenty to see and do in Jaco. For sport fisherman, the party is out at sea. In addition, the luxurious Los Suenos Marriott Beach and Golf Resort, just north at Playa Herradura, now offers tourists a 250-slip marina, tennis courts, an upscale spa, an 18-hole championship golf course, and breathtaking beachfront rooms. The beaches north and south of town are much more scenic, and safer for swimmers. Eco-tourists enjoy horseback treks, canopy tours, and hiking through the bordering jungles.

Jaco's central location makes it an ideal location for travelers that want to live and explore up and down the Pacific coast.

The best destination is the Carara Biological Reserve nine miles north, a vital nesting ground for scarlet macaws.

Carara National Park

Carara National Park was established on April 27, 1978 as a biological reserve, but its growing popularity after 1990 forced the government to upgrade its category to national park due to the massive numbers of tourist that visited it. Thus on November 1998 Carara was upgraded to national park category.

Carara (the Huetar name for crocodile) is unique in that it lies at the apex of the Amazonian and Mesoamerican ecosystems—a climatological zone of transition from the dry of the Pacific north to the very humid southern coast—and is a meeting place for species from both. The 5,242-hectare park borders the Pan-American Highway, so you can literally step from your car and enter the last significant stand of primary forest of its kind on the Pacific coast.

The dense tree growth makes Carara a haven for many bird species, and the park is a popular birdwatching destination. In addition to Scarlet Macaws, birds found in Carara include orange-chinned parakeets and other parrots, hummingbirds,woodpeckers, motmots, manakins, antbirds, and several spieces of trogon, including theblack-throated trogon. Several species of water birds inhabit the park as well. These include the anhinga, several species of heron, several species of egret  and kingfishers.

Manuel Antonio contains a charming combination of rain forest, beaches and coral reefs. This beaches are the most beautiful in the country, lined with lush forest, and the snorkeling is excellent too. The forest is home for sloths, iguanas, the rare and adorable squirrel monkeys and millions of colorful little crabs. And the trail that winds around Punta Catedral affords some spectacular views. The park is easy to reach, south of the town of Quepos, and is near a good selection of hotels and restaurants.

Visiting the park, one is treated to an abundant diversity of wildlife. Cathedral Point, with its forest topped cliffs was once an island, but is now connected to the coast by a thin strip of island. This land bridge now forms the spine separating the parks two most popular beaches, Playa Espadilla Sur and Playa Manuel Antonio.

The southern facing beach, Playa Manuel Antonio, is a picturesque half mile long, white sand crescent bisecting deep green foliage to one side and a private, secluded cove to the other.

Standing with your feet dug into the sand and watching the wave crash against the rocks on either side of the lagoon, it is easy to believe that you are a thousand miles from anywhere.