Costa Rica is famous worldwide for rainforest, volcanoes, and wildlife, almost all of it on the Pacific side. Its Caribbean coast is Limón province, on the east. It is less visited than the Pacific, and it is Afro-Caribbean rather than Spanish.
The coast is Caribbean because of Jamaica. In the late 1800s thousands of Jamaican workers came to build the railroad and work the banana plantations, and they stayed. Their descendants are the Afro-Caribbean population of Limón, and they speak English Creole.
The food is Jamaican in origin. The staples are rice and beans cooked in coconut milk and rondón, a coconut seafood stew.
The main city is Puerto Limón. Its big event is Limón Carnival, an Afro-Caribbean celebration held every October. South of the city is Puerto Viejo, a beach town known for reggae, surf, and Rastafari culture.
Cahuita National Park protects reef and rainforest where they meet the sea. Tortuguero, reached only by boat, is a major green sea turtle nesting beach. Inland, in the Talamanca mountains, live the Bribri and Cabécar peoples.
Costa Rica is a Pacific and Central American country. Limón, its Caribbean coast, is Afro-Caribbean and English-speaking. It shares the sea, the people, and the culture of the rest of this shore.
Caribbean Costa Rica video
