Limón

Outdoor Activities

Limón's growing crop of tour operators serves cruise-ship passengers almost exclusively.

Laura Tropical Tours. This operator has excursions to banana plantations, Tortuguero, and Cahuita National Park. Terminal de Cruceros, Limón, 70101. 2795-2410. www.viajestropicaleslaura.net.

Mambo Tour. These folks can take you on three- to eight-hour excursions around the region, and even on an all-day trip to the Rain Forest Aerial Tram or San José. Terminal de Cruceros, Limón, 70101. 8997-4198. www.mambotour.com.

Veragua Rainforest Adventure Park. Limón's newest attraction is a 4,000-acre nature theme park, about 30 minutes west of the city. It's popular with cruise-ship passengers in port for the day and is well worth a stop if you're in the area. Veragua's great strength is its small army of enthusiastic, super-informed guides who take you through a network of nature trails and exhibits of hummingbirds, snakes, frogs, and butterflies and other insects. A gondola ride overlooks the complex and transports you through the rain-forest canopy. A branch of the Original Canopy Tour, with nine platforms rising 46 meters (150 feet) above the forest floor, is here. The zip-line tour is not included in the basic admission to the park but is priced as an add-on. Veragua de Liverpool, 15 km (9 miles) west of Limón, Limón, 70501. 2296-5056 in San José. www.veraguarainforest.com. Full-day tour $66; full-day tour with canopy tour $99; full-day tour with transportation (does not include canopy tour) from San José $149 from Puerto Viejo de Talamanca $119. Tues.-Sun. 8-3.