Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
farming, fishing or managing small-scale cacao plantations. Others organized and staged
bloody strikes against United Fruit. Fed up with the status quo, Limón provided key sup-
port to José Figueres (a Costa Rican revolutionary) during the 1948 civil war. This act was
rewarded the following year when the new president enacted a constitution that granted
blacks full citizenship and the right to work and travel freely throughout Costa Rica.
Even though segregation was officially dismantled, Limón continues to live with its leg-
acy. The province was the last to get paved roads and the last to get electricity (areas to the
south of the city weren't on the grid until the late 1970s), and the region has chronically
higher crime and unemployment rates than the rest of the country.
While two major new infrastructure developments have been announced in recent years
- the construction of a $1 billion container port in Moín by the multinational corporation
APM and a Chinese-financed US$221 million initiative to widen Hwy 32 to four lanes - it
is unclear whether the economic benefits of these projects will be shared by the local pop-
ulation. Indeed, plans for the container port have sparked massive protests by dockwork-
ers' union members in Limón and Moín who fear that privatization of the port will under-
mine, rather than improve, their standard of living.
Sights & Activities
Limón itself has no beach; for a swim, you'll need to head out of town to Playa Bonita.
Parque Vargas PARK
( MAP GOOGLE MAP )
The city's waterfront centerpiece won't ever win best in show, but its decrepit bandstand,
paths and greenery are surprisingly appealing, all shaded by palms and facing the docks.
Playa Bonita BEACH
While not the Caribbean's finest beach, Playa Bonita, 4km northwest of town on the
Limón-Moín bus route, offers sandy stretches of seashore and good swimming. Surfers
come for Bonita's point/reef break, which makes for a powerful (and sometimes danger-
ous) left. Experienced surfers might also want to hit the punishing reef break at Isla Uvita,
the wild green rock 1km offshore.
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