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Caves
At Barra Honda National Park (Guanacaste province) and Venado Caves (Alajuela province), extensive systems of limestone caverns are protected. However, to enter them it is necessary to receive special advance permission from the Park Service and there are many daily tours leaving from the main hotels near both places.
One of the most explored formations, La Terciopelo (Fer-de-Lance) is 180 ft. (55m) deep. Once foramation in this cave, known as the organ, produces different musical tones when struck.
With a total depth of 590 ft. (108 m), La Trampa (The Trap) has the steepest dropoff at 52 m (171 ft). Containing th largest caverns, it has one whose interior is composed of eye-dazzling pure white calcite.
El Perico (The Parakeet) is 21 m (69 ft.) deep. Home to millions of bussing bats, Pozo Hediondo (Fetid Pit) sinks to 361 ft. (110 m), and the Sima Ramon Canela (Ramon Canela Pothole) is 35 m (115 ft.) deep. Los Seis (The Six) descends for 656 ft. (200 m).
Human remains have been found in Nicoya cave. Santa Ana has small grottos containing minutely intricate and delicate formations. There also are amazing collections of stalactites and stalagmites. Other unusually shaped formations found in the caves include grapes, curtains, fried eggs, pure white chalk flowers and needles.
If you wish to go down in the caves, make arrangments a week in advance; no visits are allwed during the rainy season or during Holy Week. Charges are around US$12 for equipment rental, US$16 for a guide (one to four people), and US$6 for park admisssion. Hikers also need a guide, who will be a member of the Asociation de Guias Ecololgistas (tel.506.659.1551)
