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National Geographic Traveler’s German edition has given Costa Rica eleven pages in its September issue, describing Costa Rica as a treasure of nature and taking readers on a route that runs from the Pacuare River to the Osa Peninsula. The photographs reaching German newsstands this month include hummingbirds, beaches, forest canopy, a sloth and rafters on whitewater. The written feature follows a journey through the Nairi Awari Indigenous Territory, San Gerardo de Dota and Los Quetzales National Park before moving south to Carate Beach, Corcovado National Park and the Gulf of Nicoya. The Costa Rican Tourism Institute ( ICT ) said the article is the product of a partnership with National Geographic Germany. Under that agreement, Costa Rica covered airfare, lodging and production costs for the assignment. As of Saturday, the institute did not have figures available on how much it spent on those items. The ICT said that in exchange, Costa Rica appeared in a publication where...

The Atlantic has reached the second week of September without a single hurricane. That has not happened in a very long time, and forecasters do not expect it to change soon. The National Hurricane Center’s outlook says no tropical cyclone is expected to form anywhere in the Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea or the Gulf over the next seven days. That takes the basin past the middle of the month with nothing on the horizon. Five named storms had formed by the start of September — Arthur, Bertha, Cesar, Dolly and Edouard. None reached sustained winds of 119 km/h (74 mph), which is the line a storm has to cross to be called a hurricane. If none does so before September 12, this becomes the longest wait for a first Atlantic hurricane since satellites began tracking them. For a basin that normally does most of its work between mid-September and October, that is a strange place to be standing. The reason is sitting in the Pacific El Niño is a periodic warming of the surface wa...

Costa Rica expects around 150,000 cruise passengers to arrive in Puntarenas during the 2026–2027 season, a sharp increase that could bring more business to tour operators, restaurants, transportation companies and shops along the Pacific coast. The Costa Rican Pacific Ports Institute ( INCOP ), projects 72 cruise ship visits during the season. That compares with 64 ships and approximately 90,000 passengers during the previous period. If the projection holds, Puntarenas will receive about 60,000 more cruise passengers than it did last season, an increase of nearly 67%. The number of ship visits would rise by 12.5%. The longer-term increase is even larger. Puntarenas received 63 cruise ships and 79,000 passengers during the 2024–2025 season. That means passenger traffic is expected to climb by almost 90% over two seasons, according to INCOP. The figures represent passengers arriving at Costa Rica’s Pacific cruise terminals and should not be confused with the broader number of in...

One of the largest arribadas of the year began in the early morning hours this morning at the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge in Guanacaste, as thousands of olive ridley sea turtles emerged from the Pacific to nest on the beach long known as their favorite stretch of Costa Rican coastline. Guides and residents alike described this week’s event as among the biggest seen so far in 2026. More turtles were expected to continue arriving through Friday night and into Saturday morning. The spectacle draws both Costa Ricans and tourists eager to watch the turtles come ashore, dig their nests, lay their eggs and return to the sea. That cycle has made Ostional one of the most closely watched nesting sites in the world. The timing fits a well-established seasonal pattern as well as arribadas occur throughout the year at Ostional, but September, October and November typically bring the largest events, when more than 100,000 turtles can come ashore in a single night and a single ar...

The rare blue octopus that surprised scientists has returned to the Galápagos Islands. The specimen, about the size of a golf ball, will be preserved at the Charles Darwin Research Station, which houses an extensive collection representing the archipelago’s extraordinary biodiversity. An expedition collected the first specimen of this species, distinguished by its small tentacles, in 2015 at a depth of more than 1,700 meters (5,600 feet) in the northern part of the Ecuadorian archipelago, known for its endemic flora and fauna. Only three specimens have been observed to date, but the other two were recorded only on video. The octopus, which was already dead, was taken in 2022 to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, United States. There, it was given the scientific name Microeledone galapagensis , classified and introduced to the world. On Monday, it returned to the Galápagos, although its tentacles had lost their intense blue color, its body had turned opaque and its...

If you have been waiting for the right weekend to see humpback whales in Costa Rica, this is it. The 16th Whale and Dolphin Festival takes place this weekend, September 4, 5 and 6 in Costa Ballena in the South Pacific, timed to the peak of the season when humpbacks fill the warm water off Uvita. The whales are the reason the festival exists. Adults reach nearly 16 meters (52 feet) and weigh up to 36 metric tons (about 40 short tons), and they arrive here after one of the longest migrations any mammal makes. Whales reaching Costa Rican waters can cover between 5,000 and 8,000 kilometers (3,100 to 5,000 miles) from cold-water feeding grounds, some as far south as the waters near the Antarctic Peninsula. They come to breed, give birth, and raise their calves where the water is warm and sheltered. Mothers spend these weeks teaching their young to feed, socialize, and move through open ocean. Bahía Ballena, next to Marino Ballena National Park , is one of the best-documented breedi...