Puntarenas, Costa Rica Hotels, Vacations, Tourism

Heat-stunned PUNTARENAS , 110km west of San José, has the look of raffish abandonment that haunts so many tropical port cities. What isn't rusting has long ago been bleached out to a generic pastel, and the town's cracked, potholed streets, shaded by mop-headed mango trees, are lined with old wooden buildings painted in faded tutti-frutti colours. Tourists come mainly to catch a lancha or ferry across to southern Nicoya – there's little to see or do in the town itself. more »