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Imagine catching a flight at 6 a.m. out of Pensacola Regional Airport and then climbing through the canopy of a rain forest later that same day.
Book a trip to Costa Rica.

The Central American oasis is a popular vacation destination for Pensacola-area residents who are seeking outdoor adventure.

“It’s a great place to go because it’s inexpensive and luxurious,’’ said Sharon Wiegner, with Adventure Travel on Bayou Boulevard.

She and her husband fell in love with the colorful country after traveling there a few years ago.

What’s the allure?

Costa Rica is a tropical paradise and an ecotourism mecca.

With a landmass about the size of West Virginia, and bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the south-southeast, more than 25 percent of the country consists of protected forests and reserves. The land is brimming with 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity, including parrots, orchids and howler monkeys. With the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, and mountains in between, outdoor adventures abound. They include white-water rafting, hiking the rain forest, scaling Irazu volcano, and surfing and scuba diving along the coastlines.

Costa Rican vacations are a bargain at a time when European vacation prices are soaring.

Round-trip airfare from Pensacola with connections in Houston or Atlanta, is roughly $600 to $650.

A five-day vacation package, including airfare, from Pensacola for a couple, is roughly $2,100. The same trip for a family of four is around $3,200, said Denise Winship, a travel consultant with Fillette Green Travel Services.

“Costa Rica has been a real hotspot for a while because it’s a pretty good deal,’’ she said. “Everything is affordable, with the exception of car rentals. They’re pretty high, and you need money up front to rent them.’’

But you save money when staying at many resorts and hotels because most offer a free breakfast, which usually consists of a traditional cuisine of beans, eggs and fruit.

If you don’t care about frills, the least expensive deals are on the east coast, Wiegner said.

“On the Caribbean side of the country is your surfing-dude, laid back, inexpensive place to stay,’’ she said.
Accommodations are modest — similar to staying in a Days Inn — with rooms priced as little as $49 to $59 a day. That’s a bargain, considering you’re surrounded by a tropical paradise.

“The food there is fresh and fabulous and cheap,’’ Wiegner said. “You can get the best seafood dinner for about $9. We went out for grilled lobster, and it was $10.”

More upscale hotels and resorts with beautiful beaches and boat marinas are found on the Pacific coast in places in towns such Jaco and Manuel Antonio, she said.

“You can stay in a hotel in Manuel Antonio, on the top of a hill with a balcony and a beautiful view of the mountains and the Pacific Ocean, for about $90 a night,’’ she said.

Both Wiegner and Winship say the country is safe, filled with Americans and Europeans, and the residents embrace tourists. But travelers do need to use common-sense caution because it is a third-world country, and just as you wouldn’t wander off in certain parts of New York, Los Angeles or New Orleans alone, you don’t want to wonder off the beaten tourist tracks in Costa Rica. For this reason, if you’re a first-time visitor there, Winship suggests considering a guided tour.

“Then, once you see what it’s all about, you can go back as an independent traveler,” she said.
And she quipped: “Don’t go venturing off into the jungle by yourself because the animals there do bite.’’

Book a trip to Costa Rica
• --Adventure Travel, 4401 Bayou Blvd., 478-6250.
• --Fillette Green Travel Services, 313 S. Palafox, 434-2543.
• --Colorful Costa Rica, a WUWF Travel Hound tour, from May 4-11. Public radio station WUWF-88.1 is offering this cultural trip to 20 of its listeners. The eight-night, seven-day, cultural guided tour begins in the stunning riverbank city of Cartago and includes excursions to the lush tropical forest of Tapanti National Park, to pristine beaches, spa resorts, and historic sites. Cultural activities include a cooking class. For more details and to find out if space is available, call Kassy Tyler, director of major gifts, WUWF at 800-491-1148, or get details by logging on to www.wuwf.org or www.ccjourneys.com.
• --For details on everything you need to know when traveling to Costa Rica, including cuisine, passports, currency exchange, sites to see, things to do and guided tours, log on to www.costarica.com.

Sites to see
• --Big cats and tapirs: See these rare animals at the Corcovado National Park, which is considered to be internationally renowned among ecologists for its biodiversity.
• --Turtle mecca: Check out Tortuguero National Park and see spider, howler and white-throated Capuchin monkeys, the three-toed sloth, 320 species of birds (including eight species of parrots) and a variety of reptiles. Tortuguero, which translates to “full of turtles,’’ is mostly recognized for the annual nesting of the endangered green turtle. It’s considered the most important nesting site for this species and is also where the giant leatherback, hawksbill and loggerhead turtles nest.
• --Flora and fauna galore: The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve hosts 2,000 plant species, including numerous orchids, and more than 400 types of birds and 100 species of mammals.
• --Rich history: If you can pull yourself away from the natural treasures, check out the national treasures. Costa Rica has 30-plus museums scattered across the country, including Ethno-Historical Museum of Limon that hosts a collection of pieces associated with the arrival of Christopher Columbus.