THE

WORK4TRAVEL

FRONTIER

CLUB

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As a traveller for adventure you'll participate in all kinds of interesting and varied activities and enjoy all manner of unusual experiences. Working a little along the way makes it all possible.

MONKEYS & SURFBOARDS - OUR TROPICAL BASE IN COSTA RICA

The waves are prime, the natural beauty staggering, the pace of life slow, the beer plentiful and the natives friendly.

Central America overflows with those incredible 'what? where? you did what?' places that can, well, change your life. Tiny on the map, Central America packs in more diversity than any comparable sized area on the planet.

On the Caribbean side there are white-sand beaches and offshore reefs at 'laze-out' towns, while the Pacific has bigger waves attracting expert surfers as well as first-timers wanting to learn. Costa Rica has some of the best waves in the whole of Latin America and surfers love Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has some of the world's most thrilling whitewater in the tropics - with rafting on rivers that tumble down from and through our mountains.

Ocean fishing is also world class and well known as one of the top ten best sport fishing destinations in the world.

If you are a scuba diving enthusiast, or want to learn, then there are numerous opportunities. You can also swim with dolphins and we have the longest whale-watching season in the world.

Lake Arenal is Costa Rica's largest lake, rated one of the three best windsurfing spots in the world. Here you can windsurf beneath Volcan Arenal, the most active volcano in Central America (and one of the most active in the world) which erupts in loud explosions every few hours with spectacular red lava flows.

Costa Rica's biological richness makes it one of the most popular destinations in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most interesting in all the Americas. It is not just a country you can visit once - it draws you back like a magnet. Costa Rica is a country where every day can be an adventure in one form or another.

Many members say how wonderful it is to have a main base in 'Paradise' and how lucky we are to work in such a place.

While our location high in the mountains of Costa Rica is certainly exotic, 'Paradise' is a combination of a great place, great company (other like-minded members) and great work projects with an element of adventure. While not all members want to come and experience true adventure in our mountain base those that do will experience something that money can't buy. Our 85-metre (280-feet) single drop waterfall is the highest of a hundred or so waterfalls we have, wildlife is prolific and monkeys come right up to our guest quarters. We even have our own frontier-style pub and eatery, and members can freely come and go.

Adventure and excitement is missing from many people's lives these days and the Frontier Club has been involved in true adventure since its inception in 1964 and we have run hundreds of our own projects - though members can choose from a multitude of others.

Special Note: Our places are not for everyone - nor can they be made that way. You will stay in jungle lodges, bunkhouses, mountain cabins, field stations, thatched huts - not Manhattan five-star or Paris deluxe - but they are much better of course, and you can bathe in pure mountain or spring water as opposed to recycled sewage, or one of our waterfalls shown here!

One thing we never apologise for is nature. We do everything we can to preserve the natural environment and bring it and its inhabitants as close to our members as we can while respecting the need for safety. At our rainforest sites the whole cast of jungle characters is present - the ones everyone wants to see. A monkey may want to share your breakfast, and you don't just view wildlife, you're surrounded by it - living amongst it.

Surfing is popular on both Costa Rica's coastlines. The Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific side is peppered with varying geographic features; rock points, sandbars, spits, reefs and other breakers generate the waves of a true surfer's paradise.

On the Caribbean coast, only the most intrepid surfers will explore the breaks at Punta Cocles, Puerto Viejo's Salsa Brava, and Punta Uva. There are pleasant bars and restaurants around the most popular surfing communities, providing plenty of nightlife. Costa Rica's diversity and tremendous variety of surf spots make it possible to surf consistent with magnificent waves all year round.

Dive opportunities: Costa Rica enjoys one of the most biologically diverse ocean ecosystems in the world. This is mainly because the heart of a vast habitat known as the Costa Rican Thermal Convection Dome (named for its proximity to this country) lies here. Shallow warm waters lie on top of low-oxygen cold water, creating the perfect ecosystem for a great variety of marine life.

The dome off the coast of Costa Rica is the only one in the world that is constant. Such conditions provide the Costa Rican waters with a very unique biological richness. Costa Rica has an abundance of dive sites, offering white tip reef sharks, giant schools of grunt, yellowtails, spotted eagle rays, turtles, stingrays, angel fish, octopus, sea horses, starfish, frog fish, and many species of eels. We have also seen whale sharks up to 35 feet long, as well as spinner dolphins, humpback whales, pilot whales, orcas, false killer whales and schools containing hundreds of mobulas and thousands of cow-nosed rays.

You can dive volcanic rock formations and rock pinnacles. There is black coral, soft coral and orange cup coral that opens up at night - truly stupendous. You can dive day or night.

The Humpback Whale visits Costa Rica from two separate hemispheres giving us the longest humpback season in the world.

River running (rafting) opportunities: Costa Rica has some of the world's best whitewater rafting on rivers that plunge through the spectacularly beautiful tropical wilderness. Whether an expert or beginner, nature lover or thrill seeker, there is an unforgettable experience awaiting you. In our own cloudforest, in the Talamanca Mountains, the Rio Cabagra rises and cascades down the mountain to form, with many other tributaries, the Rio General - Costa Rica's longest tropical adventure.

This is a playground for rafters and one of the finest and most exciting whitewater rivers in the world with over a hundred class III and IV rapids in the first 60 kilometers. Waterfalls cascade into the river along the route and the beauty of the wide tropical canyon is unsurpassed. Many of the rapids have aptly descriptive names - Elephant Rock, Michael's 3 Miles, Screaming Right Turn, The Ramp, Forever Eddy, The Brew, Go Left & Die(!), and The Whirlpool. It takes 3-4 days to run it.

Sea kayaking: With 635 miles of shore line along the Pacific and 132 miles on the Caribbean, and both oceans fed by literally hundreds of rivers, Costa Rica offers unequalled opportunity to enjoy the rapidly growing sport of sea kayaking. Expeditions along jungle rivers where you can glide noiselessly up to wildlife without disturbing the animals, overnight beach camping, combined with ease of learning, make kayaking a great experience for both beginners and experts alike. In places you can kayak in long outriggers holding eight or so people.

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