Known as the "Pearl of the Pacific", Puntarenas (Sand Point in Spanish) is the largest province of Costa Rica, with an area of 11.276 Km2.   Its main attraction is its Pacific coastline, extending over more than 500 miles down to the Panamanian boarder.  

First known as Villa Bruselas in colonial times, Puntarenas was discovered by Hernán Ponce de León in 1519.  The port of Puntarenas was not developed until 1840 when coffee production in the highlands reached exportable volumes.  

Except for Cognac and hard liquor, in 1845 the port was declared duty-free. nbsp;   Originally, the coffee was brought to port in oxcarts via a trail through the mountains.   In 1879, a stretch of railroad track was completed which connected Puntarenas with the town of Esparza where the oxcart trail came out of the mountains.   Esparza was one of the country's earliest Spanish settlements, and was founded in 1554, ten years before the Central Valley began to be colonized.   

Eventually, the railroad was built all the way the rough to San José (the capital of Costa Rica), with service starting in 1910.  The Pacific port's activities continued to be a major part of the region's economy throughout the 20th century.  

Due to the deterioration of the port facilities and the need to accommodate the much larger vessels of modern shipping fleets, a new port was constructed in the 1980s to the south of Puntarenas.   The site chosen was Caldera, where ships had anchored during colonial times.

Puntarenas is one of the most important tourism regions in Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica the average annual temperature is around 21 to 27 degrees Celsius (70 to 81 degrees Fahrenheit) and the coolest months of the year are November, December and January.   The months March - May are the hottest months of the year, so make sure you protect yourself from the sun.