Puerto Viejo is the kind of place where the activities all involve being outside, in the water, or both. Rent a bike from one of the dozens of shops along the main street and ride south through coastal forest to the beaches of Playa Cocles, Playa Chiquita, and Punta Uva — a string of golden- and dark-sand bays separated by rocky headlands and reef.
Inland, the Jaguar Rescue Center and the Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve are easy half-day trips, and the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge at the southern end of the coast road is the place for serious wildlife. Surfers go straight to the Salsa Brava wave just offshore from town; the more cautious paddle out at Playa Cocles, where lessons are cheap and the waves more forgiving.