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Brief History of tourism in Puerto Limón
The Limon region has been imbued with a mixture of languages, ethnic groups, beliefs and customs that make this place an “exotic” tourist destination unlike any other. While the region has always been diverse, it underwent drastic changes beginning in the 19th century.
Indigenous cultures, especially the ancestors of the Cabécar and Bribri, were the first to inhabit this area. The region diversified with the arrival of Christopher Columbus to Isla Quiribrí (Isla
Uvita) on one of his legendary voyages in 1502. Subsequently, people began to arrive from ethnicities and cultures: from Jamaica and the Dutch Antilles, as well as Italy and China, during the construction of the railroad, which began in 1871.
The Caribbean coast was difficult to access from the Central Plateau, due to the mountainous geography that separates the two regions and the dense vegetation. The need to export the coffee
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