Limón Carnival

Limón carnival was started in 1949 by a local man who had seen the carnival in Panama and thought his city should have one, and it grew into the largest street celebration in Costa Rica, held over about a week each October around the twelfth. The character is Caribbean rather than Latin American: calypso and soca rather than salsa, comparsas in feathered costume, steel pan, and a Grand Desfile that fills the seafront avenue for hours. Food stalls run the length of it selling rice and beans in coconut milk, patí and pan bon. The rest of the year Limón is a working port with little for visitors.

What you actually see

• The Grand Desfile - the main parade along the seafront avenue.
• Comparsas - costumed troupes competing through the week.
• Calypso and steel pan - the Caribbean sound the carnival runs on.
• The food stalls - Afro-Caribbean cooking the length of the route.

When to go

The carnival runs for about a week each October, built around the twelfth. Dates shift and the programme is published locally rather than far in advance. Accommodation in Limón is limited and fills; many visitors stay in Cahuita or Puerto Viejo and travel in.

Honest expectations

Puerto Limón has a genuine crime problem and carnival crowds make pickpocketing routine; carry little, stay in the crowd and arrange transport rather than walking back late. Accommodation in the city is limited and basic. Outside carnival week there is very little reason to stop in Limón. The programme changes at short notice.

Nearby

Cahuita is an hour south; the Caribbean beaches run down from there.