Can a small village shift from transient tourism to meaningful connection—and why does it matter for both locals and travelers?
El Castillo, Costa Rica is more than a stopover. Discover how local permacultural experiences are reshaping tourism into something meaningful, sustainable, and soulful.
When tourism comes to a village, the effects are immediate and double-edged. On the surface, people are grateful—there are jobs, cash flow, visitors. But beneath that relief lies a quieter erosion: local ambition shrinks to fit a narrow service economy, while deeper, more enduring forms of wealth—land stewardship, knowledge, community resilience—fade into the background.
El Castillo, a small Costa Rican village near Arenal Volcano, is no exception. Many visitors book their stay here but spend most of their time elsewhere—driving from one attraction to the next, returning only to sleep. The village becomes a basecamp, not a destination.
Yes, money is made. Rentals are booked. Customers are served. But it’s not a model that builds real prosperity. These are jobs that fill time, not futures. They rarely lead to land ownership, creative autonomy, or intergenerational wealth. What’s more, they fail to offer the traveler what many are quietly seeking: connection, meaning, and a sense of place.
What might a healthier alternative look like?
A deeper kind of travel begins with the living world itself. In El Castillo, that means immersion in vibrant ecosystems—thick with edible plants, medicinal herbs, fungi, insects, birds, and the microbial life that makes the soil sing. These aren’t just scenic details—they are expressions of relationships. When travelers take part in experiences rooted in permaculture, they are invited to observe and learn from nature’s patterns of cooperation, diversity, and regeneration.
These values aren’t accidental. They stem from a clear ethical framework—care for the Earth, care for people, and fair share—which guides every experience we choose to feature. If you’re unfamiliar with permaculture’s ethics and principles, we’ve laid them out on this page as a reference and invitation. In this model, nature isn’t just something to look at. It’s something to align with.
One answer lies in experiential, ecosystem-based tourism—low-tech, deeply local offerings that invite visitors to engage not just with scenery, but with systems: food, land, culture, and the values that sustain them. Instead of spending the day behind a windshield, visitors might spend it walking through a food forest, cooking with foraged ingredients, or learning the rhythms of soil and season from someone who lives here year-round.
That’s the vision behind our growing page of First-Hand Permaculture Experiences—a curated collection of slow, thoughtful encounters with the land and the people of El Castillo. Each offering is grounded in sustainability and shared learning, and every one supports a model of tourism that nourishes both guest and host.
We only recommend experiences that reflect permaculture values and a commitment to place. Another new one is being added soon.
Visit the First-Hand Permaculture Experience page
We’re also inviting feedback. What would you hope to experience in a village like this? What would leave you changed, not just entertained?
This isn’t just about better tourism. It’s about reclaiming the purpose of travel—and, perhaps, the economy around it.
