10 Real-World Filming Locations You Really Need To Visit

3. Isla Nublar From Jurassic Park (Hawaii, USA)

Jurassic Park is a film loved by almost everyone who's seen it, and what could be better than visiting the park itself and seeing the beautiful sights? Okay, so you might get ripped apart by Velociraptors, Pterodactyls and a T-Rex, but it's worth it for the scenery, surely? Well if you are made of stronger stuff (or you're Sam Neill) you'll be pleased to know that Isla Nublar is actually not in Costa Rica but in Kauai in Hawaii. It was chosen by director Steven Spielberg because it was cheaper to film there, was in the US so they could use local crews at less expense, and because it offered better infrastructure than Costa Rica. Obviously, a lot of Jurassic Park was shot on sets, but there are many jungle scenes in the film that were actually shot in the forests of Kauai itself; as a result a lot of tours take you around these locations from the film. If you want to enter the same way they did in the film you'd probably have to hire your own helicopter and be disappointed because it's actually a cleverly edited mix of two locations several miles away from each other though. The upcoming Jurassic World will be returning to Kauai to film which can only be a good thing, and maybe if you visit some time this year you'll get to see them filming. Though you most likely won't see any dinosaurs as they'll no doubt be entirely CGI now.