Costa Rica Beaches

Also known as the "Gold Coast" due to its abundant sunshine, the North Pacific is a top Costa Rica travel destination offering the most beautiful and pristine beaches out of all the Costa Rica beaches.  Championship golf courses, luxury resorts, superb sport fishing, and world-class surfing breaks are among the top attractions of this Costa Rica vacation area. The region, with its abundance of water sports and wildlife viewing is also perfect for family vacations and ecotourism travel. In fact, the area boasts one of the most environmentally and family friendly beaches in Costa Rica.

Playa Flamingo

The top Costa Rica vacation destination on the Gold Coast, Playa Flamingo has pristine white sand, crystal-clear blue waters, and some of the best sport fishing on the planet. This is where you want to be if you want to land the larger marlin and swordfish. Adventure travelers are able to scuba dive with white-fin sharks, while others come to snorkel in the clear blue waters and relax on the pristine white sands. Playa Flamingo offers a large selection of luxury hotels, eco resorts and vacation houses and is located near Santa Rosa National Park and the Palo Verde natural reserve.


Playa Ocotal

Snorkeling is one of those water sports that most anyone can enjoy, and Playa Ocotal with its calm and famously clear waters is a top snorkeling spot for those traveling on Costa Rica's Gold Coast. Diving tours to the Catalina Island's bring the added treat of viewing huge schools of giant manta rays. One of the most quiet and pristine beaches on the Pacific North Coast, Ocotal offers a mist that is rich in health enhancing negative ions. Combined with the sunshine and inviting waters, you've got the ingredients for a perfect day at the beach. Pura Vida!

Playa del Coco

The largest village in the Guanacaste province, Playa del Coco is frequented by locals who surf at Ollie’s Point and Witches Rock and scuba dive in the clear blue waters.  Many Costa Rica vacationers enjoy the good roads, plentiful shops, restaurants, bars, discos, casinos and affordable accommodations. Sport fishing and sailing are also very good here.

Playa Hermosa

Two Costa Rica beaches share the name of Playa Hermosa – the surfing haven in the Puntarenas area, and this beautiful beach on the Gold Coast, winner of the of Costa Rica "Bandera Azul" award for its high environmental standards and excellent safety facilities. The perfect Costa Rica family vacation beach, this Playa Hermosa offers something for everyone. Diving, sport fishing and catamaran excursions along the Hermosa coast are some of the most popular activities. Other popular activities include the wildlife viewing boat tours through the mangroves and horseback riding.


Playa Negra

Featured in Endless Summer ll and home to a world-famous surf break, this dark sand beach can be accessed with four wheel drive from Tamarindo. A white sand beach lies just 100 yards south, providing family fun in the way of swimming and boogie-boarding. 


Playa Conchal

One of the most exotic beaches on Costa Rica's Gold Coast with its forest and howler monkeys. Conchal is also a top snorkeling spot on the Gold Coast thanks to the water clarity, a fantastic array of tropical fish and comfortable water temperatures. Scuba diving is also very good, as is sport fishing. One of the best golf courses in Central America, the ‘Garra de Leon’ Golf Course is just a few steps away from the beach.

Playa Avallena 

Golf and surf sums up this Costa Rica vacation beach. Known by locals as "Little Hawaii", Playa Avallena, with its offshore swells reaching as high as 18 feet and eight breaks (left and right), presents fantastic surfing opportunities to world-class surfers. Nearby, Hacienda Pinilla Beach Resort offers some of the best golfing in Central America at a Mike Young designed 18-hole championship golf course. Horseback riding and unwinding at the beach bar can be the perfect ending to your day.

Tamarindo

One of the top Costa Rica vacation destinations, Tamarindo is a well-developed tourist town. Accommodations are available for every vacation budget. This is where surfing is good and sport fishing is great. Record marlin, tuna and sailfish catches have been landed in the Tamarindo area. Tamarindo offers a multitude of activities and attractions from first-class beaches, and near-perfect surfing and great windsurfing conditions. You will find the many ways to have fun in the water by snorkeling and diving to sailing and kayaking. Easily accessible, this is a popular home base for visits to Marino Las Baulas National Park.

Playa Grande

Part of Costa Rica's famous Marino Las Baulas National Park, this beach serves as a nursery to endangered Leatherback Sea Turtles that come ashore to lay their eggs. Quieter than Tamarindo, the surf here is equally good and consistent, making it a favorite Costa Rica beach destination for many expert surfers.
 
Nicoya de Peninsula

Nicoya de Penisula has some of the best surfing on Costa Rica's Pacific Coast and one of Costa Rica's most beautiful 18-hole golf courses, Tambor. Other attributes such as wildlife-abundant nature reserves and unforgettable sunsets are a few of the reasons Nicoya de Peninsula is a top Costa Rica vacation destination. Separated from the mainland of Costa Rica by the Gulf of Nicoya and the Tempisque estuary, the Peninsula extends from the arid Guanacaste lowlands 85 miles to the south where the landscape becomes greener and the climate moister. It's easy to find deserted beaches, friendly villages, as well as world-class hotels and resorts and just about any water sport you can imagine.

Quepos

Puerto Quepos, a town on the tropical inlet surrounded by primary rainforest, is a great stop on any Costa Rica vacation.  Especially of interest to many is the fact that Costa Rica offers some of the best year-round sport fishing in the world and one of the best known places for reeling in the big ones is Quepos. Quepos is also the gateway to Costa Rica's famous Manuel Antonio National Park. The Park includes forest, mangrove swamps, lagoons and beach vegetation that are home to 109 species of mammals and 184 of birds. Scuba diving, snorkeling, sea kayaking, mountain biking, and hiking are all ways to explore this amazing Costa Rica National Park.

Quepos is well known for its friendly people who are prone to dancing in the streets; in fact their Festival del Mar in February lasts an entire month, making February a fun time for Costa Rica trips. The village center of Quepos offers a beachfront square of restaurants, bars, hotels, bakeries, art galleries and gift shops. The more adventurous Costa Rica Traveler may want to experience one of the White water rafting excursions on the Savegre (class ll-lll) and Naranjo (class lll to lV) Rivers. With extensive coral reefs and marine wildlife that includes humpback whales, sea turtles, giant rays, and a vast array of tropical fish, Manuel Antonio is a scuba divers dream beach vacation destination as well as a great location to get PADI certified.


Puntarenas

Once a bustling port town, Puntarenas had seen a decline in the economy the previous decade. But in recent years there has been vast improvement and the town is once again flourishing and tourism is here to stay. Today, it is the port of call for the cruise lines and where you can participate in many of the onshore activities, dine at open air cafes serving exceptional seafood or catch a ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula, home to nature reserves and refuges. Just south of Puntarenas is the bustling beach town of Jaco.

Jaco 

Costa Rica surfing. Need we say more? Along with southern neighbor Playa Hermosa, this is the surfing mecca of the Costa Rica's Central Pacific region. If surfing or surfing lessons are on your Costa Rica travel agenda, then Jaco will surely please. Jaco is one of Costa Rica's most popular surf beaches. Nearby attractions are to be found at Manuel Antonio National Park, where you can you can experience the famous forest aerial tram, go horseback riding or go on a waterfall hiking tour. Jaco is surely a younger crowd, where the partying doesn't subside too much.

Playa Hermosa 

This town offers one the best surfing beaches in Costa Rica, as well as great nightspots, nice hotels, five star resorts, and incredibly scenic golf courses, including one championship golf course. Here, you can also catch a catamaran cruise to the enchanting Tortuga Island where you can take snorkeling tours in turquoise waters and relax on a pristine white sand beach. Another fun Playa Hermosa activity is the canopy tour that guides you from tree to tree along suspended platforms and hanging bridges in one of Costa Rica's transitional rainforests.

Dominical

The main attraction in this small town that lies 28 miles south of Quepos is surfing. Those looking for a quieter beach vacation experience than the more popular Playa De Hermosa will find it here. While the town is so small you don't need a vehicle, the beach's lifeguard program is top rate, making it a good destination for family Costa Rica vacations. Other popular Costa Rica activities are fishing, waterfall tours, canopy or zip line rides, horseback riding and hiking. The town also offers several restaurants with Costa Rican and international cuisine.