Places to Go

Adventure tours, beaches, coffee plantations, cloudforest and wildlife preserves, volcanoes... the list is endless!

Best Beaches

Dominical Beach

Located about 30 miles south of Manuel Antonio National Park, Playa Dominical is an excellent beach for surfing, and also has spectacular scenery. Nearby is Drake Bay, from which visitors can explore Corcovado National Park and Isla del Cano. A bit quieter than Jaco Beach, Dominical Beach will certainly meet your expectations!

Flamingo Beach

With its crystal blue water and stunning white sand beach, Flamingo Beach is one of Costa Rica’s best. Flamingo Beach is home of an international sport fishing tournament every year. Other water activities are popular as well, such as snorkeling, kayaking, and scuba diving. A highlight is the opportunity to dive at Catalina Island or Isla Murcielago. Flamingo Beach is also known for is spectacular sunsets.

Jaco Beach

Less than two hours from San Jose, Jaco Beach is known as Costa Rica’s surfing capital. Not generally suitable for swimmers, as there are strong currents and rip tides, but the waves and breaks at Jaco are big and consistent: A surfers’ paradise! For non-surfers, there are beaches nearby that swimmers can enjoy. Also, there are canopy tours, hiking, and horseback riding in the neighboring forests. The town itself has a lively nightlife scene.

Nicoya Peninsula

Not a single beach, but encompassing the lively beach cities, like Tamarindo, but also more remote ones, like Flamingo and Samara, a visit to the Nicoya Peninsula is sure to please beach lovers everywhere!

Tamarindo

Tied with Manuel Antonio as Costa Rica’s most popular beach, Playa Tamarindo has spectacular beaches, warm water, and world-class shopping and restaurants. Giant leatherback turtles lay their eggs on neighboring beaches. Activities include water sports, horseback riding, and hiking the surrounding jungle-clad hills. Tamarindo is known for its record-breaking catches of marlin, tuna, and snapper for sport fisherman.

Samara Beach

Samara Beach is located in the center of the western coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. This beach is ideal for travelers looking for an exceptionally beautiful beach, but not the crowds of nearby Tamarindo. Plenty of activities are available, like hiking, diving, canopy tours, and surfing.

Wildlife Reserves

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

Monteverde is home to an incredible number of wildlife species: Over 100 species of mammals, and over 400 species of birds (which includes 30 species of hummingbirds). There are snake zoos, frog ponds, bat jungles, and butterfly gardens. Hiking in Monteverde is a rewarding experience, as are bird-watching and horseback riding. The Monteverde canopy tours are an extreme experience, involving zip lines, suspension bridges, and even Tarzan swings!

Cahuita National Park

The Cahuita National Park boasts spectacular coral reefs close to shore. Snorkeling and scuba are fun amid the 500+ species of fish, plus lobsters, clams, and many types of coral. As a bonus, you can even explore two sunken ships! On land, hiking is abundant, and visitors can see herons, toucans, kingfishers, and other beautiful birds. Mammals include the tamandua, paca, coati, raccoon, and agouti. Top this all off with a Caribbean-style relaxed people, music, and food, and Cahuita can’t be beat!

Manuel Antonio National Park

One of the most beautiful beaches (and national parks!) in the world, Manuel Antonio is a national park that encompasses both land and water. Beautiful horseshoe bays, white sand, stunning water, lush forest, and an incredible array of flora and fauna make Manuel Antonio the most popular national park in Costa Rica. It has become quite built up with resorts and hotels in recent years, but is still worth a trip. There is so much to do in Manuel Antonio, namely diving, snorkeling, surfing, kayaking, hiking, zipline tours, not to mention good old relaxation!

Volcanoes

Arenal

Volcano-watchers delight in the spectacular displays of lava shooting into the air when this active volcano erupts. On many days, the cone of Arenal is obscured by cloud cover, so the best time to try and catch a show is at night or the early morning hours. There are hiking trails that take visitors to observe flowing lava.

Poas

Poas offers visitors the rare opportunity to see inside the crater of an active volcano. Geothermal activity in the form of geysers is frequent. Poas has not erupted since 1954.

Irazu

Irazu’s last eruption was in the 1960’s.