Playa Potrero

Playa Potrero Review

Stretching 4 km (2½ mi), this relatively undeveloped wide, brown-sand beach, across Potrero Bay from built-up Flamingo, catches ocean breezes and spectacular sunsets, which you can watch while bobbing in the warm, swimmable water. The pelican-patrolled beach is anchored at one end by the small Tico community of Potrero with a church, school, and supermarket arranged around a soccer field, and at the other end by the Flamingo skyline. Although large houses and condominium developments have sprung up on any hill with a view, at beach level there is only one unimposing hotel and some low-lying private houses set well back from the beach; beachgoers never feel hemmed in or crowded. The best area for swimming is midway between Flamingo and Potrero town, near the hotel Bahía del Sol. The best beach view and best breeze are from a bar stool at Bar Las Brisas. About 10 km (6 mi) offshore lie the Catalina Islands, a barrier-island paradise for divers and snorkelers; dive boats based in Flamingo can get there in 10 minutes.