jmaglich

I can weigh in with a few observations on beaches:

Jaco - nice beach, in a horseshoe pattern, good surf, but not too big. No (known of) swimming hazards. I know many people are not that fond of Jaco, but this is the best sunset I've seen, besides Mal Pais.

Hermose - Just south of Jaco, this is an advisably un-swimmable beach. I personally have almost drowned there, there is a horrific rip-tide, with overhead to double-overhead waves common. While cool to watch, it is treacherous to go in.

Playa Nosara - Two separate beaches, Guoines and Pelaro (spelling might be wrong on the second). Decent surf on Guiones, it also is in a horseshoe shape. Hot sand, nice scenery.

Playa Carillo/Samara - Have only driven by Samara, havent seen it. I can echo a previous poster's insights into Carillo...it is a picture-perfect whitesand beach, with abundant palm trees and nearly empty beaches in some stretches.

Mal Pais/Santa Teresa - Decent surf, swimmable. In a vibrant hip town, many surfers. Beach is a little rocky at some points, but is a generally pretty beach. The best sunset, besides Jaco, I've seen in Costa Rica.

Tamarindo - beach was nice in 2003 when I went. Surfing is good, but not great. Have heard numerous reports about sewage being dumped, and sub-par conditions. I'd advise venturing south...see next post

Playa Avellanas/Negra/Junquaill - About 30 minutes south of tamarindo...a fairly well-kept secret, with picturesque beaches. Playa Negra gets its name from the black sand beaches. Avellanas is popular among surfers, but is safe to swim.

Hope that helps...always happy to help out this community that has helped me out so much.

nypuck

Thank you for these posts. This is exactly why I wanted to start this thread. And some of the very personal stories go a long way to understanding CR's beaches. For example, Jwell's response, on top of the other valuable posts, adds a dimension you just can't get from other sources.

Other personal takes? Other recent observations? Looking forward.

shillmac

Thanks, Raquel, you're right. Palo Seco. What a horrible tragedy that was. And it just seemed so unnecessary.

cherrip

Playa Avellanas has a great surfing reputation, but just to the left of Lola's is a great swimming "hole" protected and still isolated.

It reminds me of walking out 1/4 mile in the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. Calm and cool.

nypuck

Does anyone know what the roads are like between Playa Sámara and Playa Guinones and the beaches of Nosara?
I wonder if it is possible to travel between the two in a day (and of course return in the same day).

Dana_M

We were in the MA area last week. We loved the private beach at Tulemar. Good for swimming, and safe for all ages. We felt quite comfortable letting the 10 year old swim as long as an adult was watching. Enough wave action for boogie boards, but nothing dangerous. Once you got beyond the break, very calm waters good for kayaking.

We also swam at the public beach just outside of the park, and again, no incident. Calm waters. As others mentioned, Playa MA inside the park is beautiful and great for swimming also.

Continental_Drifter

NY Puck - You can and we did!

Expect a gravel covered dirt road with some potholes. Our rental car agency gave us great advice - go for the luxury SUV with the premium tires - and your ride will be smoother than in the Sportage. For $100 more, it was worth it.

Keep in mind that your speed will be slowed significantly and that you should not expect to make more time than 25 mph on average.

Also, there's a Costa Rica website that has driving distances with the actual time expected for that drive.

http://www.1-costaricalink.com/distances.htm

The webmaster on this site has personally visited a lot of the eco resorts and has his own photos and comments. We found it helpful.

Barbijd92

My husband and I went to the Beach Club by the JW Marriot. A lifelong surfer and NJ ocean lifeguard during my youth, I was fine. My husband, however, is another story. Within a 10 minute time span, my husband was caught in a rip, and pulled way out, to the point where you could barely see the people on the beach. He was panicking, so I flagged down a surfer and borrowed his board, put my husband on it, and guided him to shore. My husband swears he would have died, it all happened quite fast and he is not a strong swimmer.

carolll

Regarding the question about roadways between Samara and Guiones or Nosara, I don't know about current conditions, but a few - perhaps 4 or 5 - years back, there were reports of tourists being held up on the back road. We used to take that road but no longer do for this reason. The road is a dirt path in the midst of dense woods with no visible habitation until you reach the area around Nosara.

Continental_Drifter

This type of information about tourists being held up is not generally helpful: I don't know about current, but once in the history of time, we heard that so and so might have happened and it was horrible.

No facts, no figures, no references and no support. This is quite different than the prior poster's warning about rip tides supported by experience and specificity. That's an appropriate warning.

We've taken these roads plenty of times and not encountered any issues.

That being said, all travelers should do their homework. Truly, this can happen anywhere, including right here at home.

skacian

nypuck - Yes, you can drive to Samara from Nosara in a short time, although the road is bumpy. We stayed in Nosara (Playa Pelada) last May, and drove over to Samara for lunch on the beach. It was fantastic! We will be going back to that area this May, and will visit Samara, and Carillo, which are both beaches not to be missed. Enjoy!

carolll

Well yes, I don't have any fact or figure to support my "reports of tourists being held up on back roads". My assertion was unsupported - but given this is a forum for discussion, I felt it might be useful information for someone.
Carolll