Hi -

We will be in MA with our 5 yr old and want to spend a little time at the beach. We will be staying at Si Como No as a reference. I don't have a good feel for how many beaches there are in MA, where they are or whic ones would be the best for us.

I'd appreciate any beach info you could share so at least I have some idea what is there. Thanks.

A couple nice ones in the park (within hiking distance for a 5 yr old); get there early, it gets very crowded.

I haven't been to Costa Rica in a few years, but my most vivid memory of the public beach at Manual Antonio was how incredibly hot the sand was. We had to ford a small stream to get out of the park, and didn't bother to put our shoes back on. It wasn't that far across the beach to the bars/shops/restaurants. Oh, my god, that sand was hot. I finally had to stop and put my shoes back on.

My beach experience, at the time, had pretty much been in the Yucatan in Mexico, where the sand never gets hot.

www.manuelantoniopark.com shows the best beach

MA #3 in the park...

The safest, calmest, child friendly beach is Playa Manuel Antonio which is the "2nd" beach you get to once "inside" the National park. (It has 2 other names as well, Beach No.3, and Playa Blanca.)

Bring some juice boxes & little snacks as there r no food stands inside park. Lots of animals & lovely calm waters....never noticed the hot sand.

I think I would agree with bellaboo. We had small children as well and if I remember correctly the 2nd beach was the best for us.

The beach just outside of MA had better surf for me which I enjoyed although it had some rocky places as well.

FYI, they've changed the entrance to the park, so you now enter in a different location and no longer have to cross a small stream (although you can still exit that way; at high tide, there are small boats that will ferry you across, for a small fee).

Definitely go to the beaches inside the park. The public beach that JeanH refers to is now VERY crowded with vendors, and the waves can be quite rough.

Definitely go to the beaches inside the park. The one nearest the exit was almost deserted when we were there. The main one was very crowded because the monkeys were everywhere. Pack a lunch and stay the day. We would have stayed all day except that we finally got hungry!