Places to Explore in Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula

Bahia Salinas

The large windswept bay at the very top of Costa Rica's Pacific coast is the second-windiest area in the country, after Lake Arenal, making it...

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3 Hotels
3 Things To Do

Barra Honda National Park

You can’t miss this park’s massive peak, once thought to be a volcano. Within that mountain, however, is an intricate network of caves to be...

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1 Things To Do

Brasilito and Playa Conchal

A small, scruffy fishing village just 1 km (½ mile) north of Playa Conchal, Brasilito has a jumble of houses huddled around its main square...

4 Restaurants
4 Hotels
2 Things To Do

Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Preserve

True to its name, this reserve at the southernmost tip of the Nicoya Peninsula is absolutely natural, and very hot. Challenging hiking trails lead through...

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Crossing into Nicaragua at Peñas Blancas

Costa Rica and Nicaragua share a busy border crossing at Peñas Blancas, 18 km (11 miles) north of La Cruz along a paved highway. Rental...

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Curu National Wildlife Refuge

With miles of trails through forest and mangrove swamp, this uncrowded private refuge is most famous for its pristine beach, perfectly sited for swimming, snorkeling...

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2 Things To Do

Isla Tortuga

Soft white sand and casually leaning palms fringe this island of tropical dry forest off the southern coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. Sounds heavenly? It...

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1 Things To Do

La Cruz

North of Santa Rosa National Park on the west side of the highway is the turnoff to La Cruz, a scruffy, bustling little town. Noteworthy...

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Liberia

Once a dusty cattle-market town, Liberia has galloped toward modernization, becoming the commercial, as well as the administrative, capital of Guanacaste. There are still a...

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1 Hotels
0 Things To Do

Malpais and Santa Teresa

Once frequented mostly by diehard surfers in search of some of the country's largest waves and by naturalists en route to the nearby Cabo Blanco...

2 Restaurants
5 Hotels
7 Things To Do

Montezuma

Beautifully positioned on a sandy bay, Montezuma is hemmed in by a precipitous wooded shoreline that has prevented the overdevelopment that has affected so many...

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4 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Nicoya

Once a quaint provincial town, Guanacaste's former colonial capital is now a bustling, modernized shopping center, thanks to the bridge over the Río Tempisque that...

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Nosara

One of the last beach communities for people who want to get away from it all, Nosara's attractions are the wild stretches of side-by-side beaches...

7 Restaurants
7 Hotels
11 Things To Do

Palo Verde National Park

Definitely not most people’s idea of a lush, tropical jungle, Palo Verde National Park’s deciduous forest is hot, but also very dry and an ideal...

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2 Hotels
3 Things To Do

Papagayo Peninsula

The Papagayo Peninsula, a crooked finger of land cradling the west side of Bahía Culebra (Snake Bay), enjoys guaranteed sun from January to April, making...

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4 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Playa Avellanas

Traditionally a far cry from its northern neighbor's boom of real estate development, Avellanas has seen Tamarindo escapees slowly encroaching on it for years, building...

3 Restaurants
3 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Playa Bahia Junquillal

This 2½-km (1½-mile), tree-fringed beach is as close as you can get to a white-sand beach in this part of Guanacaste. Not to be confused...

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1 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Playa Carrillo

With its long, reef-protected crescent beach backed by an elegant line of swaying coconut palms and sheltering cliffs, Playa Carrillo (interchangeably called Puerto Carrillo) is...

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2 Hotels
2 Things To Do

Playa Flamingo

One of the first northern beaches to experience overdevelopment—a fact immortalized in the concrete towers that straggle up the hill above the bay—Flamingo still has...

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2 Hotels
2 Things To Do

Playa Grande

Down the (long, paved) road from Tamarindo, but only five minutes by boat across a tidal estuary, lies beautiful, pristine Playa Grande. By day, it's...

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3 Hotels
3 Things To Do

Playa Hermosa

Beautiful Playa Hermosa, once a laid-back fishing community, has grown exponentially with condominiums and villas covering the scrubby hills overlooking the wide, curved beach. Warm...

2 Restaurants
4 Hotels
4 Things To Do

Playa Junquillal

Seekers of oceanfront tranquility need look no further than Junquillal (pronounced hoon-key-YALL), a beach town as far away from the crowd as you can get...

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2 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Playa Langosta

A chic bedroom community of Tamarindo, just five minutes away by car, Playa Langosta is tranquil and elegant. It has not totally escaped development, but...

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3 Hotels
2 Things To Do

Playa Negra

Surfer culture is apparent here in the wave of beach-shack surfer camps along the road that leads to the rocky strand of beach. But Playa...

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3 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Playa Ocotal

Just a few minutes south of Playas del Coco, this beach couldn’t be more different than its rapidly developing neighbor. Quiet and serene, there is...

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3 Things To Do

Playa Pan de Azucar

Playa Pan de Azúcar literally means "Sugar Bread Beach," though most locals call it simply Playa Azúcar (Sugar Beach). With only two built-up properties, the...

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1 Hotels
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Playa Potrero

A typical small town with a school, church, and supermarket arranged around a soccer field, Potrero is not very scenic. The main attraction is the...

2 Restaurants
1 Hotels
3 Things To Do

Playas del Coco

Noisy, colorful, and interesting, Playas del Coco has the best souvenir shopping, the most dive shops, and the liveliest nightlife and barhopping on this part...

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1 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Playa Tambor Area

Much of the vast Bahía Ballena shoreline is taken up by a massive all-inclusive hotel and an adjoining private residential development and golf course. But...

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Punta Islita

Punta Islita is named for a tiny tuft of land that becomes an island at high tide. It's synonymous in Costa Rica with Hotel Punta...

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1 Hotels
2 Things To Do

Puntarenas

This town is not on the Nicoya Peninsula, but rather on Costa Rica's mainland. It is best known as a cruise-ship port and launching pad...

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Rincon de la Vieja National Park

Wildlife, rivers, waterfalls, and mud baths are just the tip of the volcano when it comes to the natural wonders of Rincón de la Vieja...

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4 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Samara

Sámara has miles of palm-shaded beach, safe swimming water, and an abundance of budget accommodations and seafront restaurants, making it especially popular with budget travelers...

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6 Hotels
4 Things To Do

Santa Rosa National Park

Santa Rosa National Park blends forest and pristine beaches overlooking the famed surf spot Witch’s Rock. North of Liberia, the park is less frequented than...

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1 Hotels
1 Things To Do

Tamarindo

Once a funky beach town full of surfers and local fishermen, Tamarindo is now a pricey, hyped-up hive of commercial development and real estate speculation...

9 Restaurants
5 Hotels
8 Things To Do

Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula