Surf beaches
Coasts where the swell shows up most of the year, with waves for people learning and for people who already know. Most are on the Pacific; the Caribbean has its own and they're a different animal.
Also searched as
- surf beaches Costa Rica
- surfing Costa Rica
- surf lessons
- waves
- surf camp
Where to find it · 5 areas
Jacó
The big beach closest to San José — a little over an hour down the coastal highway. It's long and dark-sanded, with steady waves for learning to surf and nightlife that doesn't stop. It isn't a hidden village and doesn't pretend to be one.
2 days GuanacasteNosara
A stretch of the Nicoya Peninsula where surfing and yoga overlap. Playa Guiones is long and has waves nearly every day; the town is spread out along dirt roads and trees, and getting there overland in the rainy season takes a while. North of it lies the Ostional refuge, where olive ridley turtles nest.
3 days LimónPuerto Viejo de Talamanca
The busiest town on the southern Caribbean: music, Caribbean food, and beaches of pale and dark sand within a few kilometres of each other. The rhythm is different from the Pacific, and so is the language — you'll hear Creole English here. Watch the dates: the Caribbean dry season doesn't line up with the rest of the country.
3 days PuntarenasSanta Teresa
The southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula: a single dirt road running parallel to the sea, miles of surf beach and the sunset straight ahead. Getting there takes effort — the ferry from Puntarenas and then a rough road — and that difficulty is part of why the place is what it is.
4 days GuanacasteTamarindo
Surf town with the liveliest nightlife in Guanacaste.
3 days