Playas del Coco also known as “El Coco” is the perfect starting location for your Costa Rican adventure! Playa del Coco is the largest village in the Province of Guanacaste and offers guests a wide range of activities.
The beautiful calm horseshoe bay is lined with palm trees and covered with white-grey sand and the water has a unique blue-grey tint. Spend the day enjoying this beautiful beach or head off on adventure through the lush rainforests or the underwater world of the nearby reefs.
The colorful town provides plenty of shopping opportunities in markets, boutiques and casinos. The town also has many restaurants if guests would like to dine ashore for their first night in Costa Rica. After dinner, plenty of nightlife can be found in the town’s center, ranging from local bars to casinos and several discos.
Playa Conchal, because of the crushed shell beach has some of the clearest water you will see, making it an ideal spot for snorkelling. Near to Conchal are the beaches of Flamingo and Tamarindo if you’re looking for some higher intensity entertainment, the latter being a good surfing beach. Jet-skiing is a good way to have good time as well as reaching some of the smaller beaches nearby which are accessible only by sea. The tranquility makes the beach ideal for snorkelling and scuba diving, after which you can enjoy a massage on the beach or perhaps sipping cocktails watching the sunset.
Golf lovers have a place to enjoy themselves and horse riders and off-roaders have plenty to keep them busy, especially alongside the sea. Conchal is not far from the Rincon de la Vieja volcano and the Diamante Eco National Park which has a variety of wildlife and the longest Superman Zipline in the country.
There is a wide variety of cuisines available in restaurants and you can enjoy everything from international dishes to the best of local.
Playa Garza is a very quiet beach between two rocky headlands and is an excellent base to do some serious off-shore fishing. For a long time, this area has been the secret spot for many fishermen but now the secret is out! It has still maintained its local village feel and has not been spoiled by being too touristy, fortunately.”
Closer to the beach are calm, crystal clear waters ideal for snorkelling, diving, kayaking or stand up paddling. But why not just lie on the beach and relax? There are a few shops and sodas in the small town and you won’t go hungry. If you can, have some coconut water straight from the shell.
Although Jacó, in the Punterenas Province of Costa Rica, is best known for its black sand surfing beaches and nightlife, it is also near several national parks like the famous Manuel Antonio National Park. It is the closest seaside town to the capital, San Jose, and it is an easy journey between them.
You could set aside an entire lifetime for Jacó alone and perhaps still not do everything you wanted to. The surfing is excellent and for beginners there are plenty of surfing schools to choose from, although Hermosa Beach is best left to the more experienced. Other activities include canopy tours by ziplining above the trees, a gondola tour above the treetops, golf at La Iguana Golf Club, horseback riding, sport fishing, watching crocodiles and beautiful birds in the Guacalillo mangroves, kayaking through the mangroves, white water rafting, ATV tours and more.
You will find every sort of food imaginable in Jacó with less formal eateries where you will pick up superb local cuisine. Nightlife is robust and there is a wide selection of bars and discos to choose from.
Playa Herradura, which gets its name from the horseshoe shape of the bay, is regarded as the sport fishing capital of Costa Rica and has the largest fleet of fishing boats for hire. Dorado and tuna are caught frequently. Other water sports include surfing, parasailing, kayaking and jet-skiing.
The Manuel Antonio national Park and the Carara National Park are great for nature lovers and offer plenty of opportunities for birdwatchers who will be thrilled by the sight of scarlet macaws and Toucans as well as sloths and monkeys. The mangroves are home to crocodiles and water birds. As in other parts of the country, the more adventurous tourist is well catered to with horse riding and white water rafting, 4WD tours and safaris.
Restaurants provide food based on cuisines from all over the world and you are bound to find options that appeal to you.
A gateway to Manuel Antonio National Park, Quepos is an excellent place for enthusiastic game fishermen to visit. The Park itself may have a quota of six hundred visitors per day, but the city of Quepos has many restaurants and bars and offers a vibrant nightlife. You cannot leave the area without spending some time in the National Park which some have described as an outdoor zoo.
Sports fishermen can look forward to chasing amberjack, dorado, marlin, sailfish, snapper and wahoo. For the adventurous you can enjoy jet-skiing, kayaking, parasailing, rafting, tubing and zip-lining. There are many restaurants serving a variety of cuisines along with great bars and casinos to keep you occupied after dark.
Not a place for the tourist who wants to be pampered, Bahia Drake, or Drake bay as it is also known, is for the adventurous traveller. For a start, there is no dock and a wet landing is guaranteed. With its rocky coastline, there are some really magnificent white beaches. For snorkelling and diving, visit Cano Island where you will also encounter whales, dolphins and sea turtles. In the nearby Parque Nacional Corcovado, you will see howler monkeys and vividly coloured macaws, both very loud creatures. A camera is essential. As you would expect, fishing in the bay is very good.
Playa Zancudo’s biggest drawcard is its fourteen kilometre long black-sand beach. It is most easily reached through Golfito. The northern part of the beach has calmer waters and is ideal for swimming and snorkelling while the southern part has waves suit able for surfing and bodyboarding.
To one side of the town are mangrove swamps where you can kayak to your heart’s content while taking in the beautiful bird life which includes many aquatic birds. Animals in the area include iguanas, monkeys, sloths and the less welcome kinds, snakes and crocodiles. Care is recommended. One of the best ways to get along the beach is on horseback.
Enthusiastic surfers will know all about Pavones, the longest left break in the world. There are guided hikes in nearby Osa Peninsula where you will see waterfalls and wildlife as well as learning a lot about them.
Golfito will be the last destination on your yacht charter but the fun does not have to stop here and there are plenty of places to visit if you want to continue your Costa Rican adventure. If you are ready to go home, there is an airport nearby and transportation can be arranged by the crew to take you where you need to go.
Golfito is the gateway to the Pavones, which offers some of the best surfing in the world in quality of waves and length of ride. Getting there involves a bit of a trek but keen surfers will not mind this at all.
There are many diverse activities in the area that including scuba diving, snorkelling, kayaking, whale watching, hiking in the tropical rainforest and horseback riding, In the water, you will enjoy the coral reefs and are likely to encounter dolphins, manta rays, whales, sharks, and turtles.