10 Best Beach Towns in Costa Rica: Which is Right For You?

If you’re planning your Costa Rica itinerary, you’re going to want to visit at least one beach destination. But which one?! This post will compare the pros and cons of 10 of the best beach towns in Costa Rica to help you decide which one is right for you.

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Choosing a beach town in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has over 1,200 kilometres (800 miles) of coastline. Stretched between the Pacific and Caribbean Coast, there’s no denying this country has some stunning beaches. 

Behind those beaches are a number of fantastic beach towns, offering the perfect base for the relaxing, coastal element of your Costa Rica vacay. 

But how to choose which one is right for you?! There are so many Costa Rica beach towns to choose from, each offering a unique vibe and personality. 

Some have fancy resorts, while others are more lowkey. Some towns have surf beaches, others have calm bays. Some have thriving nightlife and party scenes, whereas some are blissfully peaceful. 

I know for so many people, deciding which beach town to include on your itinerary is one of the toughest parts of planning a Costa Rica trip. 

You’ve probably got a pretty clear idea of the jungle/inland element of your itinerary (looking at you La Fortuna and Monteverde). Then you want to choose one or two beach destinations to round out your trip. 

You’re not alone. I struggled so much to choose which places would be the right fit for us. Luckily, we had 5 weeks in Costa Rica and were able to visit a few different coastal villages around the country. 

But I know not everyone has the luxury of time, and it’s critical you make the right decision, so you don’t end up in a beach destination that is totally wrong for you. 

So, this post is designed to run through the best beach towns in Costa Rica, and compare their pros and cons to help you decide which is the right for you! 

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Our experience in the beach towns in Costa Rica

One thing we noticed in Costa Rica is that the beach towns just weren’t that great. 

The beaches were stunning, yes. Some of the towns had a lot of other great activities to do, good wildlife watching and even nice accommodation and food options. 

But so many were missing one or more of the key ingredients to create the perfect place to relax by the ocean for a few days. 

Where you can roll out of bed and step straight onto the sand. Walk barefoot to grab a smoothie or fresh coconut. Spend a day tanning and swimming on repeat, and slow your pace down a notch or two. 

I don’t love lying by a pool and doing nothing, but I want my beach town to feel like a beach town. Not a party-centric resort city. Not a busy commercial hub, but not too tiny it’s a struggle to find somewhere to stay or eat.

And as I mentioned, so many of Costa Rica’s beach towns didn’t meet the mark for us. 

I was envisioning towns like Caye Caulker in Belize, Puerto Escondido in Mexico and El Zonte in El Salvador. But so few of the places we visited had the secret sauce needed to make a great beach town. 

We were lucky we had so much time in Costa Rica and had the chance to visit multiple different destinations. We had second, third and fourth chances to find the one that was right for us. 

But I would have been so disappointed if we’d only had one beach town on our itinerary, and we chose the wrong one.

So that’s why I wanted to write this post, and try and flesh out which we loved, which we didn’t, and why, so you make the right choice. It’s a bit rambly and brutally honest, but I hope it helps you make your decision.

What I look for in a perfect beach town

You’ll read so many blogs about the best beach towns in Costa Rica, and all will have different answers. That’s because everyone is different, and different styles of travellers are looking for different things. 

Well, this is my blog, and hopefully, you’re here because you trust my opinion. 

So, before I dive into my list of best beach towns in Costa Rica, here’s a quick overview of what I look for in my perfect beach town: 

• Beautiful beaches (duh!) that are not crowded with private resorts and sun loungers. 
• I prefer calm beaches that I can float in without big waves, but Brayden loves to surf so I’m negotiable on this. If a surf town has some rock pools for me, I’m happy! 
• Great places to eat and drink that aren’t crazy expensive. I love a bougie cafe and a cheeky cocktail, but also affordable local spots for meals. 
• A town that is walkable. I want to stroll from my accommodation to the beach, no driving or public transport needed. 
• A good vibe. This is so hard to describe, but if you know, you know. Laidback, chill, palm trees swaying, tropical feel, nice people and nothing too pretentious or party-centric. 
• Not a lot of nightlife. I don’t care if there are some bars, but places like Playa del Carmen with thumping clubs are my worst nightmare. 
• Sunset views would be amazing, I’ll accept sunrise too. 
• Relatively affordable prices. Beach towns and islands are generally always a bit more expensive than inland towns, but if it’s been totally overrun by tourism and foreign ownership and everything is exorbitant, I don’t love it (looking at you Tulum). 
• Some activities to do besides the beach. I’m not a flop-and-drop gal, and although I love a day spent reading a book in a hammock, I want to mix that in with a day of hiking, visiting a waterfall, going to a national park etc. 
• I love snorkelling and scuba diving, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be present in my beach town. I’ll travel specifically for good diving opportunities. If my beach town has that opportunity, fantastic, if it doesn’t, I won’t be upset as I know I can seek that elsewhere. 

10 Best beach towns in Costa Rica

Okay, we’re finally here. Let’s get into this list of (in my opinion) the 10 best beach towns in Costa Rica. 

I debated on how to divide this list, but I’m going to do it in the order of my most to least favourite. 

You’ll notice some very popular Costa Rica beach towns excluded from this list. I’ll discuss these below. 

❤️ Why I loved it: 

• It feels like a beach town. The vibe is so laidback, it’s not pretentious, there are no fancy resorts (although there are some gorgeous boutique hotels if you want luxury!), the locals are friendly and funny, and it’s the kinda place you can wander around barefoot. 
• The beaches are STUNNING! Playa Punta Uva Arrecife is my favourite beach in all of Costa Rica. There are tons of other beaches to hop around to, and most are perfect for swimming. There is a short surf season in the Caribbean where there are more waves (usually Jan – Mar), but besides that, it’s starfish floating conditions. 
• There is plenty to do besides beaches. Cahuita National Park is a stone’s throw away and one of the best parks in the country. You can kayak, visit wildlife rescue centres, take chocolate tours, visit an indigenous community and so much more. You won’t be bored. 
• The food is excellent! The Caribbean cuisine is delicious and there were so many great sodas with affordable prices. There were also some funky cafes and cocktail bars with the Insta vibe that we occasionally enjoyed, and it wasn’t as expensive as in other beach towns. 

💔 Why I didn’t love it: 

• Nothing, no reason! Seriously, we loved everything about Puerto Viejo. We stayed a week and I could have stayed forever. 
• Some people say it’s a ‘party’ town, but we honestly didn’t experience this at all. We chose not to stay right in the centre of town (we stayed in Playa Cocles and rented a bicycle to get around), so maybe we missed this element. If you’re worried about this, there are so many amazing accommodation options spread out along the coast and in the jungle. 
• I guess you could say it’s out of the way being on the Caribbean Coast, whereas most popular tourist destinations are concentrated on the Pacific Coast. As long as you can commit more than a night or two, it’s worth the journey in my opinion.

2. Cahuita

Just up the road from Puerto Viejo, Cahuita is a quieter alternative. 

If you thought Puerto Viejo was laidback, Cahuita is even more chill! You get a pretty similar experience in terms of beaches and activities, and you’re close enough to Puerto Viejo to take the bus into town if you want something a bit more lively. 

But if you’re looking to seriously unwind with very little to distract you, Cahuita is the perfect place. 

It’s just a small grid of streets with some great and affordable local accommodation options, mostly cabanas for rent. The Caribbean flavours are amazing here, with tons of great sodas to choose from. The national park and its beautiful beaches are on your doorstep. 

❤️ What we loved: 

• Cahuita is so peaceful and very authentic. It’s got a local feel, and although there are plenty of tourist amenities, it has retained its original charm and character. 
• Having the national park within walking distance is fantastic. Entry is by donation, so nothing is stopping you from visiting multiple times throughout your stay. Wildlife are active at different times of the day, so walking the trails early in the morning vs in the evening will give you a contrasting experience. 
• The main beach in town is calm, shallow and lined with palm trees. A true tropical haven! Jump on your bike and you can reach other beaches within a few minutes too. No restaurants or bars lined up on the sand here! 

💔 What we didn’t love: 

• Cahuita is small and sleepy. Puerto Viejo has a bit more going on and more atmosphere as you stroll around town. If you want to relax, this isn’t a bad thing. But if you’re looking for a buzz, you won’t find it in Cahuita. 
• Within a few days, you’ve cycled through the restaurant options. There aren’t a lot of ‘funky’ cafes or bars here, so if you want a change-up from local cuisine, you’d probably need to go into Puerto Viejo. 
• A lot of the best things to do in the Caribe Sur are south of Puerto Viejo, so if you base yourself in Cahuita, you have to go through PV to get to these attractions, making excursions and travel times longer. 

❤️ What we loved: 

• There are a lot of activities to do around Montezuma if you don’t want to just chill on a beach. You can visit the waterfalls, hike in Cabo Blanco, or tackle a long beach walk to El Chorro, a waterfall that drops into the ocean. 
• The rock pools at Playa Palmeras. These were a dream to float in at low-mid tide, and although some of the beaches were a bit rough, this was my answer to swimming. The main beach, Playa Montezuma, is gorgeous and is generally calm enough to swim in too. 
• It was affordable. There are a handful of fantastic local sodas and we were well-fed on casados and fried rice without breaking the bank! There aren’t a lot of aesthetic cafes, but it didn’t bother us, and without the temptation, we saved a lot of money. 
• There is wildlife around town! We saw troops of capuchin monkeys along the road, and while we were eating at Soda Tipica Las Palmeras on the outskirts of town. Howler monkeys were roaring in the trees above, and we saw pretty birds at our campsite every morning. We weren’t there at the right time, but turtles nest and hatch on the beach here too! 

💔 What we didn’t love: 

• There wasn’t anything particular we didn’t like about Montezuma. It still didn’t come close to Puerto Viejo for me, but I can’t put my finger on why. I think because it is on the Pacific side, it lacked that unique Caribbean identity for me, which is no fault of the town, just personal preference.
• The only negative to note about Montezuma (and most beach towns on the Nicoya Peninsula) is the ease of access. Unless you want to beach hop around the peninsula and spend a lot of time here, it’s pretty out of the way for most Costa Rica itineraries, and getting here involves taking a car ferry. 
• No sunsets. You can enjoy the sky glowing up, but unless you’re staying high up in the hills behind town, you won’t see the sun setting in Montezuma. We did enjoy watching the sunrise from the rock pools at Playa Palmeras, but I did miss sitting on the sand at the end of the day and watching the sun go down. 
• There is a bit of a weird hippy nightlife vibe here. Think fire twirling and tie-dye. We stayed out of the centre of town so it didn’t bother us, and it’s hardly a negative as it’s really not that bad, but something to note. 

❤️ What we loved: 

• The combination of beaches and nature. If your primary reason for visiting Costa Rica is wildlife and nature, but you want to have a sprinkling of beach too, this is honestly the perfect place. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other here. 
• It’s quiet! The Drake Bay Coastal Trail is a free path that runs for 10 km (6 mi) along the coast, passing dozens of empty beaches, some don’t even have names. If sharing your patch of sand with hundreds of other tourists is your idea of a nightmare, come to Drake Bay. 
• There are surprisingly fantastic accommodation options here, for all budgets. You can stay in a luxury eco-resort with a stunning beach on your doorstep, while monkeys climb in the trees and macaws soar overhead. It redefines the idea of a ‘beach resort’, but it does it so fantastically well. 
• Some of Costa Rica’s best diving and snorkelling is a short boat ride away. Caño Island is an easy trip from here, so if a pristine underwater world is a criterion for your beach town, this is the best spot. 

💔 What we didn’t love: 

• It doesn’t have a beach town vibe. There’s no denying it. It’s not the kind of place you can wander around in a bikini and sarong. There are beaches, it is a town, but this is a raw, rugged and wild place. Life revolves around nature and the national park, not leisure and beachgoers. The wildlife easily outweighed this for us, but it was a factor.
• It’s very remote and hard to get to. Whilst this didn’t bother us in the slightest, and is the reason why the beaches are so empty, the journey to Drake Bay isn’t necessarily straightforward and is probably out of the way for most people’s itineraries. 

❤️ What we loved: 

• The national park and wildlife. Yes, it’s popular, but this is one of the best places in Costa Rica to see wildlife, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying! The park is excellent, and we spotted squirrel monkeys, macaws, agoutis and entire troops of capuchin monkeys from our accommodation and around the town. 
• The beaches are beautiful! If you want clear, blue waters but you can’t get to the Caribbean Coast, I think Manuel Antonio is the closest substitute. Some of the beaches are a little rough, but there are lots of hidden bays and coves to explore with calm waters for swimming. 
• It is so lush and tropical. The town is in the rainforest, and although there has been a lot of tourist development, the majority of it feels quite tasteful and the area still feels green. (I’m sure these resorts aren’t necessarily sustainable, but what I’m saying is it doesn’t feel like a city).
• It’s proximity to other popular destinations. If you’re looking for a beach town to whack on to La Fortuna or Monteverde, it doesn’t get better than this. It’s easily accessible. 

💔 What we didn’t love: 

• It’s a tourist town that comes with the annoyances of one. People want to bother you on the main beach, Playa Espadilla, there are people scamming you with parking and the prices are generally inflated across the board. But if you know where to look and make a point of avoiding the tourist hubs, you can experience the wonderful side of this town. 
• It has a little hint of bogan tourist vibe and attracts the noisy, clueless travellers that are frustrating to be around. But the presence of the national park tends to keep the demographic mixed, so it’s not totally tacky. 
• The gateway town, Quepos. This is the proper town in the area, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s the better place to stay. We found it rough, dirty and commercial and couldn’t drive through fast enough. Stay in MA near the park and avoid Quepos (even though it is cheaper). 

❤️ What we loved:

• There are a lot of things to do around Dominical, including one of the best waterfalls in the country, Nauyaca Waterfalls. We also loved the entirely free Cascada Poza Azul. 
• The sunsets are stunning here! It really is the typical Costa Rica moment, where you grab a beer, sit down on the sand under a palm tree and reflect on another day in paradise. 
• The orientation and layout of the town are right. It’s small and compact and you can wander to and from the beach easily. It’s conducive to a good atmosphere, but…

💔 What we didn’t love: 

• We had a really bad taste in our mouth with the people in Dominical. When we first arrived at the beach in town, there were a lot of drunk locals hanging around, and we were repeatedly warned by expats and locals to be extremely careful with our belongings, as theft is a huge issue here. Maybe we caught it on a bad day, but it wasn’t a friendly or welcoming atmosphere. 
• The beaches were rough. I know I said Dominicalito was better, and it is, but this wasn’t the type of place where I wanted to just run into the ocean and stay for hours. I’m not a surfer though, so that’s just me. 
• It was pretty expensive. Dominical is part of the Costa Ballena area, and this is the next ‘up and coming’ beach destination in Costa Rica. It’s still small for now, but more expats are moving here, more funky food options are coming to town, new boutique hotels are being built, and the prices are increasing to match. 

❤️ What we loved: 

• The beach in Uvita is stunning! It is one of the most beautiful beaches in the country and is a lush, tropical paradise. The park is protected within the bounds of the Marino Ballena National Park, so there is no development along the beach. It’s lined with hundreds of palm trees and hosts the famous whale tail peninsula. It’s usually pretty swimmable too, which was a huge plus. 
• It’s very tropical. Besides the busy commercial centre, the town feels quite natural with dense forest and a sea of palm trees. We saw monkeys, macaws and toucans from our rooftop tent, and loved exploring the tropical waterfalls around town. 

💔 What we didn’t love:

• The gorgeous beach is a double-edged sword, because it’s in the national park, you can’t readily access it. Uvita is a beach town, but you can’t walk to the beach any time you like without paying an entrance fee. It’s an odd and confusing set-up to wrap your head around and takes away from the beach town vibe. 
• Obviously the layout and atmosphere of the town. I’ve touched on this, but it’s a huge negative. 
• The prices. Uvita is insanely expensive! There are tons of great restaurants and cafes but most were outrageously pricey and out of our price range. Considering how crap the town felt, we were shocked at these prices. Accommodation can be really expensive here too. 
• There is the same concern around theft as in Dominical, and we still felt a bit of a shady vibe. Not as bad as Dominical, but it was there. 

8. Santa Teresa

I’ve got a loooot to say about Santa Teresa. I’m including it on this list because I do see the appeal, but I don’t have many positive things to share about it. 

Santa Teresa is Costa Rica’s Tulum. It’s become ‘trendy’ way too fast, and the town has gotten way too popular for its own good. 

I have no doubt you’re in the same boat I was when planning our Costa Rica trip. Santa Teresa comes up over and over again in your research as this amazing beach town, and everyone raves about how magic it is. You see photos of the painfully trendy cafes and bars, and the surfer persona and spiritual vibe draw you in. 

The fact of the matter is, it’s just not like that anymore. Maybe it was at one stage, but it’s well beyond that now. 

There are cool cafes and bars, but they’re all owned by expats and are mind-bogglingly expensive (more than Australia!). 

It is a great surf destination, with some of the best breaks in Costa Rica. But there is contention between locals and tourists in the water, and the conditions are so full-on that people die here frequently. 

As for being a spiritual, yogi haven, it’s all a ruse. In reality, it’s a pretentious Instagram front. 

Despite how many wealthy tourists flock to Santa Teresa each year and how much things cost here, the town still has dirt roads. 

Now, I’m all for laidback and undeveloped, but the pace of development here is insane. It’s totally unregulated and dominated by self-serving international developers. This is a town that needs roads. It needs better electricity and water systems and some environmental standards. With the calibre of the accommodation being built, you’d think some wealthy developer would consider benefiting the good of the town and paving the road, not just their own pockets. 

ATVs fly up and down this narrow road, and everything is constantly covered in a sheen of dust. There is construction everywhere and you will constantly hear drilling, sawing and banging. We tried to get in on the yoga scene, but our class was anything but zen, with constant construction right next door. 

Every business is owned by American expats, and the demographic is pretentious, rich tourists who think they’re getting off the beaten track because they’re not in a resort city like Cancun. 

We truly hated it, and couldn’t wait to get out of there. So why have I included it here? I think there is still a chance for Santa Teresa to turn itself around before it suffers the same fate as Jaco and Tamarindo. And if you’ve got money and love to surf, I do understand the allure.

❤️ What we loved: 

• We spent some time at beaches on the outskirts of Santa Teresa, like Mal Pais and Manzanillo, and they were much nicer, quieter and calmer for swimming with tidal pools. 
• The beaches are undeniably beautiful. I’ll admit that. Development was thankfully limited along the shoreline, so once you get out on the sand, it feels natural and tropical (but you can’t swim). 
• The sunsets are fantastic! It really is as beautiful as people say, watching the sky light up in the evenings, with the surfers out there in the last light of the day. 
• There IS that aesthetic, trendy vibe people are looking for. The interior design is on point, there are cool boutiques, top-quality food and coffee – but you can’t enjoy it unless money isn’t an object for you. 

💔 What we didn’t love: 

• I’ve mentioned all my issues around the town, the development and the demographic of visitors, but I just want to repeat, that these negatives far outweigh the positives in Santa Teresa. 
• The beaches are surf beaches (hardcore ones at that) and swimming is actually quite dangerous on most of the beaches. The rock pools around Mal Pais and Manzanillo were good alternatives for swimming, but I didn’t swim at all in town. 
• The prices are so insane. We were pretty fluid with our Costa Rica budget, but even for us, by the end of three days here, just felt like we were being mocked by all the things we couldn’t afford. Luckily there are a few great sodas that are cheaper, so please go and support some local businesses!
• It’s not Costa Rican at all! The locals are being pushed out by foreign ownership and wealthy expats and it’s so sad to see this town lose its Tico identity, being replaced with Americans. 
• It is so busy. It was the busiest place we visited in all of Costa Rica. Maybe because the town is so poorly planned it feels more crowded, or maybe because it really is just that popular right now. It was not relaxing at all. 

9. Samara

We haven’t personally visited the final two destinations on this list of best beach towns in Costa Rica, and I won’t pretend we have. 

But I did do extensive research on these areas, and after travelling around the country at length, and visiting some of the similar, neighbouring towns, I hope I can make some educated assumptions about Samara and Nosara. Please do your own further research if you want to visit either of these places. 

Situated on the Nicoya Peninsula, Samara was a destination we were so close to visiting. It appealed to me a lot when researching beach towns, and I felt like here and Nosara would have suited us better than Santa Teresa. 

The only reason we ended up skipping both towns was time, and the fact they were located a bit further out of the way for the rest of our road trip itinerary. 

Samara is slightly smaller than neighbouring Nosara and is generally considered a family destination, with Nosara a funkier, younger crowd. 

That means prices are a little cheaper, it has a more local, Tico feel and it’s a little less snooty. Sounds perfect to me! 

The other thing that appealed to me a lot about Samara is that the main beach is not a surf beach. An offshore reef provides shelter from the waves, so this is a relatively calm beach that is great for kids (and Sally!). 

❤️ What we think we would love: 

• Calmer beaches for swimming, but still a gorgeous stretch of sand that is typical of the Nicoya Peninsula.
• It seems to have a much better balance of funky beach town vibe, that still feels Costa Rican. I don’t mind a fancy cafe if there is a great soda next to it. It seems Samara is like this. 
• Cheaper prices, compared to Nosara and Santa Teresa. 
• The layout of the town seems to be smaller and more compact, with most things concentrated in a small grid, which makes it easier to explore on foot and enjoy the atmosphere. 

💔 What we think we wouldn’t love: 

• The location is not central to anything else. If you’re keen to beach hop to different destinations on the Nicoya Peninsula for a substantial amount of time, it’s fine. But if this beach town is just one part of a broader trip in Costa Rica, Samara is inconvenient to get to and would take time away from other inland destinations.

10. Nosara

Nosara is a well-established surf town in the central area of the Nicoya Peninsula. It’s definitely becoming a firm favourite for many travellers, and it’s marketed in a similar way to Santa Teresa – surf, yoga and nature. 

From what I understand, it delivers on all these promises a lot more than Santa Teresa does, and it hasn’t become overrun yet. 

Nosara looks to have some really cute cafes, gorgeous boutique stays and a bit of that Insta vibe that a lot of us are looking for. I don’t know if this has overtaken its local identity, or if a better balance exists between the two. 

The beaches are primarily for surfers, with breaks for varying skill levels, but not as many calm beaches for swimming. 

❤️ What we think we would love: 

• Nosara still seems pretty laid back and relaxed. I think it gets busy, but because the town is spread out it doesn’t look as congested as Santa Teresa can get. 
• The turtles! Nosara is located very close to Ostional Nacional Wildlife Refuge where thousands of turtles come to nest each year. If you visit at the right time, visiting would be an incredible experience. 

💔 What we think we wouldn’t love: 

• Primarily focused on surfing, I would miss calmer beaches that I could swim in.
• The town looks very disjointed and spread out, with accommodations, restaurants and amenities spread out all over the place without one central area. Helpful for congestion, but maybe loses some of the atmosphere.
• From what I understand, Nosara is a bit more expensive than other beach towns, due to the trendy vibe and increase in international businesses. 

Beach towns in Costa Rica that DIDN’T make it to this list

There are countless other beach destinations that I haven’t mentioned here. But there are a few particularly popular names you’ve no doubt heard, that I wanted to address. 

Again, this is only my opinion and you might disagree with me, but this is why we didn’t visit any of these places, and I don’t think they’re the best beach towns in Costa Rica. 

• Jaco: when I was struggling to decide which beach towns in Costa Rica we should visit, I posted something on my Instagram asking for opinions. Well, the one overwhelming response I had was NOT to go to Jaco. So many people who know us and our travel style were adamant that we would HATE it. We drove past the town, and from what I saw, they were right. It’s definitely not as big or bad as anything like Cancun, but from what we saw, it’s basically Costa Rica’s version of that. With high-rise resorts along the sand, a pretty seedy vibe (we heard there is a lot of prostitution here) and all the typical, tacky tourist things. There was nothing that interested us here. 

• Tamarindo: often referred to as Tamagringo, Tamarindo is a bit newer than Jaco, but has also become overrun by tourism. While it might once have been a sleepy surf town, the resorts and mass tourism have moved in, and we didn’t like the sound of it at all. 

• Playas del Coco & Playa Hermoso: located in the north of the Nicoya Peninsula in a similar area to Tamarindo, these neighbouring beaches seem to be in the process of suffering the same fate. The entire northern peninsula is very developed now and doesn’t seem to have that small surf town charm anymore. A lot of these places weren’t even towns before tourism either, and resorts and amenities have sprung up specifically to cater for tourists and North American expats. 

• Tortuguero: this features here for a very different reason. Tortuguero looks like a fantastic place to visit and I urge you to go! But, it’s not a beach town in the traditional sense. You can’t really swim in the beaches (they’re rough and sharky), and this is primarily a destination for nature and wildlife, so don’t come here expecting beach vibes. The only reason we didn’t visit is that it wasn’t turtle season, but I’m very eager to go back, just not in place of a traditional beach town. 

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I hope this post has helped you decide between the best beach towns in Costa Rica. It’s a very difficult decision and a very personal choice, so all I can give you is my own experience and opinion. No matter which you choose, you’ll find absolutely stunning beaches, so go with your gut and enjoy! 

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