Beach sights in Central America
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Playa Pie de Gigante
This glorious white crescent of sand snuggled into the wildly forested mountains has long been famed for cheap lobster, best enjoyed with a servicio of rum at one of the ramshackle seaside restaurants, and great surfing. The popular sandy beach break right in front of 'town' gets hollow and fun when conditions are perfect, and has reliable peaks year-round.
There's an endless tube about 45 minutes north that's also good for beginners. Special-name waves include Chiggers and Outer Chiggers, close to a rocky reef, and Hemorrhoids - this tube is for serious surfers, as it dumps you right onto gravel.
You'll need to hire a boat to most of the breaks, including the point break…
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Península de Nicoya
The Nicoya Peninsula is a sun-drenched strip of land with over 130km (81mi) of stunning coastline bound by dry, tropical rainforest. As looks go, it's a beauty and the most popular tourist destination in the whole country. Though the coastlines are being increasingly colonized by gringos, the interior remains dedicated to agriculture and ranching.
In the past, poor access kept development in check. The recently constructed Friendship Bridge and the international airport in Liberia have created fast-track access. The resort mania around Playa Panamá and Playa Tambor is quickly spreading south. With record numbers of foreigners flocking to Nicoya, it's more important than…
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Centro Turístico
Enter through the mock Spanish fortress to a long stretch of lakefront with shady paths, sandy beaches, trees that seem designed for hammocks, restaurants, picnic areas and playgrounds, and free mangoes (if you can beat the parrots and street kids to 'em) all over the place, starting in late February. The Centro is also home to some happening nightspots.
Before splashing headfirst into the water with all the smiling families, you may like to take a good look at the river draining into the lake nearby and contemplate its contents...
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Playa Hermosa
While newbies struggle to stand up on their boards in Jacó, a few kilometers south in Playa Hermosa seasoned veterans are thrashing their way across the faces of some truly monster waves. Regarded as one of the most consistent and powerful breaks in the whole country, Hermosa serves up serious surf that commands the utmost respect. Of course, you really need to know what you’re doing in these parts – huge waves and strong riptides are unforgiving, and countless surfboards here have wound up shattered to pieces and strewn about on the shoreline. Still, even if you're not a pro, the vibe here is excellent, the surfers are chilled out and the beach lives up to its name.
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The Split
A narrow channel splits Caye Caulker into two distinct islands, and it's at the Split where you'll find a small public beach and the best swimming. It might look a bit postapocalyptic, with beach-goers lounging on bits of a broken wall, but its a popular and fun place to get to know the locals.
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Playa Negra
The entire southern Caribbean coast - from Cahuita all the way south to Punta Mona - is lined with unbelievably beautiful beaches. Just northwest of town, Playa Negra offers the area's safest swimming, as well as excellent body boarding.
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Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas
Playa Grande is considered to be one of most important nesting sites in the entire world for the baula or leatherback turtle. In 1991, the entirety of the beach and adjacent lands (379 ha) along with 22,000 ha of ocean was designated as Marino Las Baulas National Park.
The ecology of the park is primarily composed of mangrove swamp, and it's possible to find all of the six mangrove species native to Costa Rica here. This habitat is ideal for caimans and crocodiles, as well as numerous bird species, including the beautiful roseate spoonbill. Other creatures to look for when visiting are howler monkeys, raccoons, coatis, otters and a variety of crabs. But, as is to be…
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Wizard Beach
The most beautiful beach on Isla Bastimentos is Wizard Beach (also known as Playa Primera). Awash in powder-yellow sand and backed by thick vine-strewn jungle, Wizard Beach is connected to Old Bank via a wilderness path. The mere 30min walk can turn into an all-day trek through the muck if it's been raining heavy.
Assuming the weather is cooperating, you can continue walking along the coast to Playa Segunda (Second Beach) and Red Frog Beach. Like Wizard, both beaches are stunning and virtually abandoned, though this will change as development on the island continues. If the weather isn't cooperating, you can access Red Frog Beach by water taxi via a small marina on the…
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Playa Grande
Playa Grande is an undeveloped wilderness beach that's equally famous amongst conservationists and surfers alike. By day, the offshore winds create steep and powerful waves, especially at high tide and in front of the Hotel Las Tortugas. By night, an ancient cycle continues to unfurl as leatherback sea turtles bearing clutches of eggs follow the ocean currents back to their birthplace.
Since 1991, Playa Grande has been part of the Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, which prevents beachfront development and ensures that one of the most important leatherback nesting areas in the world is preserved for future generations.
Although there are a few accommodation options near…
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Moyogalpa
Not just the ferry terminal for hourly boats from the mainland, Moyogalpa is the nerve center for Ometepe's nascent tourist industry, with several hotels and restaurants, and the fastest Internet on the island. It's also home base to most of the island's tour companies, and base camp for the climb up Volcán Concepción.
Moyogalpa is renowned for its animated fiestas patronales (Patron Saint's festival) in late July each year. Celebrations are famous for the Baile de las Inditas, a dance which celebrates both Spanish and indigenous culture, as well as several ceremonies timed with the solar calendar that have nothing at all to do with Catholicism. Patron Santa Ana leads a…
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San-San Pond Sak Wetlands
These fantastic wetlands, also called Humedal de San-San Pond Sak, harbor a great variety of flora and fauna. The fresh water of San-San is one of the few known Central American habitats for manatees. Sloths, river otters, white-faced monkeys, caimans, iguanas, poison-dart frogs and more than 60 bird species also inhabit the wetlands.
At the beach, green, leatherback, loggerhead and hawksbill turtles come in to lay their eggs. This protected area is administered by a conservation organization called AAMVECONA, which works with ANAM. The park entry fee helps support the conservation organization. The wetlands make a fine day trip for those looking for a bit of…
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Playa Esterillos
Playa Esterillos is a deserted beach, with a few good surf spots, that's relatively undiscovered and little visited. Unfortunately, however, the building craze is looming, and the 'Condos For Sale' billboards on the sides of the road is a frustrating sign of things to come. In the meantime, however, Esterillos is very much an off-the-beaten path destination, and a great place to enjoy a few waves all to yourself.
This area can be a little confusing to navigate as there are three towns with access to the beach - Esterillos Oeste, Esterillos Centro and Esterillos Este. These towns are all off the Costaneara, southeast of Jacó. Most surfers camp underneath the trees at the…
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Playa Madera
This stunning beach, with rocky expanses that offer excellent tidepooling and wide, wonderful sandy stretches for sunbathing, is famed for having one of the best beach breaks in the country. It's a slow wave in fairly deep water, good for beginners, with four breaks that get hollow on a rising tide.
If swell is really big on a low to medium tide, there's a faster, intermediate level reef break between Madera and Majagual called Panga Drops, accessible by boat only, that offers an awesome ride before dumping you onto the rocky shallows. It gets choppy and you can be caught in the shore break, so watch the wind; it also gets sneaker sets, so stay alert. Waves get big - as…
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Boca del Drago
Boca del Drago is one of the best beaches on the island. Though the surf can be rough at times, it is probably the happy medium in terms of its prettiness and the calmness of the water. Just offshore from the beach is a patchy coral-and-sand sea bottom that offers good snorkeling when the sea is calm and the water clear.
Boca del Drago isn't nearly as nice as Red Frog Beach or Playa Larga on Isla Bastimentos, where there's a good chance of encountering sea turtles if you camp out or make a night hike from one of the island's hotels. However, the surf at those beaches makes swimming unsafe.
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Playa Negra
At the northwest end of Cahuita, Playa Negra is a long, black-sand beach flying the bandera azul ecológica, a flag that indicates the beach is kept to the highest ecological standards. This is undoubtedly Cahuita’s top spot for swimming and is never crowded. When the swells are big, this spot also has an excellent beach break for beginners.
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Playa Conchal
Playa Conchal is widely regarded as the most beautiful beach in Costa Rica. The name comes from the billions of conchas (shells) that wash up on the beach, which are gradually crushed by tourists' flip-flops into a fine powder. The ocean water is also an intense, turquoise blue, which is indeed a rarity on the Pacific coast.
The beach is bounded on the north by an expansive resort that can make beach access frustratingly difficult. However, it's easy enough to stay in nearby Brasilito and then simply walk south along the road for 2km (1.2mi).
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Tela
Tela is a favorite Honduran Caribbean beach town for many travelers - a small, quiet place with superb seafood, several good places to stay and some of the most beautiful beaches on the northern coast. The best beach is east of the town, in front of Hotel Villas Telamar. It has pale, powdery sand and a shady grove of coconut trees. Relax and enjoy the simple life!
Tela is usually quite mellow, even soporific. The exception is during Semana Santa when Tela (and the rest of the north coast) is deluged with vacationers from all over the country.
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Triunfo de la Cruz
Triunfo de la Cruz is larger and more developed than other spots, and as a result has lost some of the peaceful, somnolent air of the smaller villages. At the same time, food, lodging and services are better and more abundant here, and the pretty, grey beach is good for swimming, with waves neither too strong nor too wimpy.
The turnoff to Triunfo de la Cruz is 5km E of Tela on the coastal highway. Take this road 500m to a fork in the road (look for the dilapidated 'Bienvenidos' sign). Triunfo de la Cruz is 700m down the righthand road.
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Playa Cacao
Just a hop, skip and a jump across the bay, this small beach offers a prime view of Golfito stretched out along the coast, with the rainforest as a backdrop. If you’re stuck in Golfito for the day, Playa Cacao is perhaps the most appealing spot from which to enjoy the old port. To reach the beach, catch a water taxi from Golfito for around US$12 per person. You can also get to Playa Cacao by walking or driving about 6km along a dirt road west and then south from the airport – a 4WD is recommended.
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Playa Quehueche
Beaches in Lívingston itself are disappointing, as buildings or vegetation come right down to the water's edge in most places. Those beaches that do exist are often contaminated. However, there are better beaches within a few kilometers to the northwest. You can reach Playa Quehueche by taxi (around US$2) in about 10 minutes: this beach near the mouth of the Río Quehueche has been cleaned up by Exotic Travel.
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Beaches
Tela's main attraction is its beaches, which stretch around the bay for several kilometers. The beach in town is OK, though sometimes littered; the one at Hotel Villas Telamar is worlds better and open to the public; it has clean, tawny, powdery sand and a huge grove of coconut trees. Beach chairs and umbrellas can be rented by nonguests from the hotel's palapa (thatched, palm-leaf-roofed shelter) snack bar.
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Playa del Coco
Playa del Coco is the most easily accessible of the peninsula's beaches. Its name is actually derived from the cocoa-colored sand that lies between its two rocky headlands, though it can appear a bit dirty at times, especially with the detritus of all the beachside bars. On weekends, the town is consumed with a small-time beach-party atmosphere; during the week, it's fairly quiet.
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Corn Island Marine Park
The Corn Island Marine Park is accessed through Anastasia's on the Sea, a hotel and restaurant to the north of Big Corn Island. Staff at the restaurant will supply you with rented snorkeling equipment and offer a suggested swimming path through the reef. The route is punctuated by little thatch-roofed platforms where you can climb out of the water and rest up for a bit.
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Playa San Diego
This beach is a long, broad swath of flat, gray sand. Next to the water you'll find La Bocana, where two rivers empty into the ocean and form the San Diego estuary - it's popular for swimming, though God knows what's dumped in the water upstream. Here, a gaggle of restaurants compete mightily for your business, offering cheap beer and fish plates.
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Playa Blanca
Beaches in Lívingston itself are disappointing, as buildings or vegetation come right down to the water's edge in most places. Those beaches that do exist are often contaminated. The best beach in the area is Playa Blanca, around 12km from Lívingston. This is privately owned and you need a boat to get there (ask at Exotic Travel).
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