Guanacaste Costa Rica - Hotels, Beaches, Tours and Packages in Guanacaste Costa Rica

Southern Guanacaste

This Unit includes the southwest coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. Its north limit is the Punta Cerritos and its south with river Bongo outfall, with a length of approximately 110 kilometers in front of the coast.

The main tourist center of the South Guanacaste Unit is the Nicoya city, located at 30 kilometers of the coast that works as a distribution center and stop break for the tourist that travels to the south Guanacaste beaches and the travelers to other passages. The second tourist center is the village of Sámara, located over the coast, which gives it a central position in relation with the whole passage territory.

The main resources of the unit are the beaches. It has a extended potential for the development of beach combined products and natural resources such as the spectacular arriving of the turtles Lora in the Wild Life National Refuge Ostional and the estuary and mangrove swamp of the south side, specially those who divide the beaches of Islita, Bejuco, San Miguel, Coyote and Guiones. The mangrove swamp are excellent conserved and are ideal sites for the bird sight and other type of fauna as well as the practice of light sports as the “kayaking”.

It has an efficient public transportation and well as ferryboats (Paquera community and Naranjo beach), which make the communication between several regions points easy. Similarly, the bridge over the Tempisque River gives a quick access to all the central and south region of the Peninsula.

It also has several airdromes (Tamarindo, Carrillo, Islita) that make possible the quick and safe entrance to the main tourist destinations of south Guanacaste.

Attractions of the South Guanacaste Area

PLAYA SÁMARA

Some four kilometers long, this beach features moderate surf, mangrove swamps and ample coastal greenery, including manchineel trees, coconut palms and creepers such as beach bean. Near the center of the beach stands an enormous old strangler fig that is one of Sámara’s hallmarks. To the south, off Punta Indio, lies Isla Chora. This Blue Flag beach offers activities such as sunbathing, walking, horseback riding, swimming, mountain biking and boat or kayak trips, as well as various services allowing tourists to enjoy the beach by day and music and good food by night.

PLAYA CARRILLO

Located five kilometers from Sámara, this lovely bay features a beautiful beach with calm surf. Swimming is very safe, especially on the south end, where a large number of coconut palms parallel to the beach and street provide shade to visitors and beautify the coast. Carrillo is also great for sunbathing and walking along the beach. Its southern stretch features a rocky hill from which visitors can see the bay in all its splendor. Surrounding this point is a very safe bay for anchoring artisan- and sport-fishing boats. The beach has been awarded the Blue Flag.

PLAYA OSTIONAL

Long and wide with strong surf, this beach joins Playa Nosara in the south, from which it is separated by Punta División. Ostional enjoys worldwide prestige, because it is here and in Nancite (in Santa Rosa National Park) that the largest number of olive ridley turtles come to nest, especially from July to November. For this reason, Ostional and the entire coast southward to Punta Guiones are included in the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge. The most scenic part of the beach is the rocky coast toward the north.

PLAYA NOSARA

This beach features a lovely estuary and a large mangrove swamp (Río Nosara) that can be toured by boat or kayak to observe the vegetation and wildlife, especially birds. Nosara’s town and outskirts offer all kinds of services for tourists, including horseback-riding and kayaking tours.

BARRA HONDA NATIONAL PARK

Located 22 kilometers northeast of Nicoya, this park’s 2,295 hectares protect an important geological feature: a system of calcareous caverns with stalactite and stalagmite formations. At 450 meters high, Barra Honda hill is made up of ancient coral reefs pushed up out of the earth by tectonic faults.

Around 19 caverns have been explored. Terciopelo is most accessible and is open to the public. Its stalactites and stalagmites are formed by calcium carbonate in the cavern ceiling dissolving upon coming into contact with water. The park offers parking, drinking water, outhouses, lodging, information, trails and viewpoints showing landscapes of the Río Tempisque.

OSTIONAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Ostional was established as a refuge to protect the olive ridley turtles that nest on this shore. The most important nesting area stretches from a place known as La Roca to the Ostional estuary. In addition to the olive ridley, which nests in the refuge year-round, giant leatherback and green turtles nest from September to February, as well as the occasional hawksbill. Olive ridleys can lay more than 100 eggs each on the refuge’s beaches. Once a year, a phenomenon called la arribada (“the arrival”) occurs between September and November. For three to seven days, hosts of olive ridleys descend upon the refuge to lay thousands of eggs. In order to make reasonable use of this resource, the law permits eggs to be taken from Ostional for commercial purposes. This activity is coordinated with the Ostional Development Association, as are guided turtle-watching tours.