When it comes to best “secret” beaches in Costa Rica, Playa Lagartillo is one of them.
Even though it’s just a few minutes drive from the popular Playa Avellanas, it normally doesn’t have more than a handful of visitors, even during the holidays.
If you’re exploring this area of Guanacaste, then you definitely need to visit Playa Lagartillo!
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Location
Playa Lagartillo is 83 kilometers (51 miles), a 1.5 hour drive from Guanacaste Airport.
It is a 40 minute drive from Tamarindo. You can find it on Google Maps and Waze.
How to get to Playa Lagartillo
You can find Playa Lagartillo on both Google Maps and Waze. Although it looks like Avellanas and Lagartillo is one beach, they’re separated by the rocky reefs so you will need to go to the Lagartillo entrance.
There are signs for Playa Lagartillo and the area at the beach entrances.
Parking
There isn’t a dedicated parking lot but you can park anywhere once you turn to the beach. The parking area is very small as they have barricaded the section close to the beach.
Just be careful because there isn’t any security or guards. Make sure to roll up your windows and lock your doors.
4×4 required?
In dry season, no necessarily but you should not drive a sedan there. A high clearance car 2wd SUV like a Hyundai Creta will work.
But in rainy season, yes. The road to Lagartillo is completely unpaved and the last kilometer or so has huge potholes so a 4×4 high clearance SUV is highly required.
During the rainy season, there is a section right when you turn into the beach entrance that floods and requires you to drive through a huge pool of water.
If the water level is very high, do not attempt to cross as you can easily get stuck and damage your car!
Some people will park their car before the water crossing.
If you plan to explore this part of Guanacaste, a 4×4 is highly recommended because this area is quite rural.
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Playa Lagartillo – The Beach
This beach is not very big. The sand is tan color and the water is a grey-blue.
It’s a lot of fun to walk on this beach, play with the hermit crabs and check out the sea shells. When we visited the first time, we were the only ones there!
There is also plenty of shade under the trees to lay down a towel and relax.
In the picture above, if you keep walking you will reach Avellanas but it’s a bit far.
You can probably get there during low tide when the rocks are exposed but careful, it’s slippery and there are a lot of rocks!
To get back, you will have to make sure its still during low tide, or you will get trapped once the tide comes up.
Swimmable?
Lagartillo beach is not the best for swimming but you can dip your toes with a bit of caution. It is quite rocky and the waves can get a bit rough. We don’t recommend it for kids or little ones.
Although the water was super clear, we didn’t go in due to the rocks. It was also very windy so waves were choppier than normal (we visited in June).
I’m not sure if surfing is possible here since waves didn’t look very consistent or big enough for surfing. We never saw anyone surfing in all the times we’ve been there.
Although this beach isn’t super nice for swimming, we loved how it was completely empty!
We had it all to ourselves and had a lot of fun checking out the rocks in low tide, walking from end to end and letting our dogs run around.
If you’re looking for an empty, off the beaten path, non touristy beach in Guanacaste, Lagartillo fits all those requirements!
During the Christmas and Easter season, this beach, despite how small and remote it is, gets VERY busy. If you go during those times, you may not be able to park.
Hotels
Although Playa Lagartillo is in a more rural part of Guanacaste, you can find a couple of places to stay in the area.
DriftAway Eco Lodge is a nice hotel with a pool, juice bar, villas and rooms and yoga.
It’s right in front of the entrance to Lagartillo and only a 5 minute drive to Avellanas, making it an excellent place to stay to explore the area.
Read About Other Similar Beaches!
Playa Chiquita (Puerto Viejo Caribbean side)
Hermosa (by Uvita)
Playa Bonita (between Hermosa and Panama in Guanacaste)
Pelada (in Nosara)
Marbella (Guanacaste, a little further south of Lagartillo)
Evans says
Nice article. The scenery is lovely.