Guanacaste, Costa Rica, or the “gold coast” earned its nickname due to the plethora of beautiful beaches in the province. You can spend days exploring the coast, finding gorgeous beaches that you can have all to yourself!
We have been exploring the beaches of Guanacaste for over ten years together and in this article, we’re going to share some of our favorites and what we think are the best beaches in Guanacaste.
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Best Beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica
The Guanacaste province is in the Northwest corner of the country. The capital city of Guanacaste, Liberia, is just around 2 hours from the Nicaraguan border.
Liberia has its own international airport, the Guanacaste Airport (airport code LIR), making it easy for tourists to explore the beautiful coast, beaches, national parks and rainforests of the area.
Playa in Spanish means beach so you’ll see signs everywhere for “Playa.” Vamos a la playa!
Conchal Beach
1 hour and 25 minutes from Guanacaste Airport
Conchal beach was made famous for one unique characteristic – it had shells instead of sand. Nowadays, there aren’t as many shells since many people took them home as souvenirs, but when you grab a handful of the sand you can still see bits and pieces of sparkling shells.
Playa Conchal was once considered to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Central America!
Not only is the white shells and sand incredibly beautiful, the turquoise colored waters are crystal clear and great for swimming and snorkeling near the rocks.
However, the waves can sometimes get a bit strong so if you swim, be careful and don’t let little kids go out far or alone.
There are two entrances to Conchal. Hotel guests can get to the beach through the all-inclusive Westin Conchal/W Conchal entrances or non hotel guests have to walk across Playa Brasilito, the adjacent beach with the public entrance.
There is one more “local” entrance that goes through Playa Puerto Viejo, however you will need to walk around 20 minutes all the way to the other side to see the white shells.
This beach is certainly one of the best beaches in Guanacaste that everyone should visit at least once.
Flamingo Beach
1 hour from Guanacaste Airportonal Airport
Flamingo beach is another white sand beach, not too far from Conchal. This beach is home to the upscale Flamingo Marino, catering to visitors looking for a luxury vacation.
You’ll see plenty of luxury condos, fine dining restaurants, big houses, high end shopping and luxury resorts around.
Visitors love Playa Flamingo for its epic sunsets, fun waves for swimming and soft sand. It is also a popular launch point for scuba diving, snorkeling and fishing tours. Islas Catalinas are only about a 30 minute boat away for scuba diving and snorkeling.
There are several companies that run private snorkeling tours in Flamingo which are fantastic for tourists looking for an exclusive excursion out in the ocean.
Playa Tamarindo
1 hour and 20 minutes from Guanacaste Airport
Tamarindo is the most popular and touristic beach town in the Guanacaste province for good reason. The beach is absolutely gorgeous and has some of the best sunsets in the entire country!
Tamarindo beach also has great surfing waves, especially for beginners. You’ll see lots of surf schools everywhere and surf lessons going on.
A sunset surf session at Tamarindo beach will be one of the most memorable experiences you’ll ever have in Costa Rica.
Tamarindo beach is very long and you can get a good run or stroll in. As it’s a popular tourist town, you can enjoy a nice cold Happy hour beer while watching the sun go down.
Playa Grande
1 hour and 25 minutes from Guanacaste Airport.
Playa Grande is another beloved surfing beach and for those who want to hit the waves from sun up to sun down, Grande is a great place to go.
This beach also has gorgeous sunsets and is less crowded than Tamarindo as it’s inside a national park, so there are no loud beachfront bars.
Since it is part of a national park, visitors aren’t permitted on the beach after sunset but you can spend all day, every day surfing.
If you don’t surf, make sure you bring an umbrella and beach chairs as there isn’t much shade at this beach.
Playa Avellanas (Playa Avellana)
1 hour and 30 minute drive from Guanacaste Airport
Surf lovers can’t miss Avellanas. Playa Avellanas is one of our favorite beaches in Guanacaste, not just for its epic surfing waves but for the long shores, different breaks, beautiful sunsets and the estuary/mangrove path.
Playa Avellanas is a great beach to visit if you’re staying in Tamarindo for your trip to see a bit more outside the tourist town.
It does get crowded on weekends and holidays since lots of city Costa Ricans go to this beach, but if you go on a weekday outside those times, it’s much more tranquil and relaxed.
Playa Panama
30 minutes from Guanacaste Airport.
Panama beach is a favorite among families due to its extremely soft waves. Babies, toddlers and little ones will love splashing around in the calm waters and the adults can enjoy a swim or have a drink on the beach.
Sunsets here are stunning and since Playa Panama doesn’t have a big town right on the beach, it is very quiet, perfect for a quiet beach getaway.
There are plenty of trees and shady spots to lay down to have a intimate family beach day. You can even stay at the two resorts on the beach, El Mangroove Hotel and the all-inclusive Casa Conde.
Playa Samara
2 hours from Guanacaste Airport.
Samara is a popular beach town in southern Guanacaste. It has great beginner surfing waves, beautiful coastal views, incredible sunsets and a nice family friendly atmosphere.
Sometimes you may see horses running around on the beach, playing in the water. It’s really cute to see!
Playa Samara has a really nice relaxing atmosphere for families. It’s not quite as much of a party town as Tamarindo so this is a great beach option for those looking for somewhere a bit more serene.
Playa Mina
1 hour and 30 minutes from Guanacaste Airport
Playa Mina is one of our favorite “secret” beaches near Tamarindo. It has soft white sand, crystal clear waters and lots of trees for shade. If you like exploring and visiting more local beaches, then Playa Mina is a must!
Waves can get a big strong so just keep an eye out if you want to swim, especially in rainy season. We also recommend a high car if you visit during rainy season since the road is unpaved with lots of pot holes and mud. In dry season, it is passable with a normal car going slow and carefully.
I absolutely adore this beach. It has soft sand, an estuary on the other side and just a really nice atmosphere that makes you go “ahhhh” as soon as you arrive. It does get busy during holidays as it’s a popular beach to camp for city Costa Ricans.
Don’t forget your beach essentials! Bring sunscreen SPF 50, sunglasses, hat, insulated water bottle, microfiber face and body towel and a phone pouch!
Playa Danta and Dantita
1 hour from Guanacaste AIrport.
The Las Catalinas community is an up and coming European like coastal town. It was designed as a “no car” beach town and thankfully, it has a couple of beautiful beaches just steps away from the town center: Playa Danta and Playa Dantita.
Both beaches are suitable for swimming and you can hike to Playa Dantita through the trails or walk across the rocks in low tide.
Nearby are a couple of hotels. Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas is a gorgeous adult only resort with ocean views on the hill.
Playa Cabuyal
40 minute drive from Guanacaste AIrport.
Gorgeous Playa Cabuyal is on the road to the Four Seasons with whiteish sand and bright blue waters. There are picnic benches, a playground and bathrooms so this would also be another great family friendly beach.
It’s one of the best beaches in Guanacaste for those who don’t want to be around crowds.
Just make sure to bring your own food and water and keep an eye out for the mantas that like to frolic close to shore!
Playa Iguanita
Iguanita beach is inside the Iguanaita Wildlife Refuge, making it an incredible beach to really get away from people (at least not during the holidays).
This beach has beautiful sunsets, a really peaceful atmosphere and it’s an adventure to get there! (4×4 required).
Iguanita beach does get extremely busy during Christmas, New Years and Holy Week as city locals like to camp there, but go any other time and you may find it all to yourself.
During rainy season, if there’s a swell, a wave activates at one end, making it perfect for longboarding.
Playa Ostional
2 and a half hour drive from Guanacaste Airport.
Ostional beach makes the list of best beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica because of the nesting turtles. It is one of two beaches in Costa Rica where arribadas (mass gathering of turtles) occur. During an arribada, you can see thousands of turtles on the beach!
Sunsets here at spectacular and you can witness a natural phenomenon only found in 7 places in the world. Ostional is definitely one of the most incredible places in Costa Rica!
Playa Real
1 hour and 30 minute drive from Guanacaste Airport
Playa Real is in the Bahia de los Piratas and is also a turtle nesting beach. It has white sand, calm waters and is absolutely beautiful. You need a 4wd to get there, which makes it even more an adventure.
The waves are gentle here, perfect for swimming with friends and family. Another local favorite beach, you can spend all day here swimming, sunbathing, playing in the rocks and tide pools. During low tide you can walk out to the island.
Great day trip from Tamarindo!
Playa San Juanillo
2 hours and 10 minute drive from Guanacaste Airport.
San Juanillo beach is one of my personal favorite beaches in Guanacaste, I think it’s such a precious beach, though small it’s very unique. Playa San Juanillo is made up of two beaches coming together, a tombolo and the shore is sparkling white.
You can walk up to the tombolo to get a view of the beach from the other end. The waves are gentle enough for swimming. The best time to visit is during low tide so you can see the joining beaches and walk up to the island.
A 4wd is highly recommended to get there. It gets very busy during Christmas, New Years and Holy Week. Another popular city Costa Rican camping beach.
If you’re staying in Nosara, you must visit Playa San Juanillo as it’s only 30 minutes away.
Playa Pelada
2 and a half hour drive from Guanacaste Airport.
Speaking of Nosara, you can’t leave without a visit to Playa Pelada. This half moon white sand beach is not big but it’s lovely, with breathtaking coastal views, a very odd funky building, and a blowhole on the southern end of the beach.
You can surf here but it’s mostly dominated by local surfers so don’t paddle out unless you’re an experienced and respectful surfer.
It’s best to surf at Playa Guiones anyways, where there are multiple breaks for everyone. That beach is also awesome with super fun surfing waves and epic sunsets!
Playa Rajada
1 hour and 40 minute drive from Guanacaste Airport.
Playa Rajada is the most well known beach up in the Salinas Bay/La Cruz area and for good reason. It has whiteish sand, gentle waves, clean shores and a really nice, laid back atmosphere for a more local beach.
As like many of the more local beaches, they get busy and crowded during holidays like Christmas, New Years and Holy Week as it’s another popular camping spot.
Map
Click here to go to a map of all the beaches in this article.
Need more beach wanderlust? Check out our post on the best beaches in Costa Rica and our favorite white sand beaches!
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Paul says
Do you know if there is a way to access Playa Celeste? It looks amazing.
Sammi says
There isn’t a beach called Playa Celeste in this post, do you mean Playa Conchal?
Crystal Allstot says
Hi! Thank you so much for all of the helpful information! How is the drive to Las Catalinas, if we were to rent a private residence?
Sammi says
If you’re coming from Liberia Airport, it is on a paved road but I would check with your host to see how the road is to your private residence since there are many small unpaved roads stemming from Las Catalinas.
Rashmi says
Thank you so much for wealth of information.
I am planning to visit costa rica with my family – kids -5 & 8 yrs old. We are staying at JW marriot, flying at Liberia. can we do day trips to Arenal, Monteverde and Baldi Hot springs? I do not want to change my hotel. Should I rent a car or uber?
Thanks
Sammi says
I would recommend to book day tours through the JW Marriott as those destinatinos are far from the hotel (4 hours one way) so it’s best to go with a guide on a day trip.
Andrew Brod says
Guanacaste, a province in northwestern Costa Rica bordering the Pacific, is known for its beaches and biodiverse parkland. And your blog is very informative and helpful thank you for sharing.
Daisy Milton says
Thanks for information
Nancy says
Does anyone ever find sea glass on any of the beaches? Haven’t seen any pictures or posts with this topic. Heading to CR in January and love to walk the beaches looking for treasures from the sea.
Sammi says
Hi Nancy, Costa Rica doesn’t have much sea glass on the beaches but they actually do not encourage or want people to remove anything from the beaches since it is disturbing nature (and so many people have taken shells from their beaches that some beaches are empty of shells). You will see signs for that everywhere to encourage people not to take anything.
luci says
thankyou so much for writing this, im guanacasteca and your informative comment is so important, 10 years ago the beaches were so much more beautiful when people didn’t take so much of the shells. I always tell tourist when i see them take.
Skippy says
Nice write up and pix! These are only a fraction of all the wonderful beaches in Guanacaste (there are about 60 or so more). Suggest organizing them so that you can get a better sense of where they are in relation to each other. Also would be nice to highlight which ones are “blue flag” rated (i.e., the cleanest).
Sammi says
Thanks for the suggestions, I do need to go through and add some more info to this post since there are a lot more beaches we’ve visited since I wrote it a few years ago!
Alexandria Monge says
Hello,
My family and are planning to go to CR this upcoming March for kids spring break, so we don’t have to many days. The last part of our trip is Manuel antonio and Guanacaste. Where do you recommend we spend more days?
Thank you and also your site is has really great info. Sharing with others.
Sammi says
Manuel Antonio and Guanacaste (depending on where in Guanacaste you’re staying as Guanacaste is the province) are quite far apart but if that is your plan, you can find a place along the way like Jaco.
Sammi says
Hi Jeff, you can check out this post for best things to do in Guanacaste here: Things to do in Guanacaste
The best snorkeling in that are is actually up in Gulf of Papagayo, Tamarindo doesn’t have very good snorkeling. For rainy season, it is best to wait and you can book tours once you are in the country but August is not too bad – rainy season in Guanacaste is usually sunny mornings and rainy afternoons. Thanks for reading our blog!
Jeff Simspon says
Thank you for sharing your blogs and suggestions. My wife, two daughters (23 and 25) and future son-in-law are staying in south Playa Tamarindo for 8 nights in early August. We enjoy snorkeling. I assume we can rent snorkeling equipment locally for several days at a time. We will have a 4WD SUV. What are the best snorkeling spots in reasonable driving distance where we can snorkel from the shore? We would also enjoy a snorkeling boat tour, a trip into the jungle for animal sites as well as zip-lining, horse back riding, (mild) white water tubing or rafting and anything else you can recommend! As we are in the ‘rainy’ season, we are reluctant to reserve any adventures as this may depend on the weather conditions. Are we able to obtain any special rates via your connections? I have heard we may be able to negotiate rates given this is the low season for visitors. Any additional info and details on the above is greatly appreciated! Keeps the blogs comming.
Joanna Ruckenstein says
Hi!
I’m going to Costa Rica next week, will be travelling alone, and want to meet people, eat well but not expensive, and go out a few nights and dance, listen to music, see a bonfire on the beach. I’m planning to fly into Liberia, maybe stay one night at Playa Hermosa Guanacaste or Monteverde, and then head to Nosara/Samara. Any recommendations on where there’s more nightlife, good music vibes?
Thanks!
Sammi says
I would actually stay in Coco instead of Hermosa, there is no downtown in Hermosa and all the nightlife is in Coco. Samara has a fun scene too as well, if you want more of a party town, Tamarindo has a better nightlife.
Haydee Gomez says
Great article, thanks for sharing.
Sammi says
Thanks for reading!
Tracy says
Planning a trip in June with our teenage son and we are looking at Playa Potrero. What are your thoughts on this beach / town? Thanks!
Sammi says
Hi Tracy, Potrero is a great little beach! It doesn’t have white sand but it’s a very laidback beach and close to Brasilito and Flamingo. It’s a nice quiet beach in that area since you have the popular Flamingo and Conchal beaches nearby.
Jill says
Hi, thanks for a great article! I’m trying to find a beach front apartment or Homestay in a less touristy area but still within a town with transport links and restaurants. What do you think the best area would be for this? Thank you in advance.
yeison says
Hi Jill thanks for reading our blog, you could take a look on any of the many FB groups people always post places to rent on different areas of Guanacaste https://www.facebook.com/groups/447618411923621 or https://www.facebook.com/groups/391902260966966
Mary says
Staying at playa samara for five nights at the end of our trip. Is there a bus to get to the airport in Liberia? Would you suggest spending the last few nights at another beach closer to the airport? We do not have a car
yeison says
There a shuttles from Samara to the airport and it might take around 2 hours to get there, also you can take public transportation but I it might take 3 or 4 hours. If you can get a hotel room or an Airbnb close to the airport it will be better.
Sammi says
Hi Lisa, there is a guy who has a parking lot right at the border of Penas Blancas, we’ve left our car there for 3 days before. You can read more about it here:Crossing the Costa Rica Nicaragua border guide
Lisa Petzke says
How safe is it to leave a rental car at the border of CR and Nicaragua?….we are spending 5 days in Tamarindo and 5 days in SJDS…….
yeison says
Hello Brian! Thank you for reading our blog
Brian says
Sammi! So much great info here! We will be staying in Roma Del Mar the first week of June. Any recommendations for this area? Beaches, day trips from this area,, or really just anything you can suggest…Brian
Big Mike says
Hi Guys! Thanks for the great website very helpful! in 3 weeks, Apr 2-9, maybe we will run into you! Do you know if any of the beaches have sea glass??? Thanks, Big Mike
Sammi says
Hi Mike thank you! Sea glass isn’t very common here, you can find sea shells on some beaches but they highly discourage taking them as they want to preserve the beaches, better to take memories 🙂
Ben says
This selection of beachesare missing great ones like Guiones , Pelada, Montezuma,. I would suggest bypassing tamarindo and Del Coco unless you just want to be overly surrounded by gringo influenced BS.
Sammi says
Thanks for your opinion Ben! To each their own 🙂
Sandra Guthrie says
We really liked Playa Carillo as well. Very unspoiled and quiet.
Sammi says
I’ve heard it is very nice!
Sammi says
From the Riu, I highly suggest going boating around the Gulf. That way you can visit several different beaches and see different parts of The Papagayo Gulf. You can read about why you should go boating here: Boating in Playas del Coco
If you don’t go boating, you’ll have to drive to the other beaches. Riu is close to Playa Ocotal/Playas del Coco, it’s also near Playa Danta/Dantita or you can head the other direction and go to Playa Conchal/Flamingo for white sand beaches.
You can read about the best beaches in Guanacaste here which you can all visit either by boat or car from the RIU: Best beaches in Guanacaste.
Amanda V says
I wish I had seen this before I booked my CR trip! My boyfriend and I are staying at the Riu in Matapalo in about 2 weeks!! Your site has been so helpful 🙂 What is the best beach to visit from the Riu??
Sammi says
Do you mean Playa Hermosa in Guanacaste? (There are like 10 Playa hermosas in CR). Here is our guide to that beach: Playa Hermosa
If you want to dive, go to either Playas del Coco or Playa Matapalo. Coco has several diving shops: Rich Coast, Deep Blue and Summer Salt. Rocket Frog Divers is at Playa Ocotal and ScubaCaribe is at the RIU at Playa Matapalo. I’ve heard Rich Coast is one of the best (PADI) but it is a bit more expensive. We didn’t dive with ScubaCaribe, we went with them for snuba but we loved the company. Heard great things about their diving too!
Kristi Miller says
Any info for Playa Hermosa?
We really want to dive – any recommendations for the best beach for diving?
Stef says
They all look stunning but from the photos I think I have to go to Playa Grande and Playa de Coco. I will definitely have to do much more research before I will visit CR in August and your blog will be the most helpful source I will use. Thanks for your great work and for sharing that.
Sammi says
You’re welcome Stef! They are all really great beaches 🙂