FOR YOU, FOR FREE: 17 years' worth of firsthand Costa Rica trip planning and travel advice compiled into hundreds of articles, plus exclusive discounts. Created by a Costa Rican and a four-time published Costa Rica guidebook author. Welcome, amigos, and as we say in Costa Rica, pura vida!
Nikki is the CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts), and the author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, 2023, and 2025 editions) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022 edition) from Moon Travel Guides. Together with her Costa Rican husband, Ricky, she operates the Costa Rica Travel Blog, created the online community DIY Costa Rica, built the Costa Rica Destination Tool, oversees the brand-new (summer 2023) Costa Rica Travel Shop, and designed the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course. Also, Nikki wrote the Costa Rica cover feature for Wanderlust Magazine's sustainability-focused Travel Green List issue, showcased Costa Rica destinations and experiences on Rick Steves' Monday Night Travel show and podcast/radio show, and served as the Costa Rica Destination Editor for Essentialist, a luxury travel brand. Want to show your appreciation for her free article below? Thank Nikki here. ❤️️
Some of the information below is an excerpt from our Costa Rica beach guide. If you haven’t yet decided to visit Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula and you’re open to visiting beaches in any region of Costa Rica, let the beaches in our countrywide beach guide direct you where to go:
One of the most time-consuming parts of Costa Rica vacation planning is deciding on a beach destination, and with a total of 1,228 kilometers of coastline to choose from, the task isn’t an easy one. If you have no idea where you want to go in Costa Rica, our Costa Rica Destination Tool can help you with that; you can use it (as many times as you want) to narrow down 66 Costa Rica destinations according to nearly 150 criteria in less than 1 minute. Alternatively, if you’ve already decided to visit Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula but you’re not sure which beaches are found in the region, you’re in the right place. Our article below covers 23 beaches that stretch out along Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, some popular and others remote, including Playa Buena Vista, Playa Cabuja, Playa Cangrejal, Playa Carmen, Playa Carrillo, Playa Cuevas, Playa Curu, Playa de los Artistas, Playa Garza, Playa Guiones, Playa Hermosa, Playa Las Manchas, Playa Los Suecos, Playa Mal Pais, Playa Montezuma, Playa Ostional, Playa Pelada, Playa Quesera, Playa Quizales, Playa Samara, Playa Santa Teresa, Playa Tambor, and Playa Tropical.
If you’re destined for a different region of Costa Rica (not the Nicoya Peninsula), don’t miss our related blog posts:
We created the above map to showcase where each Nicoya Peninsula beach is located. Included on the map are the following sites:
Playa Buena Vista (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Cabuya (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Cangrejal (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Carmen (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Carrillo (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Cuevas (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Curu (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Playa de los Artistas (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Garza (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Guiones (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Hermosa (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Las Manchas (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Los Suecos (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Mal Pais (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Montezuma (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Ostional (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Pelada (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Quesera (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Quizales (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Samara (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Santa Teresa (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Tambor (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Tropical (marked by a sun icon)
Playa Buena Vista (NP)
Playa Buena Vista is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits west of the coastal community of Samara, Costa Rica.
Playa Cabuya (NP)
Playa Cabuya is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Montezuma, Costa Rica.
Playa Cangrejal (NP)
Playa Cangrejal is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits west of the coastal community of Samara, Costa Rica. To learn more about Playa Cangrejal, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Cangrejal Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa Carmen (NP)
Playa Carmen is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits between the coastal communities of Mal Pais, Costa Rica, and Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, and connects with the south end of Playa Santa Teresa.
Playa Carrillo (NP)
Playa Carrillo is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits east of the coastal community of Samara, Costa Rica.
Playa Cuevas (NP)
Playa Cuevas (also known as Playa Los Suecos) is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Mal Pais, Costa Rica.
Playa Curu (NP)
Playa Curu is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It is the main beach within the boundary of the Curu National Wildlife Refuge. You must pay the refuge entrance fee to access this beach. To learn more about Playa Curu, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Curu Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa de los Artistas (NP)
Playa de los Artistas is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Montezuma, Costa Rica.
Playa Garza (NP)
Playa Garza is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Guiones, Costa Rica. To learn more about Playa Garza, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Garza Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa Guiones (NP)
Playa Guiones is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Guiones, Costa Rica (a subset of the inland community of Nosara, Costa Rica).
Playa Hermosa (NP)
Playa Hermosa is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits north of the coastal community of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
Playa Las Manchas (NP)
Playa Las Manchas is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Montezuma, Costa Rica. To learn more about Playa Las Manchas, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Las Manchas Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa Los Suecos (NP)
Playa Los Suecos (also known as Playa Cuevas) is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Mal Pais, Costa Rica.
Playa Mal Pais (NP)
Playa Mal Pais is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Mal Pais, Costa Rica.
Playa Montezuma (NP)
Playa Montezuma is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Montezuma, Costa Rica.
Playa Ostional (NP)
Playa Ostional is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Ostional, Costa Rica, and falls within the boundary of the Ostional Wildlife Refuge. Payment of a refuge entrance fee is not required to access this beach unless your visit is part of an authorized turtle nesting/turtle observation tour.
Playa Pelada (NP)
Playa Pelada is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits north of the coastal community of Guiones, Costa Rica.
Playa Quesera (NP)
Playa Quesera is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits east of the inland community of Paquera, Costa Rica, and falls within the boundary of the Curu National Wildlife Refuge. You must pay the refuge entrance fee to access this beach. To learn more about Playa Quesera, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Quesera Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa Quizales (NP)
Playa Quizales is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It sits south of the coastal community of Tambor, Costa Rica.
Playa Samara (NP)
Playa Samara is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Samara, Costa Rica. To learn more about Playa Samara, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Samara Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa Santa Teresa (NP)
Playa Santa Teresa is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. To learn more about Playa Santa Teresa, including beach details, development, safety, access, parking, and more, see our related blog post: Photos of Playa Santa Teresa Costa Rica (Nicoya Peninsula) From Our Own Personal Collection.
Playa Tambor (NP)
Playa Tambor is located in the Nicoya Peninsula region of Costa Rica. It fronts the coastal community of Tambor, Costa Rica.
Do you have questions about beaches on the Nicoya Peninsula, want to know which beach is the best for you to visit based on the experiences you’re looking to have, or need help incorporating a visit to one of the beaches described above into your vacation? No problem! When you’re ready, make an appointment here to communicate with me (Nikki) privately and we can discuss these and other topics to get your questions answered fast and your Costa Rica trip poised for success. Pura vida, amigos! 🙂
Hey, Costa Rica Travel Blog reader, thank you for visiting and reading our blog! We're truly grateful for your time and preference.
Do you know that your spam-free reading experience is most important to us? Unlike some other Costa Rica blogs, we do not to sell your personal information, and we choose not to display ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing on our blog so we can keep your visit as distraction- and junk-free as possible. Because we prioritize your privacy, we don't earn money when you visit us, when you sign up for our e-course, or when you click on our links, which means the time and work we put into this blog—including its 300+ articles—is entirely voluntary! If you find our content valuable, and you'd like to thank us for making the trip-planning process easier and your Costa Rica vacation more enjoyable, please consider making a small donation ($1, $2, $3, or an amount of your choosing) to our blog. Doing so is a great way to pat us on the back if you feel we deserve it. 😊 Pura vida, amigos!
Click on the button above to donate through PayPal. (If you cannot see the PayPal button above, click here.) A PayPal account is not required to make a donation; credit and debit cards are also accepted. PayPal donations are confidential; we never see your payment details.
Love our blog? Check out our other Costa Rica-related projects, too:
Summary
Article Name
Nicoya Peninsula Beaches In Costa Rica
Description
Want to visit one of the Nicoya Peninsula beaches in Costa Rica? Don't miss these noteworthy beaches!
The comment section of this article has moved! If you have a question or comment about our article above or Costa Rica travel in general, please post it in our Questions and Answers Forum on DIY Costa Rica, our sister website, where you can also access our private Costa Rica recommendations, our Costa Rica Destination Tool, and our Costa Rica Recommendations Map. See you there, amigos! 🙂
Nice and (in our experience) very accurate review of beaches. We’re smitten with Samara, or more accurately the Samara area. We really like the town, and love that it’s so close to so many great beaches. We think Playa Carrillo is one of Costa Rica’s largely undiscovered gems. Though, as you point out, there’s not much there and parking is very limited, it’s a stunning beach and huge. We bike there by riding up the Samara beach and cutting through to the road. We just booked our next trip to Samara and can’t wait.
That’s wonderful! Everyone has their favorite place in CR, and it’s great to learn that yours is Samara. We agree with you about Playa Carrillo; the sunsets there are glorious!
Pura vida! 🙂
Author
Posts
Viewing 1 reply thread
The forum ‘Costa Rica Travel Blog Forum’ is closed to new topics and replies.
Short on time? Use our FREE electronic quick guide to instantly locate the exact Costa Rica advice or information you need among the hundreds of articles on our blog. No email or personal information required.
This website uses cookies to operate and provide you with the best user experience possible. To ensure you're aware of and okay with this and our other privacy-related practices, please review our Privacy Policy, then click the button below to accept it.
If you do not accept the policy, we respect your choice 100%. Unfortunately, several of our website’s features, including our Questions and Answers Forum, rely on cookies to operate. Most are also run by themes, plugins, and other add-ons to our website that we do not and cannot control, which means the cookies you receive are mainly provided by third parties. Because simple actions like reading our articles, asking a question, and even visiting our website’s homepage require the use of cookies, it is not possible to explore or use our website without them. If you would prefer not to receive cookies, we kindly (and sadly) ask that you do not visit our website. (Alternatively, you can try setting your browser to remove or reject browser cookies before visiting our website, but you may find that our website doesn’t function properly without them.) By visiting or submitting information through our website, you acknowledge and accept our use of cookies, and the use of third-party cookies. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for understanding!
Remember my preference
In order for our site to remember that you accept our policy, please enable the Strictly Necessary Cookie.
If you leave the Strictly Necessary Cookie disabled, we will not be able to save your preference. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to accept the policy again.
Tagged: beach, beaches, carrillo, costa rica, costa rica beaches, montezuma, nicoya, nicoya peninsula, nosara, playa buena vista, playa cangrejal, playa carrillo, playa garza, playa guiones, playa montezuma, playa nosara, playa ostional, playa samara, playa tambor, relaxation, samara, travel, travel guide, travel tips