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Jacó & Hermosa Honorable Mentions

Condos five star - condos Convenience four & a half stars - easy access Deep Sea Fishing five stars- best fishing
Surfing four and a half stars - surfing Adventure Tours four & a half stars - adventure tours Restaurants & Bars four & a half stars - restaurants & bars
Resort four and a half stars - resorts

Manuel Antonio and Tamarindo are racing to catch up but Jacó is still the undisputed king of the condo beach towers in Costa Rica.

Modern & Cosmopolitan

Okay so cosmopolitan is a stretch by most standards, but Jacó is downright urbane when compared with a remote luxury tent camp on a deserted beach.  There are supermarkets, surf shops, casinos, restaurants, fast food and bars lining the main road and beach.  Modern condo towers rise ten or more stories above the beach and you can rent them by the day, week, or even by the year if you decide to stay.

Playa Jaco
Playa Jaco

Convenient & Close

As long as you don’t drive the Caldera highway back to San José and the international airport on the weekend it’s less than an hour making Jacó the closest beach to the capital.

Especially on Sunday afternoons and sometimes well into the night the highway towards the capital becomes a parking lot.  You might think that would be a good time to head towards Jacó, but weekend beach traffic sometimes gets so bad that they actually close the lane headed towards the beach and reverse the direction to increase capacity away from the beach.  If you’re trying to get to Jacó you just have to wait or go way around.

Playa Hermosa

Just a few small hotels and restaurants then 8 km of beach in a wildlife refuge.  Excellent surf and nothing like Jaco right around the point to the north.

Pelicans over Playa Hermosa
Pelicans over Playa Hermosa

Los Sueños Marina and Golf Resort by Marriott

Los Sueños stands alone as the only major beach resort not located in Guanacaste.  A resort hotel and rental homes surround a championship golf course and marina with world record deep sea fishing making this a favorite of up-scale Ticos and international travelers alike.

Ray & Sue

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Top 10
  • Top Ten
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  • Beaches of Guanacaste
  • Arenal Volcano
  • Monteverde
  • Osa & Corcovado
  • Manuel Antonio
  • Tortuguero
  • Tenorio, Celeste & Miravalles
  • The San Gerardos
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  • Rincon de la Vieja
  • Turrialba & Orosi Honorable Mention
  • San José Honorable Mention
  • Jacó & Hermosa Honorable Mentions
  • Dominical, Uvita Honorable Mention
  • Not at the San Gerardos
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  • Not at Tenorio & Miravalles



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