Over the years, I have visited many beaches in Costa Rica - from the long and wide white sand beaches at the popular Pacific Coast resort of Playa Tamarindo to the black volcanic beaches near Cahuita on the Caribbean coast. If you were to ask me which beach is my favorite in Costa Rica, it would be Playa Espadilla in Manuel Antonio, a popular resort area located along Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast.

Backed by a luxuriant jungle clad hillside that spills onto the shoreline, the beaches of Manuel Antonio stretch for a distance of about 5 miles from north to south. The ambiance is wild and tropical. The northern end of this white sand beach is marked by a headlands that juts out into the ocean; on the other side of the headlands is the small town of Quepos. From the roadside - in particular from La Mariposa Hotel which is located at the apex of the hill on the road to Quepos - there are some very dramatic panoramic views of the coastline and the entire resort area. Going towards the southern end of this long stretch of sand is Hotel Karahe, one of Manuel Antonio’s few beachfront hotels. From the roadside, there is a short path to the beach - the beach here is known as Playa Espadilla. In front of the Karahe’s beachfront restaurant, you’ll find a nice shaded area underneath some trees - it’s a wonderful place to relax, read a book, take a snooze or watch the people stroll by. In addition, you will probably be visited by a variety of ferocious looking iguanas looking for a handout.

At the southern end of the beach just before you hit the entrance to the National Park(about ½ mile past the Karahe) are a series of small open-air restaurants where you can buy some cold beer or have something to eat; the black bean soup here is especially tasty. Please note: Unlike the big time beach resorts in Mexico, beach vendors are very rare in Manuel Antonio and on most public beaches in Costa Rica.

A close runner up to Playa Espadilla (Manuel Antonio) as my favorite beach is the magnificent Playa Conchal. Located south of the international resort area of Tamarindo in the northern province of Guanacaste, Playa Conchal has some absolutely remarkable turquoise waters, and the brilliant white sand beach is made up of millions of tiny seashell fragments. The beach here is absolutely spectacular!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 7:25 am and is filed under Costa Rica, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.