Ostional Beach Costa Rica

Location: between Pelada and San Juanillo beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
GPS Coordinates: 9.996714, -85.702931 (9°59’48.17″N, 85°42’10.55″W)
Canton: Santa Cruz, district: Cuajiniquil.
Zone postal code: 50306.

Ostional Beach Costa Rica: a long dark sandy beach with blue clear waters, breathtakingly beautiful scenery. It is one of the most important ecological sites around the world, as here come to spawn a large number of Olive Ridley turtles (from April to December). In fact, this beach is part of The Ostional National Wildlife Refuge.

Ostional beach witness a truly spectacular natural phenomena known as “Arribadas”, or arrivals. When this happens, thousands of turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. The arrivals usually occur between the third quarter and the full moon, especially from July to September.

For its strong surf, this beach is very popular with surfers. Also, south is the estuary of the Ostional River lined with mangrove vegetation that can be navigated by boat. This site, as being a protected area, does not offer more tourism development, however nearby beaches like Nosara have all the amenities required by tourism in Costa Rica.

Getting to Ostional Beach Costa Rica in Guanacaste:

From San José drive north to Puntarenas and then follow the highway towards Liberia until you reach Limonal. Turn left at Tres Hermanas Restaurant towards La Amistad bridge until you get to Nicoya. Once you reach Nicoya, continue your drive taking the road to Samara. Once in Samara turn left towards Nosara for about 26 km (16 miles), passing through Barco Quebrado, Garza, Guiones and Pelada until you reach Ostional beach. This route requires a total of six hours from San Jose.

From Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), drive south to Santa Cruz and from there to Nosara passing through 27 de Abril, Lagarto, Frijolar, Pitahaya, Azul and San Juanillo until you reach Ostional beach.

By bus

Take the bus San José – Nosara, which takes about 5 to 6 hours (Empresa Alfaro, +506 2222-2666 / +506 2682-0297). From here you can rent a car and drive or take a taxi to Ostional beach, which takes about 10 minutes. We recommend buying the ticket a day earlier to be sure your seat is saved and if you are driving to the beach, a 4×4 vehicle is highly recommended.

You can also take a bus San Jose – Santa Cruz, which takes 5 to 6 hours (Tralapa, +506 2221-7202 / +506 2680-0392), and then take a bus from Santa Cruz to Ostional, which takes about 3 hours (however, the bus can’t make the trip during heavy rains).

By plane:

You can also take a flight from the Juan Santamaria Airport to the Nosara airport, either with Sansa or Aerobell Airlines every day. From here you can rent a car and drive or take a taxi to Ostional beach, which takes about 10 minutes.

Address map: Click here to view address map TO Ostional Beach Costa Rica in Guanacaste at Google Maps