Santa Teresa Beach Costa Rica Tourist Information

Santa Teresa Beach Costa Rica in Puntarenas

Location: between Carmen and Hermosa Beaches in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
GPS Coordinates: 9.644389, -85.167897 (9°38’39.80″N, 85°10’04.43″W)
Canton: Puntarenas, district: Cóbano.
Zone postal code: 60111.

Santa Teresa Beach Costa Rica: a beautiful white/gold sand beach with swells that are superb all year round. Santa Teresa beach is well known for a relaxing atmosphere and good surf conditions, as it is renowned worldwide for some of the best surfing in the entire country.

Santa Teresa is an ideal beach for surfers of any level. Here, swells range from moderate to strong. While surfing conditions are excellent throughout the year due to consistent off shore winds, the best time to visit Santa Teresa beach is from May to December.’ During this time, swells at Santa Teresa beach are at their peak. However, it is important to keep in mind that inexperienced surfers should avoid trying to surf during this period.

Besides surfing, you can also practice some other activities like horseback riding, hiking, deep-sea fishing, ATV and canopy tours, as well as explore Costa Rica’s diverse wildlife since it has plenty of tropical vegetation nearby, as it so close to the Cabo Blanco Absolute Reserve. Santa Teresa beach has also become known for its many excellent restaurants, all started by various chefs who have moved to the area from various other countries. Here visitors can also find a wide variety of hotels, cafes, bars and pubs to suit all budgets.

Getting to Santa Teresa Beach

From San José go to Puntarenas and then take the Ferri to Tambor or Paquera. (Tambor Ferry www.navieratambor.com is the largest and most comfortable, we recommend you get to Puntarenas an hour before the ferry leaves).

Go through Tambor to Cobano. In Cobano cross the village and after about 8 miles, and just before the beach, there is a junction, turn right onto Santa Teresa. This route requires a total of five hours from San Jose.

From Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport (LIR), drive south through Nosara, Samara and Coyote, cross the Bongo river and continue through Manzanillo to Santa Teresa. Between Ario and Manzanillo you can continue through a stretch of beach. Make sure there is low tide and only use a 4×4 vehicle for this route. It is a very scenic trip as you go down the coast (this route exemplifies rural Costa Rica and is very beautiful). Or you can reach the junction that leads to Ario Beach and go through the mountains, this way takes longer, but it’s the official road and its use is not dependent on the tides.

Bus Service and Phone Number

Take a local bus from San Jose – Malpais – Montezuma, which takes about 5 hours (Transportes Rodriguez, +506 2642-0219).

By plane:

You can also take a flight from the Juan Santamaria Airport to the Tambor Airport, either with Sansa Airlines or Aerobell every day. From here you can rent a car and drive, or take a bus or taxi to Cobano and then to Santa Teresa, which is about 30 minutes.