Playa Jaco and Surrounding Beaches

Unfortunately, Jaco Beach has a reputation for dangerous riptides (as does most of Costa Rica's Pacific coast). Even strong swimmers have been known to drown in the power rips. At times, storms far offshore cause huge waves to pound on the beach, making it impossible to go into the water much beyond your waist. If this is the case, you'll have to be content with the hotel pool. In general, the far southern end of the beach is the calmest and safest.

After you've spent some time on Playa de Jacó, you might want to visit some of the other nearby beaches such as Playa Hermosa, Playa Herradura, Playa Esterillos, playas Manta and Blanca.

Playa Hermosa, 10km (6 1/4 miles) southeast of Jacó, where sea turtles lay eggs from July to December, is also well known for its great surfing waves.

Playa Herradura, about 6.5km (4 miles) northwest of Jacó, is a hard-packed brown-sand-and-rock beach ringed by lush hillsides. For years, this was an almost deserted beach with just a few basic cabins and campgrounds. Now it's home to the Marriott Los Sueños Ocean & Golf Resort. However, the Marriott occupies only one end of the beach here; despite its presence, Playa Herradura still feels a lot more isolated and deserted than Jacó. All of these beaches are easily reached by car, moped, or bicycle -- if you've got a lot of energy.

Playa Esterillos, 22km (14 miles) southeast of Jacó, is long and wide and almost always nearly deserted. All are signposted, so you'll have no trouble finding them. Finally, Punta Leona, which is a cross between a hotel, a resort, and a private country club, has some of the nicer beaches in the area. Although they effectively have restricted access to their beaches for years, this is technically illegal in Costa Rica, and you have the right to enjoy both playas Manta and Blanca, two very nice white-sand beaches inside the Punta Leona complex. The public access road to these beaches is located south of the main Punta Leona entrance and is not very well marked.

If you try to do any shopping in Jacó, you'll be overrun with shops selling T-shirts, cut-rate souvenirs, and handmade jewelry and trinkets. Two exceptions are Guacamole (tel. 643-1120), a small clothing store that produces its own line of batik beachwear, and La Galería Heliconia (tel] 643-3613), which carries a good selection of artworks and pottery.