playa hermosa santa teresa

The Nicoya Peninsula has been gaining popularity at a high rate over the last handful of years. One of those places is Playa Hermosa, Santa Teresa. This beach is located a short 10 minutes north of the main Santa Teresa beach. The name “Hermosa” translates to beautiful in Spanish and you can why this beach is referred to as that. With a long stretch of beach, away from all of the hustle of the main strip of Santa Teresa, this is a great area for the ones looking to relax.

Santa Teresa is full of hip coffee shops, restaurants, and other amenities. This area has constant ATVs, motorcycles, and cars driving by. Went visiting Playa Hermosa, it was nice to get a break from that constant noise. The beach is vast and you will definitely not have a hard time choosing where to throw down your towel at.

playa hermosa santa teresa

ATV Rentals Santa Teresa: Getting to Playa Hermosa

There are many ways you can get to Playa Hermosa from Santa Teresa. If you are coming from another town or have been in Costa Rica for some time already, there is a good chance you have rented a car already. This is perfectly fine as there is plenty of space to park cars at the entrance to the beach. The most popular alternative is renting an ATV. We did this for a day to explore all of the other beaches that this area had to offer. It can be stressful picking out which rental company to choose. Most of them will deliver to you so it isn’t too big of a deal but we ended up choosing Localbird and loved them.

Once you have your form of transportation, start heading north along the coast following the main road. When you get to your first stop sign, you will be taking a left and then another left. A good point of reference is the Selva Sagrada on the corner. After this turn, head straight down to the parking lot and entrance to the beach.

atv rentals santa teresa

What To do In Playa Hermosa Santa Teresa

Explore Grande Hermosa Tidepool

Located on the strip of beach directly south of Hermosa, there will be the Grande Hermosa Tidepool. This giant tidepool is only visible during low tide. In these tidepools, you will find a multitude of different species of animals like pufferfish, octopus, eels, and many types of fish. Seeing these pools is a MUST if visiting this area.

grande hermosa tidepool

Go Surfing

This area of Santa Teresa is well known for its more calm and beginner-friendly waves. We didn’t surf here but we could tell it was a great place to come back to enjoy some pristine waves with almost no one around. Most of the surfing lessons and schools are located in Santa Teresa but offer lessons at Playa Hermosa. One of the good ones is Perfect Sunset School.

playa hermosa santa teresa surf

What to Eat Post Beach

There are many locations around Playa Hermosa to eat after a long day at the beach. Some of the ones nearby are the Couleur Cafe and Tp8 Pizza Bar. You can easily enjoy these places if you’re staying at Zopilote Surf Camp or Bamboo Surf House.