Santa Teresa Beaches: Where to go?
This was our first stop in Costa Rica while visiting again since back in 2017. We were wondering which Santa Teresa beaches are the best, so we decided to hit up some new spots on the west coast that we’ve kept hearing about. Santa Teresa was our first stop and it was a great way to get back into the traveling mood. We stayed at Principe del Pacifico and we loved it. For the majority of the week, we either surfed, went to coffee shops, or simply laid on the beach. Our favorite day by far was when we did the ATV rentals in Santa Teresa.
We only rented the ATVs for one day because they are quite expensive. The place we ordered ours from was called LocalBird and they delivered them right to our hotel. We got the largest engine one and the price was $90 for 24 hours. After they dropped off the ATVs, we decided to head north and see what we could find.
Where To Go With Your ATV Santa Teresa Rentals
This is what we did and what we saw during our time renting ATVs. We went to some restaurants and visited many of the beaches surrounding the area of Santa Teresa. All in all, it was our favorite day by far while visiting this area.
Best Santa Teresa Beaches to Visit
Santa Teresa Beach
This was the main beach near us and the one that is normally the most crowded. The largest groups of people are usually around before noon and for the sunset. It gets super hot by 2 PM and it is very hard to stay out for too long. You most likely won’t stop here first if you’re already staying in Santa Teresa but it is still one to mention.
Playa Cocal
We didn’t really stay and go to the beach here but we’re glad we stopped. In between Playa Cocal and Playa Hermosa is Grande Hermosa Tidepools. These tidepools are only visible during low tide, so you have to time this nicely. They are filled with different species of animals such as pufferfish, octopus, and I’ve even heard of some people seeing eels. You don’t have to stay here long but it should 100% be on your list. To get here you want to follow the road and when you see the first parking lot, you keep going for another few seconds. On the left, there will be another very small section off the road. Park your ATV here and start exploring!
Playa Hermosa
Our next stop was Playa Hermosa. This is a popular beach for multiple reasons. It is very quiet, has good waves for beginner surfers, and is still very close to Santa Teresa without all of the noise. There are some amazing beach houses and surfing schools around these parts and it was my favorite beach along this ATV rental tour throughout Santa Teresa. This town and the next town of beaches are your best bet to find some food if you’re hungry. If you’re able to, open up GoogleMaps, as this is the best way to find what you’re looking for. To get there from Playa Cocal you can follow the map below. Make sure to take a left at the Selva Sagrada.
Playa Manzanilla
After leaving Playa Hermosa, head back out on the road and take a left at the corner with Selva Sagrada. Keep following this road straight for a while and eventually, you’ll get to Playa Manzanilla. It’s a pretty easy route for this one but there are some cool views on the way and we stopped to take some photos. A good majority of this drive past Playa Hermosa will be in the shade, which is nice but it doesn’t last for too long. This is where we stopped to eat, grab a few drinks a refuel for the rest of the drive. Once you get to Playa Manzanilla you will see the restaurant, Atardecer Dorado.
Santa Teresa Beaches Past Manzanilla
After we finished fueling up for the rest of our adventure, we got back on our ATVs and headed down the same road. You will see a sign that says Restuaraunte Y Piscina Dayka. Take a left at that sign and you will continue down a dirt road. This road will eventually end and you will have to take the beach entrance to more of the following beaches. If you don’t want to drive the ATV on the beach, then you can turn around and continue exploring the town next to Playa Manzanilla or anywhere else.
Once on the beach, you can keep following it for miles. There are no other real towns for a while and you will see other people on ATVs and cars. It is possible to keep going to places like San Francisco de Coyote and Playa Bongo but the tide was too high and we weren’t able to cross the river on our ATVs. Wasn’t a problem though as it is just as fun to ride around in circles and take some pretty amazing photos of the area. As you get close to the end you will probably see a lot of people fishing as it seems like a great spot with lots of fish.
Other Santa Teresa Beaches and ATV Rental Activities
All of the activities that we did above took up practically the whole day. We got back about an hour until sunset. There are other beaches to the south of Playa Santa Teresa that are really great themselves like Playa Carmen and Mal Pais. I would highly recommend you check them out if you have the time. I heard Playa Carmen even has chair rentals on the beach.
After we showered, we went down past Mal Pais to Playa Cuevas to watch the sunset. We were told it is the best area to watch the sunset but unfortunately it was extremely cloudy the night we went. If you want to go check it out then you keep driving south until you pass a cemetery and soccer field on your right. After this, we went to an Argentina Styled restaurant. You can use the ATV to get to other parts of town to try different places to eat as well.
Thank you for reading my post about my day and maybe learning about some other beaches near Santa Teresa you may not have known about! If you have any questions about where we went, feel free to leave a comment.
