Central Pacific Costa Rica (Puntarenas Province)

Costa Rica’s central pacific coastline stretches from Boca Barranca to Manuel Antonio hosting a variety of surfing waves and breaks to choose from.  The area features several long left point breaks, hollow reefbreaks and powerful beach breaks.

Boca Barranca near Puntarenas, is a long rivermouth point break that is home of the annual Rabbit Kekai “Toes on the Nose” longboard surfing contest.  When the wave is small it is a longboarders paradise.  As it gets bigger, you can bring out your fish and shortboards to race the fast down the line waves.

Puerto Caldera has a wedging backwash peak that forms along the breakwall, providing thumping waves for surfers and bodyboarders on larger swells.  Isla Herradura and Playa Escondida offer excellent rock reef and point breaks on larger swells.

Jaco Beach is the closest beach town to San Jose, Costa Rica and under a two hour drive from the airport.  Jaco is home to lots of local nightlife, and more or less, anything goes in town.  There are tons of restaurants, shops and even a bungee jump concession where  tourists leap off a crane for fun.  The waves can actually get quite good in Jaco on the incoming tide.

Playa Hermosa is a thumping beach break with tons of empty peaks.  Usually closed out on swells, it’s the place to be when everywhere else goes flat.  There are several small hotels on the beach in Playa Hermosa, making it a nice welcome getaway from the hustle and bustle of Jaco, which is just 3 miles up the road.

Further down the coast is Esterillos, Playa Palo Seco, Boca Damas, Quepos and Manuel Antonio.  All of these areas have fun waves from time to time.

The following is a list of surf breaks in the Central Pacific Region of Costa Rica (Puntarenas):

If you need further assistance in planning your next surfing vacation to Costa Rica, please feel free to contact us anytime at info@surfingcostarica.com.