The Beach
Santa Teresa beach (next to Manuel Antonio) is the most beautiful beach in this province and it is listed in the top 10 beaches in Costa Rica on the list of many people with extensive knowledge of the country.
Its beautiful white sand, the breadth of it when the tide goes out, the special waves for surfers and some mini beaches in its limits with few waves, which allow swimming in them as if they were pools, make it a great tourist attraction, mainly for foreigners, which predominates in the area.
In fact, the Argentine and Israeli neighborhoods are the largest until this year 2020, the latter being the ones who have acquired the largest number of properties.
Location
Located on the Nicoya peninsula, in the Cóbano district in the Puntarenas province. Playa Santa Teresa, with an extension of about 3.5 km, is a beautiful white sand beach, whose hotels, restaurants and supermarkets are scattered along the gravel road -in poor condition- that runs parallel to the beach.
how to get there
By car
From San José you must drive to Puntarenas (about 1.5 hours on Highway 27). In the time of Covid-19, the ferry schedule is restricted to 3 daily trips: 8 am, 12 noon and 5 pm. The average car ferry costs 14,000 colones ($24) and lasts about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The ticket can be purchased in advance on the website: https://www.quickpaycr.com/
Dock in Puerto Paquera, you must drive around 1.5 hours (First pass through the small town of Cóbano, the main district and from there it is 18km to Santa Teresa)
By Bus
The company Transportes Cóbano makes a single daily trip on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, leaving at 9:30 am from its terminal in San José, near the Children’s Museum. The bus goes to Cóbano, from where you need to take an Uber or a taxi to Santa Teresa. For more information and routes you can book at https://www.laterminalcostarica.com/
Restaurants & Food
The offer is wide given the large number of foreigners who have come to settle, you can find Spanish, Argentine, Jewish, Italian, Costa Rican food and many others. The prices are in line with most of the tourist offer in Costa Rica. On average, from $7 to $30 a lunch.
Nearby Beaches
- Banana Beach (Inside)
- Carmen Beach (Next to)
- Mal País Beach (3km to the south)
- Hermosa Beach (3km north)
- Manzanillo Beach (5km north)
- Montezuma Beach (17km by road)
Santa Teresa transportation
The most popular means of transport in Santa Teresa is the ATV, since the streets are gravel and the constant rain during some days of the month means that the roads have new holes that open and close, in addition to their ease of crossing to places more rugged like Cabo Blanco, Mal País, Cabuya and other exotic places nearby.
A mountain bike is recommended for some of these routes or the traditional banana bike to move within the 3.5 km of Santa Teresa beach.
4×4 cars are recommended, however a normal car is enough to visit the main beaches, taking the appropriate route and not the shortcuts that are only suitable for other more appropriate vehicles.
Other Activities
- Tortuga Island Tour
- Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve
- Horse Riding
- ATV Tours
- Tours to Waterfalls in Montezuma
This post is also available in: Español (Spanish)