117km (73 miles) W of San José; 75km (47 miles) S of Puntarenas
These beach towns are booming. Construction is either already underway or in advanced planning stages for Sonesta, St. Regis, and Ramada resort developments here. On top of these major players, scores of smaller hotels and condominium projects are being built. The big resorts probably won't open until 2009 or so. Today, Playa de Jacó is a long stretch of beach strung with a dense hodgepodge of hotels in all price categories, cheap souvenir shops, seafood restaurants, pizza joints, rowdy bars, and a miniature-golf course. In apparent anticipation of the larger boom, the main strip here is already an overcrowded and congested collection of restaurants, shops, and small strip malls.
The number-one attraction here is the surf, and this is definitely a surfer-dominated beach town. Surfers love the consistent beach break here (and at neighboring Playa Hermosa). However, the beach itself is not particularly appealing. It consists of dark-gray sand with lots of little rocks, and it's often very rough. Still, given its proximity to San José, Jacó is almost always packed with a mix of foreign and Tico vacationers.
Just north of Jacó, is Playa Herradura, a once-forgotten patch of brown sand that is now home to the large Los Sueños Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort. North of Herradura, you'll find a few other small beaches and resorts. The high-end St. Regis is taking over one of these beaches, and the elegant boutique hotel Villa Caletas is located on a high hill above another.
In contrast to the dryness of Guanacaste, these are the first beaches on the Pacific coast to have a tropical feel. The humidity is palpable, and the lushness of the tropical forest is visible on the hillsides surrounding town. In hotel gardens, flowers bloom profusely throughout the year.
