26 things to do this dry season
From first-light surf to a night on the turtle beach — a field guide to Guanacaste when the sky stays empty for months.
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Discover Guanacaste
Expand your horizon by exploring ours. Beaches, volcanoes, sabanero towns, and the houses people fly back for — find what you love.
Where to look for a home
Tamarindo energy, Papagayo quiet, Nosara shade: how the coast actually lives, neighborhood by neighborhood.
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Volcano days from Liberia
Rincón de la Vieja is closer than it looks. Pack water, leave the beach for a morning, and come back dusty and happy.
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The turtle calendar
Ostional and Playa Grande do not run on hotel time. Here is when to come, and how to show up without getting in the way.
Learn moreSo many places to discover
Explore Guanacaste — the Gold Coast, the peninsula, and the southern Nicoya that still feels like home.
Why do Santa Teresa, Mal País, Cóbano and Paquera appear in Guanacaste?
Originally, these beaches belonged to Guanacaste.
Since the Annexation of the Partido de Nicoya in 1824, this entire southern coast was part of its original territory.
The change of map
In 1915, a decree moved the administration of the southern peninsula to Puntarenas.
The reason was purely practical: at the time, traveling by boat to the port of Puntarenas was much easier and faster than crossing Guanacaste’s difficult dirt roads.
Two histories, one identity
Today the roads have connected us again and the peninsula feels like one place once more.
Although Puntarenas drove the development of the area for years, its essence and original history remain Guanacastecan.
It is this unique mix of both provinces that makes this coast unlike any other.
