Location: between Espadilla Sur and Gemelas beaches in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Manuel Antonio Beach entrance GPS Coordinates: 9.391385,-84.149654 (9°23’28.98″N, 84°08’58.75″W) Manuel Antonio Beach GPS Coordinates: 9.381940,-84.143948 (9°22’54.98″N, 84°08’38.21″W) District: Quepos, canton: Aguirre, province: Puntarenas. Zone postal code: 60601.
Manuel Antonio Beach is a beautiful and idyllic white sanded beach with crystal clear turquoise waters and a small coral reef, surrounded by thick forested green hills and fascinating jungle blended with a network of trails and a welcoming and abundant wildlife, located within the Manuel Antonio National Park, on the central Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
Manuel Antonio Beach is separated from Playa Espadilla Sur by a tombolo, a natural land bridge formed over the years through the accumulation of sand, and both, Espadilla Sur and Manuel Antonio Beach, offer tidal pools brimming with minnows and crayfish, so diving is a very good option, especially during the dry season from early December until late April, when the water is clearer.
Manuel Antonio Beach also offers a variety of activities to do, such as hiking the trails of the park, whitewater rafting, ocean cruising, horseback riding, fishing, sea kayaking, just to name but a few. And the volcanic-sedimentary cliffs rise steeply from the shoreline, providing scenic views and hiking trails.
Manuel Antonio Beach is definitely one of the most exuberant places in Costa Rica, with spectacular forests that host a wealth of wildlife, including all four species of monkeys – Howler, Spider, Capuchin and Squirrel or Titi, Two and Three-toed Sloths, coaties, raccoons, marmosets, ocelots, toed anteaters, pacas, iguanas, millions of colorful little crabs and also Olive Ridley and Green turtles occasionally come ashore at Manuel Antonio Beach. Additionally, over 350 species of birds have been recorded, such as sea birds, Toucans and Scarlet Macaws.
However, be careful with the Capuchin Monkeys, who will steal food and anything else that they can get in their hands. Even though it is illegal to feed the monkeys, insensitive people still do it. Note that if you’re caught, you may, quite rightly, be ejected from the park. Recent studies have found a worrisome increase in heart disease and heart failure among the local monkey population. Unfortunately, the animals are much more prone to rises in cholesterol than humans, so please do not leave food lying around.
In the other hand, the popularity of Manuel Antonio has brought its own difficulties. With over 150,000 visitors a year comes the problem of overuse, so it was decided to close the park, which is the same entrance to Manuel Antonio Beach, on Mondays and limit the number to 600 a day. It is essential, therefore, to arrive early, before the quota has been reached.
Manuel Antonio Beach has bathrooms and showers, but do not have any type of accommodations or restaurants and no camping is allowed, but there are a lot of hotels in the vicinity to suit all pockets.
Getting to Manuel Antonio Beach in Aguirre, Puntarenas:
From San José
Drive north towards Puntarenas on route #27. Take the Pozón exit (to Jaco), and continue for about 100 km (63 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita, taking the Quepos exit, just after Parrita. Follow the road until you reach the town of Quepos, and then turn left following the signs to Manuel Antonio National Park through the mountain for about 6.5 km (4 miles) until you reach Manuel Antonio National Park. You need to pay the park’s entrance fee, as Manuel Antonio beach is inside. This route requires a total of 3 hour from San Jose.
From Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR)
Drive to the northeast towards Liberia. Once in Liberia, continue along the same highway to Puntarenas for about 120 km (75 miles). Once at the entrance to Puntarenas, continue on route #27 to San Jose for about 25 km (15 miles) until you reach the exit to Pozon and Jaco, take it and continue for about 100 km (63 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita, taking the Quepos exit, just after Parrita. Follow the road until you reach the town of Quepos, and then turn left following the signs to Manuel Antonio National Park through the mountain for about 6.5 km (4 miles) until you reach Manuel Antonio National Park. You need to pay the park’s entrance fee, as Manuel Antonio beach is inside. This route requires a total of 4.5 hours.
By bus
You can take a bus from the route San José – Quepos / Manuel Antonio (Transportes Morales, 2221-4214 / 2777-0318), making the stop at Manuel Antonio National Park, which takes about 4 hours. From here, you need to enter to Manuel Antonio National Park, and you need to pay the park’s entrance fee, as Manuel Antonio beach is inside.
Location: between Playitas and Espadilla Sur beaches in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Espadilla Norte Beach GPS Coordinates: 9.391385,-84.149654 (9°23’28.98″N, 84°08’58.75″W) District: Quepos, canton: Aguirre, province: Puntarenas. Zone postal code: 60601.
North Espadilla Beach (Espadilla Norte Beach) is a unique destination with white sands and clear blue waters in a long and wide beach located meters away from Manuel Antonio National Park entrance, in Quepos, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. In fact, is the largest and most popular beach in Manuel Antonio.
Its great atmosphere plus lush natural beauty turns this beach into a truly paradise. The landscape at Espadilla Norte Beach is beautifully accented by its incredible amount of tropical vegetation with stately palm trees, as well as its Coral reefs and abundant wildlife with species such as raccoons, porcupines, sloths and monkeys, that simply enchant all visitors. Its cliffs maintain the original vegetation and in their bases in shallow waters visitors can see lots of small fish and coral colonies, which must be protected so that they can be exploited for scientific tourism. In the rainy season the weather is nice for tourists, since generally the rain cools the air, and also, during this time, the endless stretch of sand reflects the sky’s beautiful, billowing clouds. On the other hand, both North and South Espadilla beaches, have been awarded under the Blue Flag award.
North Espadilla Beach is very popular, and tend to get slightly crowded, however, even when crowded, the beach is so long that you can find space to spread out in the sun or in the shade of the surrounding palms and almond trees. This is a beach ideal for swimming, sunning, and practice some water sports, such as surfing, kayaking, boat trips, jet skiing and fishing, as here abound snapper, snook, mullet, pomfret, etc., just to name a few. Also, North Espadilla is safer than most beaches due to the presence of lifeguards, an uncommon sight on public beaches in Costa Rica. Even though swimming here can be dangerous because of the unpredictable riptides and currents.
North Espadilla Beach has smooth and consistent waves, better known to have strong rip currents in spite of their small size, so surfers fall in love with the exciting each breaks found here, especially when the tide comes in.
North Espadilla Beach is accessible to the general public and tends to receive more visitors than the beaches inside the park. The town of Manuel Antonio itself has a wonderful tourism infrastructure that respects wildlife species, as well as the jungle flora found everywhere. Here you can find many restaurants, shops and street-vendors options, even a surf shop.
Getting to Espadilla Norte Beach in Aguirre, Puntarenas:
From San José
Drive north towards Puntarenas on route #27. Take the Pozón exit (to Jaco), and continue for about 100 km (63 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita, taking the Quepos exit, just after Parrita. Follow the road until you reach the town of Quepos, and then turn left following the signs to Manuel Antonio National Park through the mountain for about 6.5 km (4 miles) until you reach Espadilla Norte beach, just before the park entrance. This route requires a total of 3 hour from San Jose.
From Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR)
Drive to the northeast towards Liberia. Once in Liberia, continue along the same highway to Puntarenas for about 120 km (75 miles). Once at the entrance to Puntarenas, continue on route #27 to San Jose for about 25 km (15 miles) until you reach the exit to Pozon and Jaco, take it and continue for about 100 km (63 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita, taking the Quepos exit, just after Parrita. Follow the road until you reach the town of Quepos, and then turn left following the signs to Manuel Antonio National Park through the mountain for about 6.5 km (4 miles) until you reach Espadilla Norte beach, just before the park entrance. This route requires a total of 4.5 hours.
By bus
You can take a bus from the route San José – Quepos / Manuel Antonio (Transportes Morales, 2221-4214 / 2777-0318), making the stop at Manuel Antonio National Park, which takes about 4 hours, as Espadilla Norte beach is just at the park entrance.
Location: between Palma (Bandera) and Isla Damas beaches in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Palo Seco Beach entrance GPS Coordinates: 9.521240,-84.321102 (9°31’16.46N, 84°19’15.96″W) District: Parrita, canton: Parrita, province: Puntarenas. Zone postal code: 60901.
Palo Seco Beach is a beautiful, pristine and unspoiled 9 km (5 mile) long palm tree lined beach, usually deserted even though it is very close to Manuel Antonio National Park. This beach has greys sands and blue waters located on the Central Pacific area, near the town of Parrita. The beach has the Pacific Ocean on its southern shore, the Pirris River mouth to the West and the Palo Seco Estuary on its northern shore. This estuary is a popular area for mangrove tours to view its vast wildlife such as white-faced monkeys and an a great variety of birds. Also, the local Palo Seco Elementary School has a sea turtle sanctuary program which has helped to protect, hatch and release thousands of “Baby Sea Turtles” whose mothers come ashore here to lay their eggs, being the best time to see the baby sea turtle hatchlings from August through November.
Also, the navigable estuary at Palo Seco Beach offers great fishing for snook (robalo), snapper and grouper, so gives a great opportunity to get on the water and see some incredible wildlife firsthand. In fact, the world record snook was caught from the surf on this beach. In the other hand, the estuary is also home to crocodiles, toucans, scarlet macaws, monkeys, sloths and more.
Palo Seco Beach is indeed a hidden jewel of the Central Pacific area in Parrita, Puntarenas, costa Rica, a medium sized Costa Rican town that offers pretty much of what any homeowner or vacationer might need such as banks, health clinics, groceries, stores, restaurants, bars, small hotels, and more. Also, a full service hospital is located in Quepos, just 25 minutes away. The mountains and town of Parrita, 10 minutes away, rise above the estuary and offer vacationers many delights such as canopy tours, white-water rafting, quad and jungle tours, hot springs, waterfalls and more.
If you ever wanted to see a truly unspoiled Costa Rican beach then you must visit Palo Seco Beach, where every late afternoon offers a chance to see a picture-postcard sunsets, where one feels apart from the hustle and bustle of the larger beach towns yet close enough to them by 20-30 minutes should one want to go. Palo Seco Beach is ideal to just seat and relax, or you can also practice some water sports such as swimming, diving, snorkeling or surfing, trying to not be on the nearest areas from the mouth of the river, as they have strong waves and currents.
Although Palo Seco Beach is hidden away, is still only one and half hour away from San Jose, and it has easy access year round.
Getting to Palo Seco Beach in Parrita, Puntarenas:
From San José
Drive north towards Puntarenas on route #27. Take the Pozón exit (to Jaco), and continue for about 80 km (50 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita. Turn right at the Palo Seco Beach entrance and continue for some 4.5 km (3 miles) until you reach the beach. This route requires a total of 3 hour from San Jose.
From Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR)
Drive to the northeast towards Liberia. Once in Liberia, continue along the same highway to Puntarenas for about 120 km (75 miles). Once at the entrance to Puntarenas, continue on route #27 to San Jose for about 25 km (15 miles) until you reach the exit to Pozon and Jaco, take it and continue for about 80 km (50 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita. Turn right at the Palo Seco Beach entrance and continue for some 4.5 km (3 miles) until you reach the beach. This route requires a total of 4.5 hours.
By bus
You can take a bus from the route San José – Quepos / Manuel Antonio (Transportes Morales, 2221-4214 / 2777-0318), making the stop at Parrita, which takes about 4 hours. From here, you can take a taxi o walk to Palo Seco beach.
