Central Pacific Coast Attractions

Costa Rica's central Pacific coast is one of the country's top vacation destinations. Long and indented, the Pacific coast is better developed for tourism than the Caribbean coast. Almost the entire Pacific coast is within the boundaries of the Puntarenas province.

The central Pacific coast offers an appealing mixture of luxury beach resorts, natural attractions, sportfishing towns, wildlife, and deserted beaches. Water sports such as snorkelling and surfing are popular, as is fishing and wildlife observation.

Puntarenas is the most important town on the coast, and south of it lie coastal villages, wildlife refuges and national parks. The Manuel Antonio area features one of Costa Rica's most famous coastal national parks. December to mid-April is the dry season on the Pacific coast, and this coincides with Costa Rican school vacation as well as Easter. Hence, the dry season is the high season in this area.