Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [208]
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Parks & Reserves
Most of Nicoya’s parks and reserves lie along the shoreline, with several stretching out to sea to protect marine turtles and their nesting sites.
Parque Nacional Barra Honda Best in the dry season; you can go spelunking in the limestone caves of this underground wonderland.
Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste Crucial to the survival of the leather-back turtle, this park protects one of the turtle’s major Pacific nesting sites.
Refugio Nacional de Fauna Silvestre Ostional Olive ridleys nest and sometimes have arribadas (mass nestings) at Ostional.
Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Camaronal This out-of-the-way refuge has good surf and protects the nesting grounds of four marine turtle species.
Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Curú The small area of this privately owned reserve is an unexpected oasis of diverse landscapes.
Reserva Natural Absoluta Cabo Blanco Costa Rica’s first protected wilderness area is at the southern tip of the Península de Nicoya.
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Getting There & Around
Now that more international air traffic flies directly to Liberia, the Península de Nicoya has become easier to access. Small airstrips serving Tamarindo, Nosara, Sámara, Punta Islita and Tambor are host to daily flights, so you can bypass tough (or impossible) drives on bad roads.
The most popular destinations are served by public buses; Santa Cruz and Nicoya are the region’s hubs. Private shuttles run to those destinations not regularly served by public transportation. Sámara and Montezuma are good places to arrange onward travel to more remote places on the southwestern coast.
To drive the roads less traveled, it’s mandatory to have a 4WD, but be aware that during the rainy season many roads in the southern peninsula are impassable. Always ask locally about conditions before setting out.
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NORTHERN PENINSULA
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The northern Nicoya coastline in a snapshot: white-sand beaches, wild green yonder, azure waters. It’s no wonder that this is some of the most coveted real estate in the country. What it means when you zoom in is bustling construction of resorts and retirement properties among the trees behind the high-tide line. On the ground it doesn’t take supersharp focus to pick out the high gringo-to-Tico ratio around these parts.
Though the dry forests of the northern peninsula have been cut down over the generations to be transformed into farms and pastureland, these days trees are being felled – more selectively, sure – to put up second homes. The Costa Rican lifestyle here has traditionally revolved around the harvest and the herd, but today Ticos live by the tourist season. Each year from December to April, when the snow falls on Europe and North America, Guanacaste experiences its dry season and tourists descend en masse.
While the booming tourism buoys the economy, local Ticos and expats alike are becoming increasingly aware of the tricky balance of development and conservation. But even as construction goes up, the waves keep rolling in and the sun continues to smile on the beaches of the northern peninsula.
The main artery into this region, Hwy 21, runs southwest from Liberia, with coastal access roads branching out from the small towns of Comunidad, Belén and Santa Cruz.
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PLAYA DEL COCO
Thirty-seven kilometers west of Liberia and connected by good roads to San José, Playa del Coco is the most easily accessible of the peninsula’s beaches. Its name is derived from the cocoa-colored sand that lies between its two rocky headlands, though it can appear, well, dirty. While nearby Tamarindo has become the enclave of moneyed foreigners, Playa del Coco is more the party destination for young Ticos on weekends, the playground of sportfishers and divers during the week and