Paradise Off The Beaten Path in Costa Rica

Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

While popular beaches like Tamarindo, Flamingo and Playa Conchal offer a wide range of tourist attractions, some travelers are keen to get off the beaten path and connect with the culture of Costa Rica. If you’re looking to experience the more authentic side to Costa Rica, look no further than Santa Teresa. 

Santa Teresa is a remote beach town located at the southern tip of the Nicola Peninsula in Costa Rica, part of the Puntarenas province. The laid back town consists of one single stretch of road scattered with restaurants, eco-lodges, hotels and surf stores. Its best known for its pristine sandy beaches, consistent surf and spectacular sunsets. 

After spending two weeks beach hopping around Costa Ricas North Pacific I was in need of a change of scenery. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my stay. However, I was bothered by how americanised everything was. 

Costa Rica is by far the most expensive central American country I’ve visited! Hotel breakfast for two $70 USD, jar of peanut butter $11 USD, bag of chips $5 USD, sunscreen $16 USD. Prices were sky high. I could have visited the South of France for less. 

I first heard about Santa Teresa when my boyfriend asked a local surf shop for advice on where to go surfing. The guy told us that the further you head down south, the better the surf gets and the less touristy it becomes. 

And so, we began our drive down the peninsula to Santa Teresa.  

After doing some research we decided to take route 21 on the east side of the Nicola Peninsula. This route is open all year round and is the most common way to get to Santa Teresa from the north. We were warned not to take the route along the west coast of the Peninsula because the road conditions can be quite dangerous. 

Route 21 was smooth and paved most of the way but once we passed Cobano the road turned into gravel and was ridden with potholes. It was so bumpy that the glove box in our 4x4 was vibrating so much that it fell off. Thankfully the bumps only lasted 20 minutes. The drive from Papagayo to Santa Teresa took us a little over 4 hours total.

After what felt like driving through the middle of nowhere for four hours, we finally arrived in Santa Teresa. We made it just in time for sunset so we immediately headed down to the beach to watch night fall. I think this is when i fell in love. We were on our way to check into out accomodation when we began to understand what all the fuss about santa teresa was about. The town is sprinkled with boutique hotels 

In my opinion, Santa Teresa is the closest thing to paradise in Costa Rica. This tiny beach town will expose you to an authentic foreign cultural experience. It isn’t crowded by American tourists like the other beaches my boyfriend and I visited. I was very surprised how few people spoke english. Turns out that the majority of people who vacation here are visiting from other parts of South America. So brush up on your spanish. 

Santa Teresa has somehow managed to stay unspoiled even with its recent spike in tourism. This sleepy surf town feels like a hidden retreat compared to the more touristy spots along Costa Rica Pacific Coast. Santa teresa is seriously undeveloped. Its main street consists of one windy dirt track that barely deserves the title of a road, its very isolated and difficult to travel to. There are no designer stores, fancy cars or five star hotel chains. In fact, theres a lot that Santa Teresa doesnt have and i guess thats what scares away a lot of travellers. If you're seeking an adventure, enjoy exploring and dont mind heading off the beaten path, Santa Teresa is the perfect destination for you.



    

If you go...

When to go

The best time to travel to Santa Teresa is during summer/dry season (mid-December - April). The other half of the year (May-November) is the rainy season. Flooding occurs freqneutly in winter and will quickly derail your plans. 

Where to eat & drink

Santa Teresa might be small but it has a great food scene. Here are my top 5 favourite places to eat and drink. 

Katana

In my opinion, this is the best Japanese restaurant in Santa Teresa. Fresh seafood, delicious cocktails and great service. (left to right: Chirachi bowl, Pot stickers & Japanese curry)

       

Burger Rancho       @Burger_Rancho

The most popular restaurant in Santa Teresa for a reason. 


   

The Bakery         @thebakery_santateresa

Humongous menu, delicious food, great coffee and open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

    

Cafe Sociale @Cafesocial.st

Santa Teresa's most delicious plant-based cafe serving salads, juice, smoothies, acai bowls, raw vegan sweets, baked goods and more. The interior is clean and minimal and the staff members are super friendly.

 


The Green World Store

Health food supermarket packed with fruit and vegetables, organic dairy, organic meats and healthy snack food. They also make fresh fruit juice and smoothies to go.

Getting there...

There are a handful of other ways to get to Santa Teresa depending on your preference, budget and location. The most convenient way to get to Santa Teresa is from Costra Ricas capital, San Jose. This didnt apply to my boyfriend and I because we were already in Costa Rica. 

There are two International airports in Costa Rica, Liberia airport and San Jose airport. .
San Jose International airport is the closest to Santa Teresa.

Traveling to Santa Teresa from San Jose International Airport 

Arrive at San Jose International airport (SJO).

From here you have two options; either drive 150 miles or take a domestic flight. 

Option 1: Domestic Flight

The most convenient way to reach Santa Teresa is by air. 
The closest airport to Santa Teresa is Tambor airport. SANSA Air offers multiple daily flights from San Jose to Tambor. The flight is a quick 30 minutes and offers some pretty spectacular scenery. When you arrive at Tambor you’ll be welcomed by a bunch of local taxi drivers 

Book here: http://flysansa.com/en/

Make sure you book the flight well in advanced. It books out fast as there are limited seats.

   

Once you arrive in Tambor, there are two ways to drive to Santa Teresa (see image below). 
Make sure you/your driver takes the route highlighted in blue. You’ll get there much faster and without most of the bumps. 
The other road sucks. Trust me. Don't make the same mistake i did.

Option 2: Drive

Driving to Santa Teresa isn’t as convenient as flying but its still great fun. Driving involves a lot more planning and includes boarding a ferry to float you across the peninsula. I personally wouldnt reccomend it, but If you enjoy taking road trips this experience could be quite memorable. The scenery is spectacular.

The first step is to rent a car. There are a number of rental car companies scattered around the airport. (only 4WD's are permitted in Santa Teresa)

From San Jose, drive east on route 27 from San Jose to Puntarenas (approximately 2 hours). 



From Puntarenas, board the Puntarenas-Paquera ferry. The 70-minute boat ride takes you accross the Nicoya Peninsula to Paquera. 

Make sure you get to the ferry early! Arrive at least half an hour before the ferry is scheduled. This gives you a good amount of time to queue and purchase tickets. 

Ferry tickets can only be purchased with cash (Costa Rican Colon or USD).

If you miss the last ferry you can stay overnight in Punta Arenas. There are a few hotels near the dock.

From Paquera, drive to Santa Teresa (2 hours).

If the rental car option doesn’t fit your budget you can take a bus. I dont know anything about the bus, but according to https://nicoyapeninsula.com/general/busses.php there's a bus that runs twice daily from San Jose to Santa Teresa.

Where to stay... 

My boyfriend and I stayed at Casa Melaku Villa just off main street. The villa is designed to keep guests connected to the outdoors at all times. There are also a number of hotels scattered around the town!

   

If you'd like to check out the villa Click Here