The Beaches of Puerto Viejo

Granted, every beach is a good beach. And we are certainly spoiled for choice in the Puerto Viejo area: from volcanic black sand, to palm fringed shores and even to our infamous ‘jungle meets the sea’ beaches – where you can lounge on the beach and spot monkeys and sloths at the same time.

This is our rundown of the main beaches here and what you can expect to find on each one – let us know what your favourite is in the comments!

Playa Negra:

The first beach that you hit upon entering Puerto Viejo. Famous for it’s ‘negra’, black sands which, whilst brutally hot in the main part of the day, is a favoured sunset spot. This beach, with it’s famous lanchon, is usually one of the safest spots for swimming throughout the year. Rip tides are common in the Puerto Viejo area, but Playa Negra, especially close to town, is often calm.

Chino/Puerto Viejo Beach:

Bustling and full of life, Chino beach is surrounded by some great bars and resturants (Grow & Puerto Pirata being some favourites) and is one of the main hotspots in town. Calm waters, good snorkelling and the ‘just jump off’ boat where you can watch local and tourist kids jumping in and out of the water. Just a little further up, opposite the Chile Rojo restaurant, you can grab yourself some fresh fish from the local fishermen or sign yourself up for a fishing tour and catch some of your own!

Cocles Beach:

A fan favourite – and one of ours too! This is definitely one of the busier beaches but the stretch of sand is so large that you can easily find a solo spot. Famous for its island and surfers – this is one of the main hangout spots in the area. Especially around sunset people come out in droves to light a fire and watch the surfing as the sun goes down. There is also a ton of excellent resturants and food carts in the area – one of our fav watering holes in the area is Tasty Waves Cantina.

Playa Chiquita:

With normally fairly calm seas, golden sand and turquoise water – Playa Chiquita is the start of the a-typical sort of tropical beach that you see photos of. It maintains a great deal of shade throughout the day (no sunburn please!) and is a great beach for snorkelling and relaxing. This is also one of the areas where you can easily spot wildlife from – particularly the endangered great green macaws, as well as sloths hanging from the almond trees on the shore.

Punta Uva:

Winner of tripadvisors most beautiful beaches in the world, it is easy to see why Punta Uva draws the crowds. There is also a ton of fun activities to take part in on this beach – rent a kayak for some ocean adventures or head up the beautiful river to try and spot a variety of wildlife from caimans to turtles to monkeys. There is also a small hike on the right end of the beach with some great views and local history. Beautiful waters, abdunant wildlife – this is definitely a stunner of a beach.

Arrecife:

Punta Uva’s quieter cousin (although very busy on the weekends) this is definitely the beach to chill out on – there are barely any resturants here (except at the beginning of the beach), so make sure you are prepared. Great for a good beach read and FANTASTIC snorkelling just off shore. If you fancy diving, Punta Uva Divers can also be found on this beach. We love this beach for it’s tropical vibes and chilled mood!

Manzanillo:

The ultimate of our beach list but certainly not in last place! This is a wonderful beach for many reasons – it is an extremely long stretch of beach so easy to find a nice quiet spot to relax, or enjoy hanging out with the locals and the fishermen closer to town. Here you will also find one of the main national parks in the area for hiking, wildlife spotting and even more little beaches to check out along the way. Snorkelling in this area is also excellent, if you can drag yourself off the sand that is. You will also find the famous shipwreck (well one of them!) to explore and get some fun photos on.

The hardest part of being on vacation in Puerto is which beach to choose when we have so many – a terrible choice to make, we know! Everyone has a different favourite – what’s yours? Let us know below!

*Please bear in mind if you go in the ocean we have riptides and currents year round – please pay attention to local lifeguards but be aware that many of the beaches here do not have them. Stay safe and have a fabulous vacation! If you are looking for your next holiday location – look no further than Puerto Viejo – we have a huge range of accomodation options to guarantee you the perfect trip.

See you on the sand!

RISE Caribe

Like(0)