If you are looking for a quick getaway beach trip from San José, your best option is to hit the road in the direction of Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast.
You can rent a car and drive just for 1 hour and 20 minutes through route 27 (click here for Google Maps). If you are going early in the morning and are looking for a place to have breakfast, I suggest that you visit “El Jardín” every time I go in that direction, I stop there to take breakfast. After stopping for breakfast, you will be close, keep driving for 20 more minutes, and you will get to a private touristic complex named Punta Leona, here you will have two options.
Beach trip from San José to Playa Blanca
Considered by a lot of locals, “one of Costa Rica’s best beaches” this white sand beach is the best beach near San José (less than a 2-hour drive) without question.
Even though all beaches in Costa Rica are public beaches, access to some of them is private, unfortunately, this is the case with Playa Blanca. Once you get to the entrance of Punta Leona, pay for a one-day pass or register in the hotel (offers page) in order to have access to Playa Blanca and the facilities of the touristic complex (please check on the one-day pass and offers links because there might be changes).
Some of you might ask, is it worth it? My quick answer: Yes. My long answer… well, how many times you are just 1 hour and 20 minutes away from an incredible beach with white sand and warm ocean water? In Costa Rica, you will hardly find beaches with nice facilities (restrooms and restaurants) right next to the beach. Here we have laws that prevent people to make constructions in front of the beach, and actually, that’s one thing I love the most, that the beaches still have a wild and natural essence.
Even though some of us enjoy the wild side of the beaches, I know that there are others that are not conformable to that. I have been to beaches in North America and Europe and I know that usually there are nice showers right next to the beach, or places really close to grabbing a bit to eat. So, it’s normal that some people would rather have some nice facilities next to the beach. This is when paying the fee to Punta Leona to access their facilities and Playa Blanca is worth it. You will enjoy a pleasant swim in the ocean, spend some time in the white sand, and be able to walk some meters and get to a nice restaurant.
After having some lunch and enjoying the beach, you could go to option 2’s beach, “Playa Mantas” which is right next to Playa Blanca, or keep enjoying the facilities of Punta Leona.
Playa Mantas
If you don’t want to pay for access to Playa Blanca you can still enjoy a very nice beach in almost the same spot. Right next to Punta Leona’s entrance, there is a public road that gives you access inside the touristic complex, this street ends right next to the parking lot of Playa Mantas, there, pay 4,000 colones ($6.6) and then you will be ready, enjoy the beach!
Related post: One adventure at Playa Mantas
If you are feeling a bit adventurous, you can still go to Playa Blanca through the rocks that are on the left side of Playa Mantas, there is a path that takes you directly to Playa Blanca, but requires you have some shoes at least, remember, all beaches in Costa Rica are public, but some of them have private access.
Just 15 minutes away by car from these two beaches, you will find Jacó Beach, one of Costa Rica’s top touristic places, full of nice hotels and great restaurants. So, if you want to extend your trip a bit longer but don’t want to check-in Punta Leona, a good option is to find a hotel in Jacó, enjoy their nightlife, and keep traveling around this zone the next day.
