If you are planning a trip to Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula then you need to check out our list of the 10 Best Things To Do in Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa is located on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. It is a small but vibrant town with one main dirt road that connects it to the other more relaxed neighboring towns of Hermosa, Mal Pais, and Montezuma.
Santa Teresa is made up of everything that makes a vacation destination great; beautiful beaches, a relaxed atmosphere, adventure tours, fabulous food, friendly locals, and Pura Vida! Santa Teresa is also less touristy than other popular Costa Rica beach towns Tamarindo and Jaco, which is a plus in my book.
There are a number of things to do in Santa Teresa and Montezuma and we break them all down for you in this article.
- Relax at Playa Hermosa
- Go Hiking at Cabo Blanco National Forest
- Take a Surf Lesson
- Go Deep Sea Fishing
- Attend a Yoga Class
- Snorkel at Tortuga Island
- Day Trip to Montezuma
- Swim Under Waterfalls
- Cruise Around on ATVs
- Eat Your Heart Out!
Relax at Playa Hermosa, Santa Teresa
I can not write a blog about all the best things to do in Santa Teresa without mentioning the beautiful beaches. With mile-long strips of white sands and blue waters, you can not go wrong with a day spent at the beach.
If you are a morning person and like to walk the beaches make sure to get up early! During the dry season, the sun starts to get strong at around 8 AM. If you are not a morning person, do not worry, there are several palms and lush green trees to seek shade under mid-day.
Playa Hermosa, a.k.a ‘Beautiful Beach,’ is one of my favorites. This beach is more of a local beach and thus less crowded with tourists during the busy season. North of Playa Hermosa is Playa Manzanillo. Playa Manzanillo is far more secluded than the other beaches. With very calm waters, this beach is not your ideal surf spot. But it is an ideal place to get away from the craziness of downtown and play in the water for a bit. Playa Santa Teresa has some great tidepools. These pools are fun to sit and relax in if you can catch them at the right time of day (between low and high tide)!
There are several great beachfront bars to hangout out at as well. Banana Beach Restaurant and Bar is one of our favorites. They have lounge chairs, swings, and hammocks that you can hang out at and order food and drinks from. During the day they have a 2 for 1 special on their most popular drinks. Banana Beach also hosts an ‘Air Show’ or Surf Competition on Mondays during sunset. It is a fun place to watch the sunset and the surfers as well as meet other locals and travelers. Other fun beachfront bars are Restaurant Playa Carmen, Manzu, and Ranchos Itauna.
Go Hiking at Cabo Blanco National Forest
This national reserve is on the most southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula and is about 40 minutes south of Santa Teresa. The park exists in an effort to curb the deforestation experienced in the area. The park offers stunning views of the surrounding foliage and it is home to many various species of native animals. It is not uncommon to see capuchin and howler monkeys, exotic spiders, armadillos, iguanas, and coatis. The reserve is also a great location for bird watching. We saw several brown bobbies on our hike!
The hike through Cabo Blanco is a 4 mile out and back hike trail, 2 miles in and 2 miles back out. There is a secret beach at the end of the hike so make sure to plan some time to relax at the beach before you start your journey back. While the trail is well marked and the terrain is not too difficult you should still come prepared with a lot of water, snacks, and the right footwear. The tropical heat will add an extra layer of difficulty to the hike so be sure to stay hydrated.
The reserve is open from 8 AM to 4 PM from Wednesday — Sunday. There is a restroom at the ranger station you can use before you start your hike. The entrance fee is $12 per person and you must start your journey back to the ranger station by 3 PM to get back before the park closes.
Take a Surf Lesson in Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa, Costa Rica is not only home to some of the most beautiful beaches, but also offers some of the best surf in the world! The rows and rows of perfect breaks are magnificent. The beaches of the Nicoya Peninsula offer ideal breaks all-year-round so it is no wonder Santa Teresa is a surfers paradise. Also, the relaxed mindset of most of the people living in Santa Teresa plays well with the low-key surfer lifestyle.
Some of the best beaches on the peninsula for surfing are Playa Carmen, La Lora, and Playa Hermosa. Playa Hermosa draws more of a local crowd and the north end of this beach is an ideal place to learn to surf. During big swells, the more experienced surfers take to Mal Pais, the town south of Santa Teresa to catch the waves there. If you are a more experienced surfer you may want to check out this area as well.
If you are a beginner I would recommend taking some lessons with an instructor before branching out on your own. There are many experienced surfers in Santa Teresa. So for safety reasons, you should take some lessons before attempting to join the pros in the line-up.
Our Surf Lesson
We took a few lessons with Richard at Pelican Adventures. Richard was a fabulous instructor and a session with him cost about $60. This includes transportation, boards, rashguards, and 2 hours of lessons. He took the time to make sure we all felt comfortable on our boards before paddling out. And once we were in the water he gave us helpful tips and advice on how to improve our skills. By the end of the lesson, we had all managed to stand up and ride a wave in!
If you want to see what a day surfing in Santa Teresa looks like, check out our surfing vlog.
Go Deep Sea Fishing
This was one of our favorite things we did while in Santa Teresa. It was incredible to go out, catch your own fish, come back, walk to a local restaurant, have them cook it, and enjoy your catch while watching the sunset on the beach. A full-day experience, but well worth it!
If you have a large group this excursion is definitely budget-friendly. It costs $250 for 3 hours out on the water for up to 5 people. So if you have 5 people that is only $50 a person. That is not including the fresh fish that you get to keep and cook up for dinner! The tour cost includes all necessary equipment as well as a few drinks and fruit snacks.
No matter what tour you book you will most likely go out from Fisherman’s Village in Mal Pais. Mal Pais is a quick 5-minute cab ride from downtown Santa Teresa on the end of the Peninsula.
Our Deep Sea Fishing Tour
We went with Jason Tours. This company works with skilled fishermen and I would definitely recommend them. We caught 8 Yellowfin tuna in the first half an hour that we were on the water. We kept two tunas for ourselves and gave the rest to our tour guide as a thank you for an amazing day! When we got back to shore, we enjoyed some delicious fresh sashimi with some of the local fishermen. Then we walked through the town of Mal Pais to Caracolas Restaurant. The cooks at the restaurant cooked the rest of our fish for us and we sat and ate our dinner on the beach.
Check out our Mal Pais fishing video on our YouTube channel, The NotMad Nomads.
Attend a Yoga Class
No trip to Santa Teresa is complete without taking at least one Yoga class. Costa Ricans and the ex-pats living in Costa Rica put a huge emphasis on the mind-body connection and the importance of mental and physical health. With this type of health culture, it is no wonder the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica is one of the world’s five blue-zones!
There are several Yoga studios throughout the town and many of them offer teacher training courses as well. During our stay, we met many people who had come to Santa Teresa for yoga, meditation, reiki, and other naturopathic types of training.
The least expensive yoga studio I found with bundle packages was Casa Zen. This Hostel doubles as an open-air yoga studio and is steps from the beach. A single class costs about $10. Horizon Yoga has the best sunset views. This hotel also offers an open-air yoga studio with views that overlook the ocean. Be sure to book at least a few days in advance as the classes do tend to reach capacity and the single class cost is $15. Tropico Latino offers a Saturday morning yoga and a vegetarian breakfast combination deal for $25. Their restaurant is on the beach so it is a nice place to start your day!
Snorkel at Tortuga Island
There are many tour companies in town that offer day trips to Tortuga Island. This island of white sand beaches is just off of the southeastern shore of the Nicoya Peninsula and is only accessible by boat.
To get to the island from Santa Teresa it will cost about $70-$80 per person and is the cost for roundtrip tickets.
During a day trip to the island, you can hike the nature preserve, relax on the beach, or venture into the water. There are several tours that offer snorkeling and scuba diving excursions. You can also take a ride in a glass-bottom boat. There is even a zipline canopy tour for the more adventurous types. While overnight stays are not the norm on the island there are restaurants that offer food and refreshments to the day-trippers.
watch the sunset. Both waterfalls are only accessible during the dry season.
Day Trip to Montezuma
Montezuma is a cute, hippie town with a lot to offer. It is easy to spend a full day here. Montezuma is quieter than Santa Teresa and has an off-the-beaten-path feel to it. Montezuma is about 30 minutes from Santa Teresa by ATV.
The downtown of Montezuma is far less developed than Santa Teresa and offers a more rustic feel. It is fun to walk down the main strip and see all of the shops and art.
Also, since the coastline of Montezuma is backed by a lush, jungle landscape it easy to take a quick hike to the waterfalls, hear the wild monkeys, and immerse yourself in nature all around you.
Montezuma is also a very important location for sea turtles to lay their eggs. However, with the growth of tourism, these little guys are now at serious risk. There is a Sea Turtle Preservation volunteer program you can sign up for to help save and rescue these little guys from poachers, predators, and over-tourism.
Swim Under Waterfalls
Montezuma has two main waterfalls, the Montezuma waterfall and El Chorro waterfall. The trail to Montezuma waterfall is easy to follow and heavily trafficked. The journey only takes about 15 minutes and then you are there!
There is a parking lot outside of the falls entrance that you can pay to park at or you can drive down a little further and there is free beachside parking across from the local soccer field.
Most people will hang out and cliff-jump from the base waterfall. If you pay close attention some stairs will come into view right before you reach the main waterfall. These stairs are on the same side of the trail as the waterfall. The stairs lead up to two more waterfalls at the top. There are quite a few stairs to climb so prepare yourself.
El Chorro is a little further North of Montezuma waterfall and offers some stunning views of the waterfall cascading into the ocean. This is a great place to watch the sunset. Both waterfalls are only accessible during the dry season.
Cruise Around on ATVs
The most common way to get anywhere in Santa Teresa is by ATV. For that reason, ATVs are often more sought after than cars in this small town. Since the main road is almost entirely made up of dirt, ATVs and motorbikes become very useful, especially during the rainy season.
Several places in town offer tours. Some businesses will rent to you if you want to take the ATVs out on your own. The process to rent is simple. Most places require you to sign some mandatory paperwork, have a valid driver’s license, and put a credit card on file.
We rented from Viwolf Rentals and Savannah Rentals. Both companies are in downtown Santa Teresa. Viwolf offered a slightly better deal at $60 for 24 hours. However, there are several places to rent from so it should not be hard to find one by walking down the main street. ATVs are in high demand in Santa Teresa so I recommend planning this adventure out at least a week in advance.
To rent an ATV during the high season is going to cost about $50 for 8 hours or $70 for 24 hours. You can fit up to two people on most ATV and motorbike rentals are generally cheaper, $50 for 24 hours. The rental companies will charge you for the gas you used upon your return. Since this gas can be expensive, I recommend finding a place in town to fill up before returning your ATV. I also recommend paying with colones (the local currency) instead of a card. The taxes with a card add another 20% to the rental total cost.
Our ATV Schedule
When we rented we took our ATVs along the coast to Manzanillo in the early morning. This road is fun to drive and offers some beautiful oceanfront views. Then in the afternoon we road the ATVs in the opposite direction to spend the rest of the day in Montezuma. Montezuma is another popular town on the Nicoya Peninsula, across from Santa Teresa. If you are only in Santa Teresa for a few days, I recommend renting ATVs and exploring Montezuma on the same day. This will help you get the most out of your vacation time.
Eat Your Heart Out in Santa Teresa!
There are so many amazing places to eat in Santa Teresa and there is something for every type of food lover. From Italian and Mexican food to Mediterranean and Japanese food to traditional dishes Santa Teresa has it all.
I especially loved the seafood as it was often very fresh. The tuna and red snapper are generally caught and cooked on the same day. Santa Teresa also has a big vegan and vegetarian culture so no matter where you go there should be a vegetarian option for you.
Santa Teresa also has many places that serve typical Costa Rica dishes. These restaurants are called ‘sodas’. The most popular dish is a Casado, which translates to marriage or married. This dish generally consists of rice, beans, yucca, salad, fried plantains, and whatever protein you order. A typical Casado at a soda costs about $5 and in my experience is generally enough for 2 people or left-overs. Our favorite sodas in Santa Teresa are Soda La Yunta and Soda Tiquicia.
Some of Our Favorite Spots
Our favorite Italian restaurant in Santa Teresa is Pronto and our favorite pizza place is Amici’s. The Bakery has the best desserts and baked goods. Zula has the best Isreli food. The best sandwiches are at El Almacen and Chiringuito Tierra Mar. And for all of you meat lovers out there, the best BBQ and sports bar is Kooks.
Pescatarian, Vegan or Vegetarian
El Corazon has great vegan options and the food is incredible. Earth Cafe also offers great vegan and vegetarian options but for breakfast and lunch instead. For fish, the best sushi is at Satori or Kojis. There are a lot of places that offer great fish tacos, but our personal favorite is Chicken Joe’s. Red’s Cafe also has a great fish burrito and lobster tacos. The best ceviche is at La Cevichoria.
Drinks
The best custom cocktails are at Drift Bar. The best breweries are Selva Brewery (close to Cabo Blanco National Reserve) and Butterfly Brewery (on the way to Montezuma).
Atmosphere
My favorite places for the all-around best atmosphere are Banana Beach, Rocamar, Zwart Cafe and Art Gallery, and Eat Street. The best dance and disco scene is La Lora.
What To Pack
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