With its pristine shoreline and clear blue sea the stunning beach of Playa Grande is one of the best beaches on the Guanacaste coast. Located at the North Pacific Coast in Guanacaste province, Playa Grande is home to the endangered Leatherback Sea Turtles that come ashore every year to lay their eggs on the beach.

Playa Grande is open top the general public only during the day during the ‘arribadas’ or turtle nesting season.

Another reason for visiting Playa Grande is for the excellent surfing found here on the main beach. The beach is much more quiet than say Playa Tamarindo, but the surf here is equally good. Some expert surfers consider that the breaks and swells are consistent enough for it to be rated as among the overall best surf spots in the country. If you are not a surf fan, further north of the beach is excellent for swimming.

This beach is part of a protective enclosure, so no hotels have any rooms facing the beach. Though there are a handful of hotels on Playa Grande that are both affordable and economical. No one is allowed to roam the beach at night especially during the nesting season and no lights are allowed on the shore, as the lights scare away the turtles. The only one hotel located next to the beach is the Hotel Las Tortugas that was built before the Marino Las Baulas National Park was established.

Perhaps the only drawback of Playa Grande is that it is not the most easily accessible beach. The closest beach is Tamarindo, and it is a couple of kilometers south of Playa Grande. There is no direct road you can also reach Playa Grande by crossing the estuary between the beach and Playa Tamarindo. You may get to this beach by arriving at the Liberia International Airport and taking it from there.