Playa Matapalo Guancaste Costa Rica

Playa Matapalo is located approximately half an hour from the Libera International Airport. Before the Riu Guanacaste was built in 2008 – this beach was relatively isolated.

Playa Mata Palo Guanacaste Pic by https://www.flickr.com/photos/dstarcevic/4571073312/lightbox/

Although you’re only likely to find beachgoers from the Riu hotel on this beach so it’s not as busy as other beaches in the country. It’s approximately 2 km long and is a gray sandy beach. Some frequent ocean visitors include stingrays, tropical fish, pacific ocean gaming fish, and sea tortoises.

Even after the Riu hotel was built on the beach and local poachers illegally try to snatch the eggs, government conservationists continue to fence and protect pockets of the beach where sea tortoises have laid their eggs. the sea tortoises are the local attraction here. Surprisingly, even though it is a beach with lots of tourists – the tortoises continue to come back to lay their eggs year after year.

Many leisure ad water activities including diving, fishing, jet skiing, boating, snorkeling, and kayaking can be done on this beach where you can rent equipment and take lessons. As mentioned earlier, Playa Matapalo is situated in a very remote area in Costa Rica.

For this reason, there is no surrounding town in Playa Matapalo – but you’re sure to catch locals fishing from the beach or trying to sell handcrafted items for tourists. I recommend this place for people who enjoy great sunsets and prefer to enjoy the serenity of a natural beach environment. Finally, it is a good idea to avoid walking this beach at nighttime as it is very dark and isolated.