Palo Seco Beach Costa Rica

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Palo Seco Beach Costa Rica

Location: between Palma (Bandera) and Isla Damas beaches in Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
Palo Seco Beach entrance GPS Coordinates: 9.521240,-84.321102 (9°31’16.46N, 84°19’15.96″W)
District: Parrita, canton: Parrita, province: Puntarenas.
Zone postal code: 60901.

Palo Seco Beach Costa Rica is a beautiful, pristine and unspoiled 9 km (5 mile) long palm tree lined beach, usually deserted even though it is very close to Manuel Antonio National Park. This beach has greys sands and blue waters located on the Central Pacific area, near the town of Parrita. The beach has the Pacific Ocean on its southern shore, the Pirris River mouth to the West and the Palo Seco Estuary on its northern shore. This estuary is a popular area for mangrove tours to view its vast wildlife such as white-faced monkeys and an a great variety of birds. Also, the local Palo Seco Elementary School has a sea turtle sanctuary program which has helped to protect, hatch and release thousands of “Baby Sea Turtles” whose mothers come ashore here to lay their eggs, being the best time to see the baby sea turtle hatchlings from August through November.

Also, the navigable estuary at Palo Seco Beach offers great fishing for snook (robalo), snapper and grouper, so gives a great opportunity to get on the water and see some incredible wildlife firsthand. In fact, the world record snook was caught from the surf on this beach. In the other hand, the estuary is also home to crocodiles, toucans, scarlet macaws, monkeys, sloths and more.

Palo Seco Beach is indeed a hidden jewel of the Central Pacific area in Parrita, Puntarenas, costa Rica, a medium sized Costa Rican town that offers pretty much of what any homeowner or vacationer might need such as banks, health clinics, groceries, stores, restaurants, bars, small hotels, and more. Also, a full service hospital is located in Quepos, just 25 minutes away. The mountains and town of Parrita, 10 minutes away, rise above the estuary and offer vacationers many delights such as canopy tours, white-water rafting, quad and jungle tours, hot springs, waterfalls and more.

If you ever wanted to see a truly unspoiled Costa Rican beach then you must visit Palo Seco Beach, where every late afternoon offers a chance to see a picture-postcard sunsets, where one feels apart from the hustle and bustle of the larger beach towns yet close enough to them by 20-30 minutes should one want to go. Palo Seco Beach is ideal to just seat and relax, or you can also practice some water sports such as swimming, diving, snorkeling or surfing, trying to not be on the nearest areas from the mouth of the river, as they have strong waves and currents.

Although Palo Seco Beach is hidden away, is still only one and half hour away from San Jose, and it has easy access year round.

Getting to Palo Seco Beach in Parrita, Puntarenas:

From San José

Drive north towards Puntarenas on route #27. Take the Pozón exit (to Jaco), and continue for about 80 km (50 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita. Turn right at the Palo Seco Beach entrance and continue for some 4.5 km (3 miles) until you reach the beach. This route requires a total of 3 hour from San Jose.

From Daniel Oduber International Airport (LIR)

Drive to the northeast towards Liberia. Once in Liberia, continue along the same highway to Puntarenas for about 120 km (75 miles). Once at the entrance to Puntarenas, continue on route #27 to San Jose for about 25 km (15 miles) until you reach the exit to Pozon and Jaco, take it and continue for about 80 km (50 miles), passing over the Tarcoles river and the towns of Jaco, Hermosa, Esterillos and Parrita. Turn right at the Palo Seco Beach entrance and continue for some 4.5 km (3 miles) until you reach the beach. This route requires a total of 4.5 hours.

By bus

You can take a bus from the route San José – Quepos / Manuel Antonio (Transportes Morales, 2221-4214 / 2777-0318), making the stop at Parrita, which takes about 4 hours. From here, you can take a taxi o walk to Palo Seco beach.

Address map: Click here to view address map from Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), Alajuela, Costa Rica TO Palo Seco Beach in Puntarenas, Costa Rica