When you open Google Maps and zoom out just enough over Nosara, Costa Rica, the entire city is labeled “Projecto Americano” on the map. This description isn’t too far off. Aside from the dirt, bumpy roads and lush greenery, you feel like you’re in the United States in Nosara. The prices are the same, every restaurant has a modern feel with lots of concrete countertops, and everyone speaks English. This little pocket of Costa Rica is a surfer’s paradise. The waves are perfect for pipeline and beginner surfers alike. The town is also irresistibly stylish. Very surfer chic with a hint of HGTV design. It’s a perfect mix between beach chic and Central America that makes it perfectly familiar, yet exotic.
As suspected, it seems there are many American expats living here full time. Nevertheless, these expats are the people that make Nosara a dreamy yet comfortable place. They are adventurous, open-minded people who dared to leave America for a better life. We met some great people, including the owners of our hotel, Clay and Janice, and Coconut Steve, an American expat who bought the local surf shop, Coconut Harry’s, and considers running this surf shop his early retirement. The expats of Nosara are a collective of alternative (and young) entrepreneurs investing in another country and their happiness.
Getting There
Nosara is about a 2 ½ hour drive from the Liberia International Airport (LIR). Most of the time it takes to get there can be credited to the bumpy, unfinished few miles of roads that immediately precede the town of Nosara. I wouldn’t advise renting a car unless you’re a skilled driver because the roads there are pretty bumpy and I’m not sure assistance would be close by if you had car troubles.
If you plan to stay in Nosara for more than a long weekend, a four-wheel-drive car can be useful to explore the area. Another option is to rent a souped up golf cart or four-wheeler to get around the local area. Otherwise you can walk to most places, have your hotel or restaurant call you a cab, or grab a tuck-tuck right where the Downtown Guiones road begins right across from Coconut Harry’s. There’s a couple of rental places in town that you most likely won’t need to book ahead.
We took a flight from Newark, NJ to Liberia, Costa Rica that was about 5 ½ hours long. We opted to take Gypsy Cab for our transfer since they offered a private transfer with cold bottled waters in car for $130 total, even if you have a full car of people. We heard another good local airport transfer option is Limo Dan.
The Nomadic Hotel
The Nomadic Hotel perfectly captured the vibe of Nosara. Surfer chic with modern design, and a hostel-style communal atmosphere. About a dozen guest rooms align the very inviting pool area that sits below a beautiful veranda equipped with a yoga space, a lounge area including a chair swing, and a charming bar with all the craft beers and margaritas you can ask for. They serve breakfast every morning up there as well, where everyone sits together at communal tables, and individual plates are prepared for each guest. The Nomadic encompassed that communal feel of a hostel that many of us appreciated as twenty-something solo travelers, sans the uncomfortable aspects that we don’t necessarily miss. They even have a shared bunk-room to accommodate budget and solo travelers.
The Nomadic is centrally located between Downtown Guiones, which is basically just a road to the beach with some surfer-chic shops, and another town with some restaurants, yoga studios, and surf shops. Along side the hotel, there’s a short trail in the forest that leads you directly to the Downton Guiones road. We even saw some wildlife on the trail. You can walk to the other town on the street by just making a right, walking over to the next block down, and making another right. The owners, Janice and Clay, were very accommodating and clearly put their hearts and a lot of thought into opening their hotel. Clay even checked us in with his baby in hand and upgraded us to a king size room.
Chasing Sunsets to La Luna
Cotton candy sunsets, Mediterranean food, and a calypso chic dinning experience. Sign me up! La Luna is a captivating restaurant located along a local beach, Playa Pelada. Adorned with crescent moon motifs, a clean white and pastel color palette, and an enchanting beach backdrop, La Luna is the perfect place to have a sunset dinner.
Make a reservation for dinner around 5/5:30pm to catch the sunset ahead of time as this place is constantly booked up. We booked our table about a week in advance.
La Luna is about a 20 minute walk along the beach and trails from Nosara town and The Nomadic Hotel, but maybe give yourself a little extra time to take in the beautiful scenery around you. You can either take the Downtown Guiones road to the beach and walk from there, or you can walk down the strip of the other town, make a left onto the street across from the Gilded Iguana Hotel and take that road to the beach. Once you reach the beach, make a right and keep walking until you are near the rocks at what seems to be the end of the beach. There’s a short path right around there with a coconut palm tree right next to it. If you’re having trouble finding the trail just keep an eye out for people. The trail is a popular outlet to Playa Pelada and you may see some beach dwellers coming and going from the path. It’s a slightly uphill trail and when you reach the top you’ll see another path to the beach to your left. It’s an easy walk that you can do in flip flops. Make a right when you get to the beach, walk a little ways down and you will see La Luna perched on a hill overlooking the beach.
Surfing by Coconut Harry’s
Whether you’re a beginner or pro, surfing is a must in Nosara. My boyfriend and travel partner, Anthony, and I are definitely beginners so we opted to take lessons. Coconut Harry’s sticks out among the surf shops there, perhaps because of their catchy name and proximity to the beach and town. Nonetheless, Coconut Harry’s is a good quality surf shop providing good boards, rash guards, and instructors. We paid $55 per person for a private lesson with one of their instructors that Anthony and I had all to ourselves.
You can make reservations at the Coconut Harry’s shop at the beginning of Downtown Guiones Road or at their beach location. Make sure you wear rash guard to obviously avoid rashes and if you are female to make sure you don’t flash the whole beach when you pop off your board. Coconut Harry’s provides them.
We met our instructor at the Coconut Harry’s location on the beach. It’s located at the end of the Downtown Guiones Road. At the intersection before the beach, make a left and there you are. Our instructor grabbed us some big boards, we picked out rash guards, and carried on down the trail across the road from the shop to the beach. There’s a cemetery at the end of the trail right before the beach that marks beginner surfer territory. This area of the beach has calmer waves and better conditions that are ideal for inexperienced surfers to learn. To start, our instructor taught us how to jump up on our board on the beach. Next, we jumped in the water and started riding the waves. I even got a glimpse of a baby manta swimming underneath my board as I road to shore.
Swimming with the Locals
Playa Guiones is not what I would call a “swimming beach” so be prepared for an active dip. The waves are ideal for surfing and further into the ocean you can see experienced surfers combing through the beautiful tunnels formed by the waves. However, the water gets rough and the current is strong so try to swim closer to the shore on Playa Guiones. The water is pretty shallow for about 100 yards and you’ll have to go a bit further out to not be able to stand in the water.
Playa Pelada, the beach adjacent to La Luna, has calmer waters and is more ideal for swimming. This beach seemed to have more of a local vibe, as opposed to Playa Guiones, where we saw mostly tourists and expats. The waves were calm, yet active so you can have an exhilarating swim and finish it off with a craft Costa Rican beer afterward.
Zip-lining with Miss Sky
By taking the same path from the Playa Guiones to La Luna, instead of taking the path down to Playa Pelada, keep going up the road and you will find a grand, Aladdin-esque, yet eerie hotel, The Nosara Beach Hotel. We heard that this hotel may actually be the oldest hotel in the area and that it just reopened. This mysterious hotel had some guests, seemed to have a working bar and pool, as well as sweeping views of the coastline. This was also the location where our zip-lining tour with Miss Sky Canopy began. They seemed to be running their operations out of this hotel and we were fitted with our harnesses and helmets right in the lobby. Miss Sky Canopy offers two zip-lining tours per day along the longest zip-line in Costa Rica. The tour costs $75 per person cash only, paid directly to who we thought was Miss Sky herself, behind her mahogany desk, in her make-shift office, inside the Nosara Beach Hotel.
Although our morning had a creepy start at the lobby of the Nosara Beach Hotel, the zip-lining experience through Miss Sky Canopy was top notch. We had a team of zip-liners accompany us to the 12 lines in the middle of the jungle. We took what seemed to be a former military vehicle into the jungle and even across a river. Granted we survived all 12 lines, it was a windy day and it wasn’t easy to get all the way across the lines. Thankfully, we had some skilled zip-liners to save us when we got stuck in the middle of the line. These guys pulled us to the end using the durable rubber soles of their sneakers to push us up the line with their feet.
Make sure you wear sunglasses or eye protection when you zip-line. I did not and my eyes were a bit blood-shot afterward from the wind. You also don’t need to bring much with you and won’t want to as there is no place to put it while zip-lining. If anything wear pants with a zippered pocket for your phone and cash. Anthony didn’t have a zipper pocket so he put his phone and money in one of those hidden waist bands, clipped the waist band to his belt-loop, and put the waist band in his pocket to make sure nothing fell out while we were on the zip-line.
Restaurants
Beware! Nosara doesn’t have much of a nightlife aside from maybe some private beach bonfires. Most restaurants close by 10pm, except for El Local that closes at around midnight. It seems that many people start their days and activities early around here due to the surfer culture, which I’ll admit made me just feel relaxed and healthy by the end of the trip. Nevertheless, with all the activity, you won’t be hard-pressed to find delicious nourishment, whether you grab a coconut from the many stands along the roads for $1 or have a multi-course dinner. All I recommend is eat as much ceviche as you can!
As explained above, La Luna is a must. Make a reservation there around 5/5:30pm and enjoy the sunset and delicious food.
If you’re looking for a modern farm-to-table restaurant in Nosara that closes after 10pm, look no further! El Local has great Costa Rican food with a nice bar, an outdoor terrace, and even a little private loft overlooking the restaurant that Anthony and I had a romantic dinner in. You must try their local fish cascada, ceviche, and basil cake with passion fruit merengue.
This surf shop and café is a great place to grab breakfast, a smoothie, and especially coffee. They also had a selection of local craft beers. I watched a man make my iced coffee there by boiling water, adding coffee grounds, and swapping the coffee from pot to pot, and it was definitely worth the effort. One of the richest iced coffees in the land.
Located right across from the Gilded Iguana Hotel, GoJuice is a cute coffee and juice stand with delicious smoothies. Make sure you try their banana coffee with a little condensed milk!
Located close to the beach along the Downtown Guoines Road, Al Chile is a surfer-chic Mexican restaurant with great cocktails, tacos, and yucca chips. We tried our first Chiliguara there, a local shot of Costa Rican firewater, Tabasco sauce, spices, and tomato juice. This is a great place to go straight from the beach for lunch, or for dinner.
This is the perfect place to go for lunch after a long morning of surfing. Burgers and Beers offers big juicy burgers and hearty potato wedges that will make you feel fully recovered and also put you in a food coma. Make sure to top it off with a craft Costa Rican beer.
This local restaurant is located right next to The Nomadic Hotel with great steaks, fish and the best coconut ice cream you’ve ever tasted. This place is good for lunch and dinner.
Meli On The Move 