3 Popular & 3 Hidden Beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

During our time in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, we obviously had to take a visit (or 6) to the beaches around the area. One of my biggest goals was to see all the different colors of sand: black, white, brown, gray, and pink (yeah, it’s a thing). We also wanted to find a good spot for snorkeling. As a result, we ended up stumbling across a few hidden gems, as well as several of the area’s most popular spots!

No matter what interests you the most, you’ll have plenty of options with today’s list of incredible beach spots in Guanacaste!

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Popular Beaches in Guanacaste

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3 Popular & 3 Hidden Beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Playa Flamingo

What better name for a beach with pink sand than Playa Flamingo? This one-mile beach caught my attention because it’s one of the few in the world that experiences this phenomenon.

When the light and weather conditions are right, the white sands turn to a light pink hue. How fun!

Unfortunately, the conditions weren’t quite right during our visit to see the pink, but the white sands were still absolutely beautiful, and the sunset here was beyond breathtaking. The memory of watching the sun sink below the horizon here is one of my favorites from the trip.

girl on a beach at sunset in Costa Rica — *The sunset over the ocean was incredible*

Playa Flamingo is definitely one of the more upscale areas you’ll come across in Guanacaste. We were a bit thrown off by the Margaritaville, shop-laden streets, and soaring hotels after our other experiences in the area. But if that’s more of your beach scene, you’ll love spending a day exploring the beach and high-end amenities in town.

If you want to do more here than just lay on the beach and splash in the waves, you’ll have no problem finding all sorts of water tours like jet skis or catamarans.

Playa Conchal

One of the most famous beaches in Costa Rica is the beautiful Playa Conchal. What makes it so special? Sand made from billions of tiny seashells! It makes for a gorgeous walk as you view the blue waves beyond and the incredible shells under your feet.

The water here is also exceptionally clear, which makes it a great choice for snorkeling, but only at the east end, due to waves. Plus, it’s just a few minutes away from Playa Flamingo, so it’s easy to hit both in one trip if you like.

Unlike its neighbor, Playa Conchal is fairly long, and much of it is rather secluded, so you won’t be fighting traffic. However, there are a few shops and restaurants hidden just behind the tree line in places. This makes it a bit less convenient in some aspects, but much more enjoyable in others.

A couple of things to note: We got here all wrong! You’ll see we have limited pictures, and that’s because we took a long way around so the tide was already coming up.

If you happen to be staying at the Westin Reserva Conchal, you have it made with direct beach access. Otherwise, here’s how to get to Playa Conchal the right way:

Directions to Playa Conchal

Park at the parking lot for Playa Brasilito. (Someone will probably charge you a few dollars to “guard” your vehicle, but just go with it.

Facing the beach, head left down a small beach access road until it hits a dead end, then continue on the beach.

Playa Brasilito and Playa Conchal are connected, so fairly soon, you’ll be on the east end of Playa Conchal, where you’ll see all the seashells. It’s about a 15-minute walk but so worth it to the alternative.

If you have a 4×4 vehicle (we did not) you can take an alternative route to Puerto Viejo and walk back toward Playa Conchal.

sandy path leading into the woods — *You’ll need to walk down this path from Puerto Viejo to access the beach*

This is what we did on accident, and it turned into a very strenuous and bumpy ride, not to mention way longer than it needed to be. We also ended up on the wrong side of the beach to enjoy most of the shells, so we needed to walk all the way back to the east end anyway.

Playa Hermosa

About 45 minutes north of Playa Flamingo, past Matapalo, you’ll find Playa Hermosa, another of Costa Rica’s famous beaches. This is a pretty gray-sand beach nestled into the Gulf of Papagayo. It has a beautiful view with mountains off in the distance and bright blue water.

It was surprisingly uncrowded when we visited, but with such a large stretch of beach, there was plenty of space for everyone.

gray sand beach with bright blue water and blue sky

You’ll find lots of opportunities here to try water sports if you’re interested, or you can just lay on the beach and enjoy the sunrays. Unfortunately, there isn’t any good snorkeling right offshore, but there are several tours in the area you can take instead.

There’s a public parking lot right next to the beach here, so it’s very convenient. However, be aware that someone in an orange vest will likely tell you it’s $5 to park. Once again, just go with it; it’s a small price to know your vehicle is safe.

Hidden Beaches

Playa Carbon

black and white sand beach with a lava rock shoreline and blue water — *Playa Carbon*

Playa Carbon is a beautiful, secluded black sand beach in southern Guanacaste. It’s just above Tamarindo and has some of the darkest black sand in the country! The sand is even more incredible since the beach is directly next to a light brown sand beach, Playa Ventanas.

brown sand beach Guanacaste, costa Rica Playa Ventanas — *Playa Ventanas*

It is truly its own little world, separated from Playa Ventanas by a peninsula. It has a unique setting with cacti lined up against the edge of the beach, lava rock shoreline carved out by the waves, and blue-green waters reaching out to the horizon.

Another cool feature is that the sand changes along the beach, especially near the shoreline. In some places it’s brown, and in other places, it’s dark black. It’s a neat scene!

It’s unlikely that you’ll find anyone else here, so be sure to swim at your discretion! Also, the black sand gets extremely hot, so bring some shade and water shoes.

Here’s how to reach Playa Carbon:

Drive to Playa Ventanas and park at the beach parking (this will require you to go down some bumpy and one-lane dirt roads! Just keep moving forward.)
Head north on Playa Ventanas toward the peninsula on the right-hand side.
When you reach the woods, look for a narrow dirt path leading across the peninsula. It will wind a bit, but eventually, you’ll come out on a hill overlooking the ocean.
Continue down the path until you reach the black sand and enjoy!
Be sure to return before high tide because Playa Ventanas floods right near the path entrance, and you’ll have to wade back to the parking.

Playa Panama

Girl sitting on driftwood on a black sand beach at high tide — *Playa Panama at high tide*

Playa Panama is another beautiful spot on the Gulf of Papagayo. Like Playa Carbon, it also has black sand, but a much different kind of shoreline and waters. One thing we immediately noticed here was how incredibly soft the sand is! It almost felt like walking on that sensory sand that children play with.

This beach backs right up to the Papagayo Golden Palms, but anyone is free to visit. The waters here are very calm, and it’s almost lakelike, except for the interesting items that wash up on shore. It’s a great spot for swimming and beach combing.

At low tide, the shore is rather pebbly with lava rock, but there is plenty of space to stretch out on the sand. At high tide, all kinds of things wash in, from coconuts to pufferfish and seashells.

There isn’t much in the immediate area, but there is a beach-front restaurant toward the north end and a few other things in the town behind the tree line. It’s a small price to pay for some quiet beach time!

Playa Buena

One of the white-sand beaches in teh gulf of Papagayo — *Playa Buena in the morning*

Our final hidden beach is Playa Buena. It’s actually just around the corner from Playa Panama, yet it has white sand and much different features.

The key focal point at Playa Buena is its large reef! At high tide, it’s a great snorkeling spot. But at low tide, you can walk out there and explore all the tide pools for sea creatures! Just beware of spiny sea urchins and always wear water shoes! (I learned the hard way, and the rock is super sharp.)

Playa Buena with the reef in the distance

The water here changes from clear to vibrant blue-green, and they are typically reasonably calm. It’s a good spot for watersports. We also immensely enjoyed walking along the shoreline here. There are many tide pools with crabs, sea cucumbers, etc. And the water’s edge is covered in bits of coral and tiny shells. It’s very cool, and none of the other beaches we visited were like that.

To reach Playa Buena, just park on the street outside the Ocidental Papagayo. There’s a trail that leads directly to the beach. You won’t be able to use the hotel’s chairs and equipment without a fee, but there’s plenty of room to spread out beyond that area.

Closing Thoughts

We had such a great time beach-hopping around Guanacaste! It was amazing to see so many differently colored beaches in such a small area and discover the little treasures at each.

If you have any questions about reaching these beaches, feel free to leave me a question in the comments. There is also a map above with each location pinned.

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Last but not least, if you want to learn more about Costa Rica, check out my entire Pura Vida series here.

Thanks for checking out the Mandala Traveler, and happy travels!

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3 Popular & 3 Hidden Beaches in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Watch our YouTube Video for Stunning Drone Footage of These Beaches!