Playa Avellanas

Playa Avellanas may be most famous for its outstanding surfing, and not without reason, but it is also the most magnificent and magical spot you will find in Costa Rica. This 10km stretch of beautiful white sand is hard to compare to anything else. Some of the best night skies can be observed there, lying on the beach in the dark, getting lost in time, maybe because of the lack of city lights and noise.

Avellanas is not a village, it is just a beautiful beach with a nice variety of good cabinas and hotels as well as restaurants and bars that perfect for finishing the day. There are also lots of trees that provide a welcome shade on the beach, a must in Guanacaste! It goes all the way to Playa Langosta in the north and Playa Negra in the south, going from flat stretches of white sand to rocky parts with turquoise colored tide pools, ideal if you are exhausted from surfing or playing in the waves!

The waves. Surfing is famous in Avellanas, on a worldwide basis; it is good basically all year around, swells coming from the northern as well as from the southern hemisphere, most breaks it must be pointed are really for experienced surfers, no amateurs, please! Surfers are not put out by the rains and the beach, although never crowded, always holds a good friendly and entertaining atmosphere.

Las Olas is a nice pleasant place to stay, and from the bar/restaurant, there is a wooden trail on stilts taking you all the way to the beach, very pleasant. Lola’s beach bar though is the place to be seen! Or not seen, depending on what you want; this beach bar, or lounge as it is now referred to, offers good cocktails together with great long chairs to relax in while viewing the scenery which is everywhere, and eating a slice of their delicious pizza. You may want to stay there, forever! Nothing seems to be important anymore, so why leave this fabulous spot? Lola, by the way, was given this name because of Lola the pig, this huge old fat thing that actually swims in the ocean, everybody there knows Lola the pig! It is rather hard to miss her by the way; she might weight a few hundred pounds! Lola’s bar also has a great parking space that is usually under surveillance, a useful perk these days.

For how much longer will Playa Avellanas manage to stay this way? It is now getting harder and harder to find pristine beaches in Costa Rica. Already, a lot of the land has been bought, soon the road will be fixed, and then, who knows what will happen. Right now, you need your own transport to reach it and it needs to be a 4X4. Once on the coastal road, Avellanas is North of Playa Junquillal and Playa Negra, about 15 kms away from Tamarindo. You cannot get lost!