Playa Grande is one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful beaches, a seemingly endless curve of coral-white sand with water as blue as the summer sky. No palms or shade trees grow down by the beach itself. You'll see a few tide pools for snorkeling and bathing. Superb surf pumps ashore at high tide year-round. Playa Grande is renowned among surfers for its consistency and good mix of lefts and rights.

The entire shoreline is protected within the 445-hectare Playa Grande Marine Turtle National Park (Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas), which shelters the prime nesting site of the Leatherback Turtle on the Pacific coast, including 22,000 hectares out to sea. The beach was incorporated into the national park system in May 1990 after a 15-year battle between developers and conservationists. At issue is the fate of the Leatherback Turtle--and the amazing fact that humankind stands on the brink of terminating forever a miracle that has played itself out annually at Playa Grande for the past several million years.

Playa Grande is backed by dry forest. The beach sweeps south to the mouth of the Río Matapalo, which forms a 400-hectare mangrove estuary behind the beach. The ecosystem is protected within Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge and features crocodiles, anteaters, and monkeys. Large flocks of waterbirds (and raptors) gather, especially in the midst of dry season. And with hunting by locals a thing of the past, the wildlife population is increasing; deer and even ocelots and other cats are seen with greater frequency.

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