• Where: Tamarindo in Guanacaste province; Santa Teresa on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula; Manuel Antonio beside Quepos on the Central Pacific coast — all on Costa Rica's Pacific side
• Population: about 5.2 million in Costa Rica; all three are small beach towns
• Language: Spanish; English is widely spoken in hotels, restaurants and surf schools in all three towns
• Currency: Costa Rican colón (₡ / CRC); US dollars are widely accepted in beach towns and cards almost everywhere
• Best time to visit: December to April is the dry season — sunny and busiest; May to November is the green season, with sunny mornings and afternoon rain, wettest in September and October
• Average temperature: highs around 30–33°C / 86–91°F all year on the coast; sea about 27–29°C

On the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, Santa Teresa is a long, open beach with consistent surf and forested hills behind it. One road runs parallel to the sand, lined with surf shops, yoga studios, smoothie bars and small restaurants; Playa Carmen and Mal País are its neighbours to the south. Nearby Cabo Blanco, set aside in 1963, was Costa Rica's first protected nature reserve.

Our take: beginners learn at Playa Carmen or Playa Hermosa, while Santa Teresa itself suits more confident surfers. Plan a day trip to the Montezuma waterfalls and the Cabo Blanco trail, and be on the beach by 5:30 pm for sunset. Getting here is part of the trip: take the Puntarenas–Paquera ferry or a short flight to Cóbano.

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Just south of the fishing town of Quepos, Manuel Antonio National Park is small but packed with life: rainforest trails lead down to white-sand coves, with sloths in the trees and white-faced capuchins and squirrel monkeys moving through the branches overhead. Playa Manuel Antonio, inside the park, is a sheltered cove with calm, clear water.

Our take: buy park tickets online in advance — they often sell out — and arrive at the 7 am opening, when the animals are most active. Hire a guide with a spotting scope at the gate if you want to see sloths, check the park’s restrictions on food and drinks, and note that the park is closed on Tuesdays. Check SINAC’s park hours and ticket instructions before you go.

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• Gallo pinto — rice and black beans fried together, the national breakfast, served with eggs, fried plantains and a spoon of natilla (sour cream).
• Casado — the classic lunch plate at a soda (a small family-run diner): rice, beans, salad, plantains and fish, chicken or beef, for a fair price.
• Ceviche — fresh local fish cured in lime with onion, cilantro and sweet pepper, eaten with crackers or plantain chips.
• Salsa Lizano, the mild brown sauce on every table, and fresh fruit batidos (smoothies) blended with water or milk.

Costa Ricans call themselves ticos, and "pura vida" — pure life — works as hello, thank you, goodbye and a whole outlook on life. The country abolished its army in 1948 and has put much of its land under protection since. Guanacaste has a strong cowboy (sabanero) tradition, with horse parades and marimba music, and every 25 July it celebrates the day in 1824 when Nicoya voted to join Costa Rica. The Nicoya Peninsula is also known as one of the world's "Blue Zones", where an unusually high number of people live into their nineties and beyond.

• Rip currents are common on the Pacific beaches and few have lifeguards — ask locally and swim where the locals swim.
• Fly into Liberia (LIR) for Tamarindo, about an hour and a quarter by road; Manuel Antonio is about 3–4 hours from San José (SJO).
• Restaurant bills usually include 13% tax and a 10% service charge.
• Single-use plastics aren't allowed in the national parks — bring a reusable bottle, and use reef-safe sunscreen.
• Plugs and voltage (120 V) are the same as in the US.