Top Surfing Hub Guanacaste

Top Surfing Hub

Playa Negra, Costa Rica

These three Guanacaste Beaches are considered a Top Surfing Hub. They are Playa Negra, Langosta, and Junquillal.

First stop, Playa Negra, one of Guanacaste Beaches very popular family surf beaches, it’s convenient and just south of Tamarindo beach. Playa Negra is a beautiful dark black sand beach famous in the surfing community for its right-hand barrel waves.

Playa Negra sits in close proximity to other Guanacaste Beaches Top Surfing Spots, Playa Langosta, Playa Junquillal and “Little Hawaii” Playa Avellana, which is a short 10-minute drive away.

Surfers and non-surfers alike enjoy Playa Negra’s pristine, natural, colorful and remote landscape. Its dark-colored sand is interspersed with rocky outcroppings and tons of tide pools for the family to explore.

There are protected areas for swimming with the family at Playa Negra’s southern end of the beach.

The surf break at Playa Negra is a hollow right break reef that can at times get quite crowded. However, when you catch a good swell, it is definitely worth it to surf here. The surf at Playa Negra is ideal for the novice as well as the expert surfer.

Playa Negra has some of the most consistent waves and surf breaks along the Guanacaste Pacific Coast, as do Playa Langosta and Junquilla.

OK, here’s the real deal in surf talk…This beach is considered by many surfers to be one of the top beach areas in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Pacific Golden Coast.

It has become famous in part from its quality surfing wave. Playa Negra has a rock reef bottom with good right-hand barrels and a well defined channel for paddling out. This channel also assists surfers to return to the point where the wave breaks. There is a strong rip current that takes the surfers back through the impact zone.

Depending on the swell direction and tides; a left breaking wave may also be surfed. The break has good exposure to both Northern and Southern Hemisphere swells and is reasonably consistent year-round. The wave can break well with large and small swells. It may also produce good surfing waves during the entire tide range.

Despite the beach’s isolated location, its fast and hallow reef break draws surfers from throughout the area and the take off zone for riding its main break can get quite crowded.

Don’t depair, the Guanacaste Beaches Top Surfing Hub includes 3 different beaches to surf. Playa Negra, Playa Langosta and Junquilla and they are in close proximity so if one beach is too crowded, go to the next one. This Surf Hub of Pacific Coast beaches are all known for their amazing waves and pristine beaches.
Getting to the hub…

A 4-wheel drive vehicle is necessary, remember what I said on the home page, as the road can be kind of hard to travel and involve a number of river crossings.

Playa Negra is less than a 2 hour drive from Liberia’s International Airport, LIB. The drive from San Jose’s International Airport, SJO, takes 4 to 5+ hours and you cross the Tempisque Bridge.

Another option for you when traveling from San Jose, Costa Rica, is to fly into Playa Tamarindo. They have daily flights, small planes, and awesome views. It cost a bit more to fly into Liberia, but in the long run it’s worth the added expense. Don’t let transportation chew up too many of your vacation days.

Once you get to Tamarindo remember to rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle and then drive south to hit all of the Guanacaste Beaches Top Surfing Beaches

When driving from Tamarindo to Playa Negra it’s about a 35-minute drive, remember slightly longer drive in the rainy season. Wow, what a ride in the rainy season!

Playa Negra, Playa Langosta and Junquilla are all considered in the same beach “neighborhood”. Plan on visiting them all while in Guanacaste Province.