Guiones Beach Hotel Nosara Costa Rica - about our beaches

Nosara Beach is on the central Nicoya Peninsula of Guanacaste Province on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. The beaches of Nosara are part of the protected areas within the Ostional Wildlife Refuge. We are approximately 2 1/2 hours drive from Liberia International airport, the last hour being dirt road. Nosara is known for its relative remoteness, with no large hotel chains. The small hotels in Nosara Beach are diverse and unique, each with its own hospitality and atmosphere.

Playa Guiones is a long stretch of white beach just 300 meters from the Gilded Iguana Hotel. It has received the Blue Flag of Ecology. The first 200 meters of shoreline is protected zone and is covered in trees and marsh grasses to the dunes or berm.. Our hotel guests enjoy a natural beach without the construction of homes and hotels right at the waterfront. Guiones Beach is popular with surfers because it has consistent breaks all along the beach. The tides fluctuate just less than 3 meters, or 10 feet.  Most of the restaurants and bars are found tucked away in the jungle behind this beach.

Playa Pelada is a another beach of white sand, interrupted by several rocky outcrops, where you can walk out and stand in the sea spray.  Or sit in the hollowed out caves and listen to the mesmerizing echo of the sea. Several fishermen launch from Pelada Beach in small boats called pangas.

Playa Nosara is a black beach, at the estuary of the Rio Nosara, on the north side of Playa Pelada. The black sand is a result of the surrounding rocks, which are dark colored, ancient volcanic rocks.

Playa Ostional   is famous as a wildlife refuge for nesting Olive Ridley sea turtles. During the arribadas, or mass egg-laying periods, thousands of turtles can be found in a maternal trance, digging their nest. Ostional can only be reached by crossing the Nosara River and the Rio Montaña. This can be easily done  in a 4WD car in dry season, but a horse or ATV (quad) is the only way to get there when the river is up in wet season..

High-Season is the dry season of December-April, when we have almost no rain. Many of Nosara's part-time expat residents live here during this season. This is considered summer here, and the temperatures in the dry season range from the upper 80s to low 90s.



In off-season, we have very heavy rains in September and October only. The rest of the Green Season has sunny days with short afternoon rains, from May through August.