Playa Negra is a famous and popular surfer beach in the northwestern region of Guanacaste in Costa Rica. It has some of the most reliable and constant waves and surf breaks in the area. This beach is located on a small distance of beautiful Playa Avellana and in the south of the town of Tamarindo. It has dark sand ideal for surf for the beginners and expert surfer. It has got fame when a movie “Endless Summer II” is filmed here. The surf break at Playa Negra is incredibly consistent and the right-hand barrels attract the surfers. Surf is best during high tide, as low tide exposes rocks of under water.
When Playa Negra is packed out or too risky to surf you can stamp on over to some low profile breaks like Playa Callejones to the south, or go to an off-shore reef. The perfect beaches of Playa Negra are dark-colored and rocky in most of the parts. For having a bath there is a stretch of sheltered beach some 100 meter south of the celebrated break. Playa Negra will be your perfect base camp for enjoying the tropical weather and exploring Guanacaste. A unique quality of our area is that there are 7+ beaches within walking and driving distance that all have distinctive personalities; some all white sand, others lava reef tidal pools, some with mature trees and shell beaches, others with black sand and palms. Each beach is a new adventure!
The Neighboring Beaches and place are Paraiso, Playa Avellana, Playa Junquillal, Playa Langosta, Santa Cruz, Tamarindo.
Playa Negra offers a number of restaurants, from the famous Peruvian food at Cafe Playa Negra, Mexican food, French cuisine at Villa, and a pizza parlor. It has developed to be an outdoors activity growing town with a yoga center, adventure tours, several small shops, surf shops, surf rentals and various hotels and cabinas.
Accommodation
Accommodations range from low-key surfer cabins to small boutique hotels with gourmet dining. There are a number of good hotels, resorts and accommodations found at the beach, as well as a number of budget lodgings especially for the surfer crowd. If you are hungry grab a quick bite at the renowned Cafe Playa Negra, which serves up some excellent local Tico delicacies. Directly in front of Playa Negra’s surf break this is a great place to chill and drink a couple of Imperial beers. For those not interested in surfing, head a bit further south of the main beach for some peace and quiet.
Hotel Cafe Playa Negra
Hotel Cafe Playa Negra is a small upscale bed and breakfast with personalized attention. Cafe Playa Negra is located on main street Los Pargos Playa Negra and 10 minutes walk from the beach of Playa Negra, a very good surf break known worldwide.
The Hotel and Cafe have a rustic and cozy atmosphere with an artistic flair. Central American Art and fabrics enhance each sunlit room. All six rooms with Wi Fi connection, A/C and large ceiling fans, built in storage shelves, and offer a variety of sleeping arrangements. A large, 2 section patios with padded sofas and ample shade is just outside the rooms, providing a relaxing space for enjoying a book, a refreshing drink or an ice cold beer by our Pool, perfect to cool down after a day at the beach.
Cafe Playa Negra is open from 7 am to 9 pm daily serving Peruvian and international food in a relaxed setting, with a big screen where we project surf and sport videos. The best and biggest breakfast is waiting for you. Specialty desserts are prepared daily in the restaurant. Fridays, in addition to our regular menu, enjoy Japanese selections prepared with freshly caught yellow fin tuna. Wednesdays are Mexican specials and on weekends, we prepare a couple of sublime Peruvian surprises. We also offer catering services for your vacation rental or party. They offer Internet and laundry service, and we have a art shop with souvenirs. Credit cards are accepted.
Hotel Playa Negra
It is a beachfront hotel in the Playa Negra area, located right in front of the world famous surf break of Costa Rica and a few steps away from the beautiful Playa Negra sandy beach. They have two kinds of living facilities, ten Bungalows and Suit- Bungalows. They are located in a tropical garden, a few steps from the beach, they are round and independent (except for the double suite-bungalow) and they are built with a palm leaves’ roof, known locally as “rancho”. Due to the high roofs and the several windows, ocean breeze flow throughout and cooling them naturally day and night.
They a restaurant and bar right on the beach and serve large variety of food including Costa Rican traditional dishes. They also offer several activities and tours to explore the area.
Casa Mango Tango
This vacation rental home is tucked amongst the tree tops, in a tiny beach town Playa Negra De Los Pargos. Los Pargos refers to the beautiful river where the rental villa overlooks and the snapper that flourish in it. If you prefer tropical retreats in tranquility, beach & water activities, hiking and a casual atmosphere then Playa Negra may be the perfect retreat.
The Casa Mango Tango links will take you to detailed information for reserving their vacation rental for your Costa Rica vacation. Their walk-to-beaches riverfront home is nestled in the tree-tops. It is located in a gated ocean-front community, has a private pool and can sleep 2 to 6 guests. The 1200 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath home is budget priced is managed by directly by owner, and beautifully, lovingly decorated and maintained by themselves.
Activities /Things to do in and around Playa Negra, Costa Rica
This are is lined with stunning beaches for sun-bathing, snorkeling, surfing, paddle-boarding, shell-collecting, and feeling and reconnecting with nature. At Low tide you can walk on beaches.
Peaceful Playa Negra offer yoga classes, surfing lessons, horseback riding, Howler monkeys mountain bike tours, a French bakery, Nine restaurants, , custom bikini shops, a day-care, Two surf shops, a gift shop, excellent local massages and Two small art galleries.
Amazingly, the beaches on 15 minutes drive to the North and South of Playa Negra have unique characteristics in spite of the short distance. We suggest driving or hiking to Playa Avellanas to dine at Lola’s, Playa Blanca and Iguanazul for cliff-top drinks at sunset. Playa Junquillal for black sand beach surfing, twenty minutes away is Canopy Adventura Zip Line, mountain horseback riding and ATV tours.
Guanacaste Day adventures tours include the Costa Rica’s Diria National Park, forty meter waterfall, Hacienda Pinilla golf, Guaitil pottery and Day Spa, Playa Potrero & Lola’s II for paddle boarding on the bay, Bahia de los Piratas for snorkeling, shopping in Tamarindo, Guachipelin in Rincon de la Vieja, canopy tour, National Park for river tubing, hot springs and mud baths, and Barra Handa National Park Limestone caverns Tour near Nicoya.
How to get to Playa Negra, Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has 2 International Airports, one in San Jose 4.5 hours beautiful mountain drive to Playa Negra, and a second in Liberia Airport 1.2 hours to Playa Negra. We recommend a rental car, 4-wheel drive from June through early November. Flights are available from San Jose to Liberia and Tamarindo on Sansa Air and nature Air. Getting to Playa Negra can be a little difficult on your own as you will not find and public transport to reach here. However, tours can be arranged through various travel agencies in Tamarindo using a four wheel drives as the roads are dicey and there are numbers of rivers crossing thus get quite tough to navigate. Most of the surfers that come here to surf at Playa Negra rent four wheel vehicles to surf the local breaks in the area.
From Santa Cruz drive until the village of “27 de Abril” where you will turn left and then, shortly after, right to drive the 16 km to Paraiso town on a best new road. In Paraiso turn right and drive for another 4 km until you reach to Playa Negra.
From Tamarindo drive via Vila Real, follow the road signs to Hacienda Pinilla, then on to Playa Avellanas from where you drive another 4 km to Playa Negra
