Esterillos Beach – Secluded Surf and Sunsets Near Jaco
Esterillos Beach is the place to head for empty line ups in Costa Rica. It’s untouched, undeveloped, and very consistent.
An introduction to Esterillos Beach
Esterillos Beach unfolds along about 10 miles of shoreline in central Costa Rica. It faces south, just around a headland from popular Jaco, though it could be more unlike it’s neighbor…
Where Jaco has big hotels and bumping bars, surf camps by the bucket load, and strips of tourist restaurants, Esterillos is a picture of what the Puntarenas province was maybe 20 or 30 years ago.
Yep, the four playas that make up Esterillos are nowhere near as developed as other beaches in this region, particularly those this close to San Jose, the capital.
Granted, there is now a smattering of new hotels and eateries clustering around Esterillos Oeste, but it’s not OTT and the coast is still dominated by wind-bristled coconut palms.
The surf at Esterillos Beach is varied and reliable. But then pretty much everywhere along the Costa Rican coast is varied and reliable. What sets this one apart is how quiet it can be. No matter how good it looks – and it can look VERY good – there will always be a peak to call your own for a dawn session or an evening surf.
The vibe is chilled and easy going; hardly a jot of fierce competition for waves. Plus, there are breaks for all levels, from hollowed-out rivermouth barrels in the wet season to mellow cruisers for those with the mals and logs in tow.
This guide has all you need to know about Esterillos Beach, from info about the surf to picks on the top hotels…
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This guide is just one part of our complete guide to surfing in Costa Rica
Esterillos Beach at a glance
The good…
The bad…
What’s in this guide to Esterillos Beach?
Where is Esterillos Beach (and how to get there)?
The best way to pinpoint Esterillos Beach is to first look for Jaco. That’s one of the main beach towns on the Puntarenas coastline, sat just to the southwest of San Jose.
From there, follow the 34 Highway – the main coast road – south. Initially it will pass through the surf haven of Playa Hermosa (one of the very best spots in Costa Rica if you ask us) and then through the smaller inland hamlet of Quebrada Amarilla.
Less than 25 minutes after leaving Jaco, you’ll enter Esterillos Oeste, the westernmost of the four beaches that make up this region.
The best way to get here is to rent your own car. A lot of people are now doing that in Costa Rica and the roads have improved A LOT in the last 10 years. The drive here takes around two hours from the airport in San Jose and it’s all on well-paved/concreted roads. No need for a 4×4 or anything.
Use RentalCars to hire vehicles – they’re the cheapest in our opinion.
The main alternative is to take a transfer to Jaco (MyPinkBus are the best for that and they go daily) and then an onward taxi to Playa Esterillos – it’s about 25 mins more.
Surfing in Esterillos Beach
Since you’re reading this guide to Esterillos Beach on The Surf Atlas, we’re guessing that you’re mainly thinking about coming here for the waves.
The good news is that Esterillos Beach has ultra consistency. It’s rare that you’ll go more than a day or two of it being completely flat. S swells are the best and biggest, as they’re head on to the sandbars and rivermouths, though W and even NW swells can work too.
There are four distinct parts of Esterillos that are worth knowing about as a surf. From west to east they are: Esterillos Oeste, Esterillos Centro, Esterillos Este, and finally Bejuco Beach.
Each of those has a different bunch of breaks up its sleeve, thanks to a shoreline that runs through pockets of rugged volcanic reef and then onto long stretches of working beach break that goes on for miles (literally).
The tides will also alter each spot. As the water comes up and drops down, you’ll often notice how a new peak starts working at a different location, or how a new sandbar kicks into life here and then while others drop away.
Let’s take a closer look at all the specific spots up and down Esterillos Beach…
Esterillos Oeste
Truth is that most people will head to this side of town to surf. It’s got the best and most consistent waves and the biggest range of hotels and restaurants. It’s the obvious place to base yourself. El Pico – a top-quality A-frame – leads the way, but there are long runs of classic beach break and another named spot that’s great for intermediates midway along the beach.
El Pico – This is the headline act on Esterillos Oeste beach. It’s an A-frame that shapes up on the reef-sand area at almost the westernmost point of the beach, sort of immediately in front of the elementary school. Likes middling to big S swells and hold fantastically well all throughout the dry season, it’s a real performance wave that actually punch and throttle enough to remind us of something out Margaret River. It’s an A-frame with a single take off point that has this weird habit of shifting around just as it’s about to break. You’ll need to be ready to adjust to pick the right side as your making your final paddle because it’s rare that both directions work nicely. The rights have a knack of hollowing out into neat barrel sections and then into a tapering wall that can go all the way from outside to inside across 300m.
Escuela – Named for the school that’s right in front of it, this is a fun, punchy beach break that works best on a mid-to-high tide. It’s perfect practice ground for big turns and cutbacks since it peels slowly and offers loads of time to readjust and get back into the pocket. Tends to be fattish, with a wide face to work on. Great for intermediates.
Esterillos Centro
Esterillos Centro is a swell magnet. It lacks the patches of reef that give Esterillos Oeste it’s nicely shaped A-frames and things but there’s always plenty of room and next to zero crowds out here. The peaks are punchy and fun. Usually short rides but can shape up nicely as the tide pushes up and there’s a bit more wedge to it. Only a couple of beachfront hotels in these parts. Rivermouths to the east and west of the main beach do fire up some nice spots that are shifty and rippy.
Esterillos Este
It gets very undeveloped the further east you move along the Esterillos playa until you hit Esterillos Este, where the vibe is a bit more resort-y. There’s like one row of larger hotels butting up to the beach front.
They’re good stays for families, with lots of amenities and the surf only 30 seconds walk from your suite. Expect a continuation of Centro’s peaky beach breaks for another kilometer or so. Again, there’s NO CROWD EVER, so it’s a joy to surf if you manage to catch it with 3-5 foot S swells and a morning offshore.
Bejuco Beach
Playa Bejuco is the easternmost of the strip here. It’s gorgeous, with lush palms spilling onto a coffee-colored front. It’s the least built-up in the whole area, with a couple of small campgrounds and homestays set in the coast jungles. The waves here tend to mush out a bit more than the ones further west, but the whole run is still swell magnet that works pretty much all year round.
There’s a right on the rivermouth at the far end of the beach that’s decent. Low tide is trickier but can reveal some very hollow shorebreaks with neat backdoor sections if you don’t mind risking nosing the board into the black sand.
Jaco & Playa Hermosa
Always bear in mind that Jaco and Playa Hermosa are within a 15-minute taxi of Esterillos Beach. They’re both surfing meccas; Jaco for its beginner-friendly main beach and Hermosa for its series of pitching A-frames for more advanced surfers. They also face west, which means they can hand the HUGE S-SW dry season swell a little more. Consider heading up this way if it goes well past overhead and you want something a bit more manageable than Esterillos Oeste.
We have a complete guide to surfing in both Jaco and Playa Hermosa right here
Where to stay when surfing in Esterillos Beach?
We think one of the best things about Esterillos Beach is the fact you can escape the buzzing crowds of places like Jaco, Tamarindo, or Santa Teresa. There are only a couple of hotels on offer in these parts. All of them get you within walking distance of the waves. Our all-time favorites would include…
- The Spot – Part hostel, part guesthouse, this quirky option is about good vibes and great people. It’s very well priced for Costa Rica. We can’t think of anywhere in the country where you’d be able to stay literally a one minute’s walk up the road from such epic break for around just $60/night.
- Alma del Pacifico Hotel & Spa – Remember when we said that there were loads of great family-friendly resorts along the Playa Bejuco stretch. Well, this one’s the doozy there. Book a colourful cottage and you’ll be 20 seconds from the waves. There’s a fantastic massage menu and the on-site restaurant is divine.
- Marala Hotel – A cheeky little option set amid the rainforests a bit back from the beaches. You’ll need a car to get up here but it’s worth sacrificing walking access to the waves to get sunsets over the sierras from the incredible infinity pool.
Surf camps in Esterillos Beach
There aren’t any surf camps in Esterillos Beach. The region isn’t yet developed enough to be able to support the crowds of learners that head to places like Jaco or Santa Teresa.
That said, plenty of the camps that are based in Jaco will have Esterillos on their radar. It’s common for them to make the 20-minute drive south to surf this more consistent region if it goes flat nearer the city.
So, if you’re determined to have a fully-fledged surf package then why not consider…
- School of the World Surf Camp (7-day double surf camp) – 240 minutes of guided surf lessons per day, video analysis, and super technical instruction help to make this one of the most action-packed surf camps in the country. It’s a great pick for those who’ve surfed before and are looking to hone in on the more detailed aspects of technique.
- Damo Surf Camp (7-day surf camp) – Fantastic value for money at this surf and yoga camp in Jaco. You get 6x surf lessons in regional beaches (which might or might not include Esterillos) and extras like a group sunset hike.
When to surf in Esterillos Beach?
The peak time for surfing in Esterillos Beach is the same as the rest of Costa Rica’s Pacific. Generally speaking, the biggest swells of the year come from the S-SW direction in the wet season (May-August), while more westerly swells push through in the dry season.
The south-facing orientation means that the four beaches here pick up all the S swells that pulse up from the lower latitudes in the wet season months. N winds are also dominant at that time, helping to groom the sets into a clean lines and shape up any longer shoulders into rippable walls at this time. It’s definitely the prime surf season, though Esterillos can be BIG since it’s head-on S swell here. Consider moving up to the more protected beaches around Jaco if it’s too big or you want to learn – they’re always only 20 mins away.
Thankfully, the beaches of Esterillos will also work nicely with W swells and even NW swells can wrap in during the dry season (Nov-April) to give smaller, more manageable conditions for learners. As we’ve said, it’s rarely flat here, so these are solid months for less experienced surfers, plus they offer the better weather.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
