Nosara is a sand-bottomed beachbreak on the Guanacaste Coast of Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, throwing both rights and lefts along a long stretch of open beach. The town carries the name, but the surf itself happens at Playa Guiones, where a couple of miles of coast give you several peaks to pick from. Some sections break over rock and take on a canyon-like shape, and the whole setup rates as reliably fun with days that turn out quite good.
When It Works
Swell arrives from south to southwest, and the beach works from 1.5 m / 5 ft to 2.1 m / 7 ft. Spring and summer are the seasons to target, with March through August the meat of it. The wider region is drier than much of Costa Rica thanks to the Papagayo winds that blow half the year, and south-facing beachbreaks like this one will pick up the smaller swells that pass other spots by.
Wind and Tide
Look for east-northeast offshore wind, though anything in the northeast to east window is workable. Guiones can break through low, mid, and high tide, so you have room to move your session around, but a rising tide is generally the better call and mid tide on the push is the classic window here. When the swell gets big, the points and reefbreaks nearby come into their own at lower tides.
Local Tips
Expect a busy lineup. The peaks spread out over two miles of beach, but the most consistent ones can stack up with twenty surfers waiting on the same wave, especially through summer when visiting surfers show up in numbers. The lineup can feel a little reserved, so read the room before you paddle for everything. Board choice is wide open: shortboards, fish, funboards, longboards, and bodyboards all have a place, and there's something here for beginners through to experts. The paddle out is medium effort. The water is clean, and the main thing to watch is simple: don't turn your back on the ocean.
Access
At the end of the road you'll find an informal lot, and plenty of people just pull over on the roadside instead. The first 50 meters back from the sand have been left undeveloped to protect the coastline, so the walk in stays short and the beach stays open.
