117km (73 miles) W of San José ; 75km (47 miles) S of Puntarenas.

Playa de Jacó is the closest thing in Costa Rica to Daytona Beach during spring break. This long stretch of beach is strung with a dense hodgepodge of hotels in all price categories, cheap souvenir shops, seafood restaurants, pizza joints, and even a miniature-golf course. The number-one attraction is the surf, and this is definitely a surfer-dominated beach town.

Surfers love the consistent beach break here (and at neighboring Playa Hermosa). However, the beach here is not particularly appealing. It's made of dark-gray sand with lots of little rocks, and it's often very rough. Canadian charter flights keep this town pretty full during the northern winter months, and Jacó is also gaining popularity with German tourists and young Ticos.

This is the most touristy beach in Costa Rica and is a prime example of what happens when rapid growth hits a beach town. However, on the outskirts of town and close to the beach, there's still plenty of greenery to offset the excess of cement and chaotic jumble of the town's main street. In fact, after the dryness of Guanacaste, this is the first beach on the Pacific coast to have a tropical feel. The humidity is palpable, and the lushness of the tropical forest is visible on the hillsides surrounding town. In hotel gardens, flowers bloom profusely throughout the year.