This section is dedicated to take away all your "I wish someone had told me that before I went!" experiences. This way, you can spend less time settling in, and more time making new friends in your chosen hostel. We share our insider knowledge of tips, tricks and important things to look out for in Nosara.
Although there is an official town called Nosara, Costa Rica, usually the name Nosara refers to the middle region of the Nicoya Peninsula along the western side. It encompasses the beach towns as well as a ten-mile area inland to the town of Nosara. Your Nosara, Costa Rica hostel is a great place to base yourself to make the most of your visit to this area.
Each beach’s surf is unique. One beach has a rough surf like Playa Nosara, while another is perfectly calm like Playa Samara. Playa Piedra Colorada is a great beach for swimming and has little pools or pockets of hot water to use as natural jacuzzis. Rivers of fresh water flow out to the sea along many of these beaches.
Playa Guiones is another beach in the Nosara district on the Nicoya Peninsula. Here you can take a sunset walk along the coastline. It stretches for three kilometers, with Playa Pelada to the north and Playa Garza to the south. It is a top surf town as well as a family town. Playa Pelada consists of few small streets that connect to the main road, which in turn connects to all of the towns in Nosara. Playa Samara is a big family town with lots of artwork, murals, and statues displayed.
Playa Nosara is north of the Nosara village. The Nosara villagers there volunteer to harvest the turtle eggs that have been dug up by turtles in their attempt to bury their own eggs on this Playa Ostional nesting site. Olive Ridley mother turtles have chosen this one and only relatively small beach site to lay their turtle eggs. As a group, just about all of these turtles come to Playa Ostional within a small window of time to deposit their eggs. This phenomenon is called "the arribada." Scientists do not know why they select only Playa Ostional to lay their eggs and refuse to use any other nearby beaches. The crowds of turtles depositing eggs on only a small area creates problems with recently laid eggs being dug up as mother turtles choose a spot for their own eggs to rest in places that have been used by other earlier mothers. This special beach is policed and protected by Nosara villagers.
Nearby is a canopy tour called Miss Sky Canopy that is eleven kilometers long. It is the longest in the world and is one of the safest. There is a waterfall stop for a cool swim. There are twenty-one runs double lined to let you enjoy wildlife and waterfalls.
Roads in Nosara may have unexpected cattle walking along them. Roads are also riddled with potholes, making driving dangerous. Often, the infrastructure is compromised in this region when bridges go out due to regular torrential rains during the rainy season.
Nosara is remote and very dry from December to April. Many animals die due to the annual hazards of the climatic drought. Lack of enough adequate water causes problems with both man and animal testing everyone's survival abilities. This makes the Nosara region attractive as a place to live away from the world's comforts without depending on the unessential stuff.
Written by local enthusiast for Nosara hostels
dittoboy