Punta Leona — Punta Leona in the Gulf of Nicoya is one of my personal favorites. You anchor in a nice cove in front of a resort (09 deg. 42.34 min. N., 084 deg. 39.81 min. W.) You can use most of the facilities in the resort for free! Pools, restaurants, palapas, nature tours etc.. Just around the point toward Herradura is beautiful Playa Blanca. There are three breaks here and they never get crowded because the resort is private. At the far end of the beach is a left reef break (nice waves). In the middle is a right reef that has an interesting peak. Then there is a beach break in front of the lifeguard stand. We stayed here for 2 months....get it?
Herradura — Playa Escondida is a good wave in a beautiful setting. But it's famous so it gets crowded. The tide is critical in this whole area. You need an incoming mid to full tide. You can dinghy here from Punta Leona. 09 deg. 39.91 min N., 084 deg. 40.43 min. W. is where the break is located. Really good left and o.k. right.
Bahia Herradura, just around the corner from Playa Escondida is another anchorage that is even closer to Escondida than Punta Leona. Plus there is surf here and a marina. The marina is very expensive, but you can anchor out for free. The surf town of Jaco and Playa Hermosa are not far by taxi.
Quepos — Quepos is down the coast and offers an anchorage, supplies and surf. We found it too rolly. 09 deg. 24.45 min. N., 084 deg. 10.16 min. W.
Manuel Antonio has a beautiful anchorage in a state park at 09 deg. 23.06min. N., 084 deg. 08.95 min. W.. From the anchorage you can see the town and beach break. Cool little place with nice waves.
