Quepos, North Puntarenas
Quepos is a booming harbor town located on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast in Puntarenas Province. Just a 30-minute flight from the capital or a three-hour drive overland, Quepos is the gateway to all of the amazing nature activities in western Costa Rica, including surfing, sportfishing, stand-up paddling, horseback riding, and kayaking.
But there’s plenty to see in Quepos as well. The downtown area is packed with six square blocks of hotels, art galleries, bars, restaurants, and gift shops just a short walk from the town’s amazing marina. Nearly 200 boats are based in Quepos’s Marina Pez Vela marina, and the area is also home to some of the finest seafood restaurants in Costa Rica.
Quepos is a top destination for anglers as fishing charters depart her daily to pursue species like marlin, sailfish, and wahoo in deeper waters along with roosterfish, yellowfin tuna, and amberjack. And for fly fishing enthusiasts, there are lots of great spots in and near Quepos for landing that prize-winning specimen.
Quepos is also famous for being the gateway to the Manuel Antonio area, including the Manuel Antonio National Park. Despite being one of Costa Rica’s smallest national parks in area, Manuel Antonio is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country thanks to its magnificent wildlife, vibrant jungles, swift rivers perfect for rafting and canoeing, and a series of hidden beaches that can only be accessed at low tide.
And the beaches in and near Manuel Antonio National Park are world-famous for having some of the finest surf spots anywhere. Two seasonal tidal patterns ensure a steady supply of big waves with both left and right-turning breaks, making this area ideal for surfers of all ability levels. Add in surfing areas at the Quepos river mouth and next to small, uninhabited islands, and it’s easy to see why top surfers from around the globe flock to this area.
The high season for visiting Quepos is between December to April when the region enjoys warm, sunny days and little rain. February is when Quepos holds the Festival del Mar (Sea Festival) that includes a street carnival, parades, live music concerts, and sporting events all designed to celebrate Quepos’s long history of being a maritime port.
Quepos is home to about 22,000 people and is named for the native Quepoa people who used to inhabit this region of Costa Rica. Quepos is just 37 miles (60 km) from the capital San Jose as the crow flies, but due to Costa Rica’s landscape, the overland journey to Quepos is approximately 97 miles (157 km).
If you’re heading to Quepos and Puntarenas Province in Costa Rica, be sure to book your vacation with Endless Olas Surf Camp. Endless Olas specializes in offering one-on-one and small group surf instruction as well as organizing nature tours of the Puntarenas region, including horseback riding, whitewater rafting, hiking tours of Manuel Antonio National Park, trips to a local hot spring, yoga on the beach, and kayaking and stand-up paddling along the coastal estuaries and wetlands.
