Jaco, Costa Rica is the closest beach town to the capital city of San Jose, making it a popular destination for locals and tourists. Known for having some of the best waves in the country, Jaco attracts visitors from all over the world looking to soak up sun and surf for their vacation.
Jaco is a great beach town as a homebase or to stay a few days. It’s an excellent destination for first time visitors because it’s not too far from San Jose International Airport with easy accessibility, has a lively nightlife and is close to many natural attractions. Additionally, this also makes it one of the best beach towns in Costa Rica to get to without a car!
This guide has been updated December 2019.
Click the section to skip to it.
- Location and directions
- The Beach
- The Town
- Weather
- Activities
- Surf camps
- Nightlife
- Where to stay
- Restaurants
- Shopping
- Living
Location and Directions
Jaco Costa Rica map.
Jaco is 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of San Jose on the Central Pacific coast in the Puntarenas province.
How to get to Jaco from San Jose
You can take the bus, drive or book a shuttle to Jaco.
Bus: To take the bus to Jaco from San Jose International Airport, you must go to the 7-10 bus station in downtown San Jose. It is about a $5 USD ride and 2 hour bus ride. You can read our guide on taking the bus from San Jose to Jaco.
Shuttle: You can book a private or shared shuttle. The private shuttle costs around $120-150 USD for 1-6 passengers one way. A shared shuttle costs $47 USD per passenger with Interbus.
Driving: The drive from San Jose to Jaco is all on a well paved highway. You need to get onto Route 27 and exit at Jaco to Route 34. It’s about a 1.5 hour drive with no traffic and there are a few toll booths that range from $.20-$1.80 USD. It is best to pay these tolls in Costa Rican currency. If you have to, you can use small USD bills ($1 and $5) and they will give you your change back in Costa Rican colones.
If you plan to drive, make sure to get our Costa Rica car rental discount here!
How to get to Jaco from Guanacaste (Tamarindo/Coco/Liberia)
Driving: To get to Jaco from Tamarindo, the fastest way is to go by way of the Friendship Bridge (Puente de la Amistad). If you are coming from Liberia or Gulf of Papagayo beaches, the fastest way is to go by Route 1 towards San Jose. Exit off the highway when you see the signs for Jaco and there is a toll both. We recommend to use a GPS and it is an easy route on paved roads.
From Tamarindo, it’s about a 4 hour drive. From Liberia, it’s about a 3 hour drive.
How to get around Jaco
You can walk, bike, taxi or rent a scooter/ATV. It takes around 20 minutes to walk from end to end of town. The main bus station is across from the Best Western at the north end of the beach.
Jaco Beach
Jaco beach is 2 miles (3.2 km) of pure surfing waves with dark sand and deep blue waters. The surrounding landscape stays green all year long due to the nearby Tarcoles river and high humidity of the tropical rainforest.
Another great thing about Jaco are the spectacular sunsets as you get a full view of the sun going down.
Our favorite spot on this long beach is the south end. This spot is popular for surf lessons and beginners and you can find many surf shops in on the street going to the beach. They also have a very nice walking path at that end, which was a recycled bottle project.
The north end can get crowded because that is where the Croc’s Hotel is and where many Costa Ricans camp and party on the weekends. For that reason, we prefer the south end to surf and watch the sunset.
Keep in mind that the shore is fairly rocky therefore it’s not the best for sunbathing but you can find a few sandy and shady spots. Just make sure to keep an eye on the tide because it will come all the way up in high tide!
Similarly, make sure to be careful of rip tides which are common in Jaco. This is why Jaco beach is best for surfing, not swimming.
The Town
Due to the fact that Jaco is the most developed beach town in Costa Rica, you can find everything like pharmacies, restaurants, supermarkets, banks, ATM’s, souvenir stores, car rentals, all inclusive resorts and condos.
See what the town looks like in the video below!
As you can see in the video, Jaco has nice roads with painted lines. There are also marked parking spaces and sidewalks, something not very common in beach towns in Costa Rica.
This video was taken in 2014. It’s pretty much the same now in 2019 except there is a new Jaco Walk Plaza and some businesses have shut down/moved.
Jaco Weather
The weather in Jaco is hot and very humid due to its location on the coast. Average temperatures are mid 80’s to low 90’s F (29 C) in the dry season and low 80s F (26 C) in rainy season.
Jaco experiences typical tropical weather however. Dry season is from December – end of April and rainy season from beginning of May – December. The hottest months are March and April, similar to the rest of the country.
Read more about Costa Rica weather in this post.
Things to do in Jaco, Costa Rica
Although the main activity in Jaco is surfing, there are plenty of other activities to enjoy. Solo travelers, families and couples will all find something fun to do!
Stand up Paddle Board
Take a SUP class or SUP tour. For SUP classes, the best place is at Playa Herradura or Agujas. We did a stand up paddle boarding tour with Kayak Jaco from Playa Agujas which was really nice.
Adventure Parks with ziplining, horseback riding and ATV tours
Go ziplining, canyoning and horseback riding at Ocean Ranch Park or Rainforest Adventures. Rainforest Adventures also has a tram that goes up the forest for beautiful views. Likewise, Los Sueños has a great property with ziplining, ATV and other activities.
Jaco Waterfall Tour
Because of the lush mountains outside Jaco, there are many waterfalls. As many of them are hidden or require a 4×4, the best way to see them is to go on a waterfall tour.
The Jaco waterfall tour is one of my favorite things to do in Jaco. Hike, jump off and walk up over 10 waterfalls in the deep rainforest!
There is also a bigger waterfall called Bijaguas which is an hour hike and 20 minute car ride from Jaco.
Manuel Antonio and Carara National Park Day Trip
Luckily, there are some national parks very close to Jaco that have excellent hiking and wildlife watching: Carara National Park and Manuel Antonio National Park. Because Manuel Antonio is very popular, it is easy to get to from Jaco.
You can read this article to see how to take the bus to Manuel Antonio from Jaco. Unfortunately there is no direct bus to Carara so if you don’t rent a car, we recommend booking a tour. A guided tour with transportation and a bilingual guide is $85 USD from Jaco and we highly recommend Carara National Park for birders.
The drive from Jaco to Manuel Antonio National Park is about 1 hour and the drive to Carara is about 20 minutes.
More things to do in Jaco, Costa Rica
But that’s not all there is to do in Jaco! Some other popular activities are kayaking, ATV, sport fishing and bird watching. Read about more things to do in Jaco here.
If you want to do any day tours in Jaco, please contact us as our partner Jacamar Naturalist Tours operates Jaco tours and we have a 10% discount with them!
Surf Camps
Since Jaco is such a great beach for surfing, there are many surf camps and schools in town. Here are the most popular ones.
- School of the World
- Vista Guapa
- Tortuga Surf Camp
- Jaco Surf School
- Room2Board
- Surf Factory
We did a surf camp at Vista Guapa which was a lot of fun. As this surf camp is up in the hills outside Jaco, you get beautiful views of the beach and town.
Nightlife
Nighttime in Jaco is always busy with plenty of lively bars and clubs. In fact, Jaco is probably the biggest party beach town in Costa Rica. Because Jaco is known for a crazy night life, you will definitely have a memorable time. Our favorite bar is Isaga. Excellent mix of local and tourist!
Another great place for nightlife in Jaco is Le Loft for an upscale atmosphere, VIP section and bottle service. Orange Pub is a popular club and Surf Dogs usually has live music with great drink promos. The Beer House is also another fun place for craft beer and nightlife.
Jaco Beach Hotels
Here are our recommended hotels in Jaco.
- Hotel Doce Lunas: This hotel has won awards for being the most romantic getaway in Costa Rica. Located just outside downtown Jaco.
- Villas Nasua: These 3 bedrooms apartments are in a quiet area behind downtown. Great for families.
- Oceans Diamante del Sol: Small apartments/studios. They are very close to the center of town and are pet friendly.
- Buddha House Boutique Hostel: They have mixed dorms, private rooms and suites and a very nice library and hammock area. Gets pretty noisy on weekends because it’s right in town.
- Best Western Jaco Beach: This is an all-inclusive on the beach. Popular with locals.
- Croc’s Casino Resort: Has a Las Vegas style casino, a huge pool, on the beach and modern rooms.
You can also find many Airbnbs (get $40 credit) and vacation rentals. Vista Las Palmas is a luxury condo complex on the beach with huge rooms and ocean views. Costa Linda is a smaller condo complex on the north end.
Jaco Restaurants
- Soda Rustico: Best place for Costa Rican food. Lunch is around $5-6, open every day.
- Soda Garabito: Another decent local place.
- The Pizza Shop: Yummy pizza and sandwiches.
- Tacobar: Fish tacos with an all you can eat salad bar. Serves $3 breakfast.
- Cevicheria Jacobeno: Our favorite place for ceviche.
- Pachi’s Pan: Local bakery. Better for pastries and sweets.
- El Barco: Great place for gelato
- Tsunami Sushi: Pretty good place for sushi. They have 2×1 on Wednesdays.
- Graffiti Cafe: Amazing food with huge portions. Try their coffee and chocolate steak!
- Puddlefish Brewery: Upscale bar food. It is also part of Graffiti so you can order from both menus at either place.
Shopping
There are a ton of souvenir stores in Jaco in downtown so you can do some great shopping. You can find everything from carved wooden statues, sarongs, tshirts, bikinis, paintings and jewelry. You can read what our favorite Costa Rica souvenirs are.
My favorite store is Tico Pod because they have a fun mix of jewelry, paintings and other trinkets. Dantica Gallery also has some beautiful pieces.
What to Know About Visiting Jaco
If you’ve heard that Jaco is known for prostitutes and drugs, unfortunately you are correct. It has gotten that reputation due to the increase amount of tourists with those intentions as it grew economically and commercially.
It has gotten drastically better over the past few years however. We saw police cars on every street and many families, locals and foreigners, come to visit.
The bottom line is that Jaco is a city beach and you shouldn’t let the bad rep prevent you from visiting. If you are the type of traveler who likes cities, parties and surfing then Jaco is a great town for you to visit.
If you’re more interested in staying outside this busy beach town but still want to enjoy all it offers, consider staying at nearby Playa Hermosa instead. It’s a 10 minute drive and a surfing beach with few restaurants and hotels but very quiet and laid back.
Living in Jaco, Costa Rica
We lived in Jaco for 6 months in 2015, it was fun and enjoyed living in town. We don’t live there anymore but you can read more about what we thought about living in Jaco in this article.
I can definitely see why most foreigners who live in Jaco are transients. After all, it’s a beach town geared more towards young entrepreneurs who want all the conveniences and services of the city at the beach. For tourists, it’s a great beach town with excellent restaurants, great infrastructure, awesome waves and fun parties.
Read other beach guides below!
Or read this article, if you’re trying to decide between Tamarindo & Jaco for surfing.
This post has affiliate links.
Minhee Koo says
Hi! Thank you for all this information. I will be traveling and Costa Rica in December. I did have a question about the rental car discount. For some reason, going through the actual Adobe car rental website gives me a cheaper rate than going through your widget. Is there a way to get a discount off the Adobe website rate? Do you have a promo code?
Sammi says
Hi Minhee, when you check the prices, make sure it says “Hello Mytanfeet” in the right hand corner, if it says “hello guest” then that is the normal Adobe direct price and “Hello Mytanfeet” is with our discount. If you check both with the same browser, sometimes it will stay on the Adobe direct (hello guest). You may need to use another browser. If you’re still having trouble, please feel free to email us at web @ mytanfeet.com and we’ll make sure you get our discounted price and benefits package.
Ren says
Hi ,
I’m here on a volunteering project and speak almost no Spanish , I really wanted to meet people who I could explore the town with. Where can I meet people just to hang out ?
Sammi says
In Jaco, the best place is the bars or to take a surf lesson.
Stacey says
Who would you recommend doing the waterfall tour with?
Sammi says
Hi Stacey, we did one with Costa Rica waterfall Tours and I know Paddle 9 does one to Nauyaca.
Laura says
Hi just wondering if beer is allowed on the beaches there? What about at Manuel Antonio?
Sammi says
You can drink beer on the beach in Manuel Antonio, there are a lot of tourists so it’s normal (just pick up your garbage because there aren’t a lot of trash cans)
Sammi says
Hi Sandra! Aw we are so glad to hear!! That you guys are coming back and the blog is helpful! 🙂
For souvenirs, I don’t recommend La Fortuna (oddly enough many of their souvenir shops are owned by Guatemalans and are Guatemalan items, not Costa Rican and they are very expensive). San Jose market is one of the cheapest places with more unique items so if you get a chance, I highly recommend going to the central market downtown which is also a very interesting local experience. Then I also really like the souvenir stores in Jaco as they weren’t super expensive – I bought a few sarongs for $10-12, the painted cups for $13 and remember to always bargain when buying souvenirs and try to pay in cash as they are usually happy to give extra discounts if you pay all in cash. For coffee, Salsa Lizano or tshirts, the supermarket is actually a great and cheap place to buy all those. I bought some cool Costa Rican tshirts at Max por Menos for $12 each. The central market in Heredia is also great and a lot cheaper with more authentic items. The cities and small local towns like Zarcero or Sarchi usually are cheaper and have more authentic souvenirs than the touristic towns.
I don’t like the souvenir stores in Playas del Coco too much, they were expensive and aren’t very clean/nice. The only one I would go to in Coco is SOuvenirs Sussy but it’s not super cheap. Tamarindo has a bunch of souvenir stores but many of them are actually owned by Argentinians so you won’t find as authentic souvenirs in Tamarindo and it is expensive there.
Sandra Cevallos says
So, I have to say that my boyfriend and I absolutely love coming to your site and reading about Costa Rica. We are planning our second trip back as the first time was way too short. Your website has been incredibly handy when looking at places to visit.
I have a question, where was the cheapest city you found souvenirs in- we( mostly me) love shopping for recuerdos to bring back to our families. Any suggestions? We are traveling coast to coast.
Anupam Khanna says
Hi, Thank you for creating this wonderful article. I will be renting a car upon my arrival in SJO and would be visiting Playa Jaco on a Friday/Saturday. I’m unable to find any resources which can tell me where i can find a place to park? Are there public parking spots easily available close to the beach somewhere? Look forward to your response on parking. Thank you and great job once again.
Sammi says
There is a lot of street parking and there is one main parking lot by the north end of the beach.
Paul says
Hi there!
We have been living in Jaco for three months and love it. I like your site, and the drive through Jaco, which although now out of date, was a great prep.
There are a couple of errors on your Jaco info page: Tips for visiting Jaco dated March 5, 2017. First, a small typo on the name of Graffiti, not Graffito. Also, Graffiti, and its’ sister businesses Side Street restaurant and Puddle Fish brewery are all in the process of moving to the new Jaco Walk complex (an empty lot opposite Banco Popular in the south end in your video). Jaco Walk is a sort of destination shopping centre that seems so far to have mostly eating places; gelato on a stick, frozen yogurt, a coffee shop, Tsunami Sushi has moved there, and of course, another Subway.
Also in your article you say the Best Western is in the south end of town; it is in the north end, pretty close to Croc’s etc. You might give a shout to Martec, the fabulous frozen fish place behind the very good Panaderia Artesanal, also on the north end of town. Chefs told us to get our fish here; very good advice!
Sammi says
Thanks! They’re getting another Subway?! Wow. I miss the pasta place that used to be there, they should bring that back!
Barb says
Hello! I was wondering if you knew of a way to get to Playa Blanca from Monteverde (I won’t have a car), and then from Playa Blanca to San Jose. Thank you!
yeison says
Hello Barb, without a car the easiest way to get to playa blanca is to tell the bus driver to stop you at Punta Leona, you might not be able to get in Punta Leona because you need to have a reservation or know somebody that is in the resort. Anyways in order to get to playa blanca first go to Playa Mantas every one know where this place is this is the way to go to playa blanca, make sure you go in low tide otherwise you wont be able to cross the beach that take you to playa blanca. You will have to walk more than 3 miles from the main entrance. Once you are around Punta Leona and Playa mantas anyone can tell you how to get to Playa blanca.
Maria Dolores López says
Pura vida. Me llamo Lola, soy española. Me encanta Costa Rica, estuve en Jaco Beach, hace años alojada en las cabañas “Sol y Luna”, y en mi vida he sido más feliz, además me enamoré de un tico llamado Eric y vivimos una estupenda historia de amor. Sueño con él todavía ya que no guardamos contacto; si por mí fuera me instalaría definitivamente allí, además hice muchos amigos y me encanta el Surf.
yeison says
Hola María linda historia y palabras, espero que algún día nos puedas visitar de nuevo. Te enviamos las mejores vibras desde Costa Rica Pura vida!
yeison says
Hello Daisy, the roads are very good and it’s an easy drive like 2 hours. If you planing to rent a car take a look of our special rates and benefits Costa Rica car rental discount I hope you have a nice trip and please let us know if you have more questions.
Daisy says
hi there, im heading to Jaco for the 4th of july weekend. But i wanted to rent a car and visit Manuel Antonio…how are the roads from Jaco to Manuel?
Sammi says
Hi Amelia, you can read more about Jaco and see pictures and videos the beach and beach town bere:Playa Jaco
As for Jaco, it’s like any other place in the world – some people love it, some people hate it, it all depends on the person. It’s not the prettiest beach and it can get seedy, but there’s also some very awesome weekend things about Jaco.
We lived there for 6 months, you can read more about what we thought here: Living in Jaco
Jaco is what you make of it 🙂
Amelia says
Hi! I absolutely love your website and blog! I’m thinking of going to Costa Rica volunteering for a couple of weeks in mid-July and need to decide between volunteering in Jaco and San Jose. I absolutely love the beach, but I’ve not heard great things about Jaco and wanted to get your opinion. Is it true that things still seem to be better? Thank you!
Shannon Kircher says
Thanks for sharing! Heading to Herradura in a couple of days for our first trip to Costa Rica. Had been looking at Kaya Grill for dinner – looks fab! Excited to finally explore a bit of the country!
Sammi says
The Grill is great! I love the tuna burger but the meat is delicious too. Hope you have fun 🙂
Annette says
I love Costa Rica!!!!! I was living there for about 7 months working in a hostel and travel agency. There’s definitely a ton to do in Jaco, but as far as most developed I’d have to say Tamarindo is top dog, or at least up there on the list. Either way, you’re bound to have a fun time!
Pura Vida,
Annette
Sammi says
Hi Annette!
That sounds really fun and a great way to see the country. Tamarindo is quite developed but they don’t have any of the towers (or the new casino) like Jaco. Both are really fun though and great beaches! Glad to hear you loved the country!
Caitlyn says
That beach looks amazing! I can never understand why people squeeze together on some terrible beaches in the world when there are ones that look like that which are so untouched 🙂
Sammi says
Agreed! Even though Jaco is one of the most popular beaches in Costa Rica it still looks so nice and empty. Love that!
Casey @ A Cruising Couple says
Really interesting to learn more about Jaco! As you probably know we didn’t make it there ourselves, so it’s nice to know what we did/didn’t miss. Your pictures look great though, and if you’re a hard-core surfer I could definitely understand the draw!
Sammi says
Thanks guys! It’s one of those places where you hear about a lot in terms of visiting Costa Rica but considering all the places you guys went here, you still saw a ton! Next time you guys will have to visit and Dan can try surfing there, I’m sure he’d love it!