San Jose and Liberia Airport Transfer to Playa Hermosa
Playa Hermosa, just 5 kilometers east and over the hill from Jacó, lives up to its name which, in English, is “Beautiful Beach” — as seen from a distance. Tropical vacation – Playa Hermosa near beachfront houses for rent
The beach itself is occasionally the site of surfing competitions, and on any given day you may find two or three groups of surfers, probably down from Jacó.
San Jose Airport to Playa Hermosa Jaco
Liberia Airport to Playa Hermosa Jaco
There are, however, lots of cheap “cabinas” to rent a bit away from the shore, and some small beach-front hotels
The Terrazo del Pacifico has about 40 rooms around a pool which is itself right on the beach. At this location, the beach is rather narrow so that the sand never dries out from tide to tide, and the hotel’s pool with its surrounding deck is the only place for lounging in the sun. Vacation rentals – nearby Playa HermosaThe restaurant at this hotel overlooks the surf and has a gratifyingly diverse menu — ranging from the typical Tico rice-with-whatever through seafood to what may be the best cheeseburger on the central coast (“two all-meat patties …”).
The Fuego del Sol has been under construction for more than a year and, if it is ever finished, may have some competition to offer the Terrazo del Pacifico. Two other small hotels, really just cabina operations, complete the beach-front scene at this beach.
All of the foregoing are at the extreme west end of this beach, and the long stretch of it is currently undergoing intensive development in two condominium projects. (Here, by “condominium” we mean the legal regime of shared ownership of “common elements” coupled with separate ownerships of housing units which need not be (and are not here) two or more to a building.) The first of these calls itself “Hermosa Paradise” and exhibits the worst possible site planning. 24 houses-on-stilts are set up rank on rank, file by file in a perfectly rectangular grid, with, apparently, more to follow on the same pattern. Although there are different models, everything built to date (June 2005) has the same general exterior shape and appearance, and all are painted battleship gray. Landscaping is virtually nonexistent — most of the uncovered land is roadways (unpaved) needed for access to the units.
The other major development is called “Hermosa Palms” and is much more interesting. This project offers turnkey homes, all “in-house” construction. The streets meander and are paved, and there is considerable architectural variation, and each building could be very attractive taken by itself. The trouble is, they are so large, and so close together, that one gets the feeling of tip-toeing through a herd of mastodons.
Beyond Hermosa Palms, there is still an operating pig farm. Fortunately, the prevailing winds rarely blow in a westerly direction.