Guanacaste
Area Hotels & Restaurants

                            Marker - Center of Guanacaste
             Latitude  10.4957971         Longitude   -85.3549650 
                        

                                        Guanacaste


Guanacaste is one of the favorite of Costa Rica's Provinces for many people, tourists and Tico's alike. It is home to an incredible tropical dry forest and boasts a perpetual summer-like climate, beautiful sun-drenched beaches, a wonderfully rich culture that is distinctly "Guanacastico", beautiful, friendly people, and a fantastic selection of consistent beachbreaks, pointbreaks, rivermouths, and inner and outer reefs that give surfers pretty much what they want - great waves! Ollies Point, Witch's Rock, Playa Grande, Tamarindo, Playa Langosta, Avellanes, and Playa Negra are some of the better known surf spots in North Guanacaste.

Along the Pacific coastline North Guanacaste would stretch from about Play Negra/Playa Langosta north to the Nicaraguan border. Inland, North Guanacaste would extend a bit more eastward than National Rt. 1. The province of Guanacaste also extends the length of the Nicoya Peninsula. 

Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards, the area that now makes up Guanacaste was inhabited by primarily two indigenous groups, the Chorotega and the Corobicies. The Chorotega were fairly widespread in the area with the Corobicies living mostly on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Nicoya and in the zone of Bagaces. 
   
When the Central American countries gained independence from Spain the "Guanacaste" area was part of Nicaragua. It was  in 1824-1825 that the people of the Guanacaste territory voted to annex the territory to Costa Rica and became part of the Republic of Costa Rica. The mix of Indigenous, Spanish, and Nicaraguan cultures spawned a music and folklore rich modern "Guanacastico" culture. 

Northern Guanacaste is basically a dry, relatively flat area that is very dry, and hot, from November to April. It is a perfect getaway for North Americans escaping cold winters and is also a vacation destination for many Ticos from the cooler Central Valley (San Jose) area. From May to October/November North Guanacaste climate cools down some but is a little warmer, on average, than the Central Valley area. It experiences about the same rainfall during that period as San Jose, but not as much as the southern and eastern tropical rainforest zones.