Guanacaste is a large area in northwestern Costa Rica that is easily accessible from the Liberia Airport, which has nonstop flights to many U.S. airports. Needing a short break to a warm climate, I hopped on a last-minute flight to Costa Rica to visit this World Heritage Site. Over 48 hours split over three days, I managed to visit three different areas of the vast site.  Although the site is huge, most parts are within a two hour drive of the Liberia airport, off the Pan-American Highway; which is pretty well maintained.

The site is a broad Conservation Area of at least seven different national parks/reserves under separate administration that are generally disconnected, at least as far as the human entrances are concerned.  Planning is essential, and so based on reviews here, the trusty Lonely Planet Guide, and a perusal of the website, I picked three areas to visit.  The reviews on here were immensely helpful in describing the different areas of the park, so I wanted to leave my own to hopefully help future travelers.

After arriving at noon, I picked up a rental car nearby Liberia Airport and set off for Refugio Nacional de Vida Silvestre Bahia Junquillal, which was about a 90-minute drive.  This area is a national reserve that consists of a wide beach where families visit and camp.  I did a walk on the beach along the bay and also a short nature trail through the woods.  There were plenty of people but it was a large area and so it didn’t feel crowded, especially if you moved away from the part of the beach right by the parking/camp site.  It was a pleasant visit and you could easily spend a day here swimming and lounging by the beach.  There was nowhere to buy food, though.  The road in was rocky and unpaved; I was glad I had a 4WD.

On the second day, my full day, I visited the Pailas sector of the Parque Nacional Rincon de La Vieja.  I got there when it opened at 8am and set out on the La Cangreja Waterfall hike.  It is 10km / 6 miles and took me 3 hours and 45 minutes, including a 15 minute stop at the falls.  I only saw about ten other parties doing the hike.  (As a warning, they close the entrance around noon, so start with the hike first thing — it’s also very hot.)  The waterfall was beautiful, and the hike had nice variety — rainforests, areas that were open with views of the mountains, several river crossings over bridges.  I’d recommend with the warning that it’s not an easy hike and to pack lots of water. The afternoon was spent waking the Pailas trail, which took a little under 90 minutes and is a 3 mile loop that visits 6 key geological formations, including a waterfall, mud pots created by volcanic activity, small volcanic pockets letting off steam, and so forth.  It was a neat hike and quite crowded.  There were lots of tour buses that did the hike clockwise starting at the waterfall; I did in the reverse order, counterclockwise, which is how the park ordered the signs.  This day was by far the highlight of the trip.

On my final day, I visited the Santa Rosa sector.  This part of the park has a historic site related to Costa Rica independence struggle, a viewpoint, and a short nature trail (about 1 km).  I found this area underwhelming and did all of the above in an hour.  So I also did the Trail 99 hike which was not clearly advertised other than on All Trails and he park website.  It was a nice nature trail that was clearly marked.  It was about 3 miles and took 75 minutes.  You start out on the Playa Naranjo Road, but only for less than a mile, and then there’s a parking lot right before the gate to Playa Naranjo.  You need a 4WD to the trailhead.  It was uncrowded but I didn’t see much wildlife.  My whole visit was under three hours and underwhelming.  I headed straight to the airport, an hour drive, and was able to catch an earlier flight (1:30 instead of 3:30).

The other main attraction in Parque Nacional Santa Rosa is the surf beach Playa Naranjo, which is a 1-hour, 11 km bumpy drive away from the main area of the park.  The road requires a high clearance 4WD, and it is closed in bad conditions, including when I visited. It requires a second ticket and you must set out in the morning.  If I were doing it over, I’d skip the Parque Nacional Santa Rosa unless visiting Playa Naranjo.  Perhaps instead I’d visit the Santa Maria sector of the Parque Nacional Rincon dr La Vieja to enjoy the hot springs.

Date of Visit: December 2024

Rating: 2.5 stars. I am very glad that this is a protected area and understand the plant and wildlife diversity, but I felt like I didn’t see or experience much of it when actually visiting the park.  I saw many more species of moneys, other small mammals, snakes, and birds while ok other trips to Costa Rica, both inside and outside national parks, and even in areas that felt more crowded/urban than Guanacaste.  And I’ve visited several other national sites Ari’s in Costa Rica with seemingly similar hikes/views. Also, I do most of my World Heritage travel solo, and I am not a fan of solo hikes in the rainforest on trails that are not well-trodden.  I find myself searching for snakes on the ground more than enjoying the scenery.  (It does not help that there are ample signs warning of venomous snakes before you set out!).  What bumped this up to 2.5 stars for me was the Pailas trail, which had volcanic activity, and made for an interesting 90 minute walk.

Logistics: Public transport is limited, and I found this an easy area to self drive, and I’d recommend a 4WD. Some of the areas you do not need it, but I found it useful, especially getting to Junquillal, and you really need it to visit some other areas that I didn’t go to. Rental cars places were plentiful around the airport in Liberia.  There are many centrally located ecotourism lodges and guesthouses from which you can visit different areas of the park within an hour drive.

Guanacate Conservation Area is a HUGE area with many different national parks, each with their own websites and fees and admissions policies.  Many of the parks need to be booked in advance online, as they are popular and do fill up.  The online booking system was straightforward.  For some parks, you pay in advance; for others, you reserve and pay in person.  All of the parks that I visited took cash or card, and many accepted local currency or USD.  In fact, I don’t think I used any cash my whole three-day visit because card is so widely used.

The other important thing to note is that many of the areas have limited opening hours, eg, 8am-4pm, with last entrance around 3pm.  Junaquillal is open later, but it gets dark pretty early in Costa Rica — sunset was around 5:20pm. when I visited and it was very dark by 6pm.  It is not a place I would want to drive at night, though I did by accident on my first evening.

In terms of the areas I visited, Junquillal did not require a reservation unless you are camping overnight (though the website was ambiguous, so I sent a WhatsApp message to confirm).  The day fee was around $7 USD.  You get a wristband, so you can leave and come back.  Parque Nacional Rincon de La Vieja requires an online reservation made in advance with payment. The cell service is spotty there, and you can’t purchase a ticket onsite, so be sure to reserve in advance. Tickets are around $15 USD.  There are two different sectors of the park, with different entrances, and both require separate tickets - you pick the sector before reserving.  They are about an hour drive away and it would be difficult to visit both on the same day unless both visits are short.  Parque Nacional Santa Rosa required an online reservation, but it seems that you can make one on the spot if it is not full.  I accidentally reserved online for the wrong day, and the rangers changed it for me without issue.  You reserve online and pay at the entrance.  Tickets were around $15 USD.

This official website lists the different areas with links: https://reservaciones.acguanacaste.ac.cr/en/.

Sign: I did not see a plaque, but each area of the conservation area was well marked with a sign that indicated the name of the park, that it was part of the Area de Conservacion Guanacaste, and with the UNESCO/World Heritage markings.  There were also smaller brown signs with the World Heritage symbol in certain places within the parks.