Jacó is where Costa Ricans send people to learn. Local surfers call it the best spot in the country to start — to get used to paddling, duck diving and reading the ocean. The bay runs about four kilometers, the sand is dark, and the currents are real, so treat it as a surf beach first and a swimming beach second.

Jacó is the most built-up beach town on this stretch of coast. The national tourism board calls its nightlife booming and its tourism offer one of the most diverse in the country, and it is one of the easiest Pacific beaches to reach from San José — about an hour and a half by road.

Carara National Park sits just up the coast road — its main entrance is two kilometers south of the Tárcoles river bridge on the road toward Jacó, and it was the first national park in Costa Rica with a universal-access trail into the forest.

The Tárcoles bridge itself is the standard roadside stop on the drive in: the river below holds one of the most densely populated crocodile habitats anywhere in the world.