Ah, Central America – that nice S-bend of land becoming a member of Colombia to Mexico. With two coastlines squiggling up the Caribbean Sea and the wild Pacific in a 1770km (1100-mile) medley of coral gardens, frothing waves and emerald-coast jungles laden with howler monkeys, there’s hardly a extra beach-heavy area on earth.
Regardless of whether or not you are trying to find a laid-back surf city the place you’ll be able to chase barrels, a distant isle to channel your interior castaway, or a beer-sloshing celebration place on the Pacific Ocean, this nook of Latin America has you lined.
This information searches out the crème-de-la-crème of coves and bays, narrowing down the very best seashores in Central America to simply 14 picks.
Manuel Antonio – Costa Rica
Greatest seashore you need to hike to
Manuel Antonio is the pièce de résistance of its namesake nationwide park, a bijou little bit of tropical forest roughly halfway up the Pacific shores of Puntarenas province.
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The seashore sits fully throughout the reserve, which suggests you may have to earn your style of paradise by mountaineering half-hour amid jungles crawling with sloths and howler monkeys.
Going through south, the beige-tinged sand could be surveyed from the Mirador Playa Gemelas on the distant headland. The park opens at 7am, so get in early to beat the crowds.
Placencia – Belize
Greatest seashore for peace and quiet
With a croc-filled lagoon on one facet and the kaleidoscopic corals of the Belize Barrier Reef – a part of the second-largest coral reef system on the planet, no much less – on the opposite, Placencia is righteously hailed as probably the greatest seashores in Central America.
It is quiet in comparison with the likes of Ambergris Caye, regardless of being extra accessible (no seaplanes wanted!). The realm is peppered with conventional Garifuna fishing shacks and fronted by comfortable sands that sprout twisted sabal palms and sea oats.
Santa Catalina – Panama
Greatest hidden-gem seashore
Primarily on the map for the rifling right-hand level break of La Punta that delights surfers from April to October, Santa Catalina is without doubt one of the long-lost fishing cities on the Panamanian Pacific.
It is nonetheless little greater than a clutch of ramshackle fishing huts and surf villas, however there’s rising curiosity, not least of all as a result of it is enfolded by two sweeps of unbusy, coffee-hued sand – Playa Arrimadero and Playa Santa Catalina.
Oh, and you should definitely try Coiba Island simply throughout the strait, the place you’ll be able to swim with mantas and whale sharks at sure occasions of the yr.
Isla Robeson – Panama
Greatest seashore for pretending you’re a castaway
You do not get a moniker like Isla Robeson (Isla Robinson Crusoe in English) with out some top-quality seashores within the financial institution.
Though the precise place the place Defoe’s hero is assumed to have been stranded is a few 4830km (3000 miles) away in Chile, this speck in Panama’s spectacular San Blas chain nonetheless has all of the hallmarks of a castaway spot.
There’s not an overload of exercise, only a few snorkeling reefs, a patch of jungle inland and – after all – a powdery lip of white sand on the west shoreline.
Little Corn Island – Nicaragua
Greatest seashore to get away from all of it
Positioned 43 miles off the coast of mainland Nicaragua, Little Corn and Large Corn – collectively the 2 Corn Islands – supply a uncommon slice of the Caribbean not but dominated by multi-star accommodations. Little Corn is the extra untouched of the 2; it is solely actually bought one resort, the incredible bungalows that gaze on the Yemaya Reefs.
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Away from that, you may paddle by dashes of coral reef and wander virginal coastal forests, the place you are extra more likely to come throughout a scaly iguana than one other human being.
Crimson Frog Seashore – Panama
Greatest seashore resort seashore
A comfortable bend of a bay on the northern tip of Isla Bastimentos, Crimson Frog is a kind of seashores that would simply grace the quilt of journey mags. It is lined by a jumble of jungle that sprouts sea grapes and bowing coconut bushes over a wavy Caribbean, which provides some fairly gnarly surf between December and April.
Keep on the Crimson Frog Seashore Island Resort if you would like to swing open your villa door to see the daffodil-hued sands framed by your personal infinity pool – it is the closest lodge to the seashore.
Santa Teresa – Costa Rica
Greatest surf seashore
All through the Costa Rican moist season (Could to August), waves roll into Santa Teresa like clockwork. These sculpted wedges of water are what first drew surfers to this distant fringe of the Nicoya Peninsula someday within the late ’90s.
The key is now nicely and actually out, and this erstwhile fishing city is now laden with yoga studios, boho surf camps and even a gradual pattern of Instagram-touting influencers.
However there’s house sufficient for all on the 5km-long (3-mile) playa, together with a few of the most dependable swells this facet of Hawaii.
West Bay Seashore – Honduras
Greatest seashore for energetic seashore goers
West Bay Seashore is the place Honduras does its finest impression of the Bahamas. A wisp of cream sand that curls its means across the tip of finger-like Roatán island, it recurrently tops lists of the very best seashores in Central America – and it is arduous to disagree.
Come right here to absorb the rays, trip the glass-bottomed Coral Reef Explorer to see zebrafish and turtles within the surrounding reefs, whiz on Jet Skis and sip rum cocktails within the sandy palapa bars. Sounds good, eh?
Playa Conchal – Costa Rica
Greatest seashore for swimming and snorkeling
Playa Conchal is the ultimate seashore within the tiara of seashores that begins within the small resort city of Brasilito in Guanacaste. Sandwiched between the rocks of the Punta Sabana headland and a sprawling Westin lodge resort, it would not have black or white sand, however it does come lined in a singular shingle of crushed shells.
The Pacific waters are crystal-clear, and there is incredible swimming and snorkeling to be accomplished on the northern finish of the bay.
La Flor – Nicaragua
Greatest seashore to see sea turtles
Playa La Flor is definitely lots like the opposite dark-sand seashores that arc and curve their means southwards to the Costa Rica border from San Juan del Sur in southern Nica. Nevertheless, this one has a trump card: olive ridley turtles.
Come right here to witness one of many seven annual nesting occasions generally known as arribadas – they happen between July and January, and the entire playa transforms right into a shifting mass of carapaces and egg nests. About seven weeks later, you’ll be able to return to observe new turtle life spring into motion to make the arduous pilgrimage into the Pacific.
Playa El Cuco – El Salvador
Greatest seashore for seafood
El Salvador’s lone contender for the very best seashore in Central America comes within the type of Playa El Cuco. It threads alongside the facet of the Gulf of Fonseca, within the south of the nation, in a run of dusky black sand with knots of lanky palm bushes and frothing waves and whitecaps crashing in entrance.
You do not come right here for postcard-worthy sands – you come to listen to the calls of the fisherfolk within the early hours, and to dine on zingy ceviche within the seafood eating places.
Cuco itself can get busy with vacationers from San Miguel, however you’ll be able to at all times stroll to extra distant Playa El Esterón within the east to flee the excitement.
Guanaja – Honduras
Greatest seashore for jungle hikes
Guanaja is greater than content material to let Roatán draw within the crowds and the cruise ships. In the meantime, this member of the impossibly great Bay Islands is roofed in protected jungles and mountaineering paths. The north coast is the place you go for the seashores.
From Michael Rock to Jim Bodden Seashores, there is a sequence of coves and inlets which might be washed by uberclear seas and supply snorkeling aplenty. To sleep, bag one of many treehouse-style cabanas on the Finish of the World Resort – the title says all of it!
Punta Uvita – Costa Rica
Greatest seashore for strolling
The isthmus seashore at Punta Uvita is without doubt one of the nice wonders of the Dominical coast. It is also called Whale Seashore, as a result of it resembles the form of an amazing whale tail splashing within the Pacific.
You’ll be able to stroll the entire size of it from Uvita Seashore at low tide to see the salt-washed rock reefs on the tip.
Additionally head to the neighboring sands of Hermosa and Ventanas, the place a tangle of gnarled ficus bushes and palms tumble into the ocean. Oh, and there is incredible whale watching within the surrounding Costa Ballena between December and March.
Playa Maderas – Nicaragua
Greatest seashore for a yoga retreat
It is all concerning the good vibes and the constant surf at Playa Maderas. Rumble down the tough filth tracks north of San Juan del Sur and you may finally emerge in a rocky bay wedged between stacked headlands.
The primary wave is an all-level A-frame that breaks proper within the center.
However you needn’t have a board in tow to really feel at residence right here. There are blazing sunsets to observe from bamboo beer shacks, zen-inducing yoga retreats like Buena Vista Surf Membership and secluded coves like Playa Rosa on the menu too.
