Surf spots getting crowded in 2023
The lineup that used to have space
We want to be careful here not to sound like people lamenting a place that was “better when we discovered it” — that is the kind of travel writing that is simultaneously self-congratulatory and useless to the person reading it in 2023 planning their first surf trip. So let us be direct: the question we are trying to answer is whether Costa Rica’s most famous surf breaks still deliver a worthwhile experience given how crowded they have become, and what the realistic alternatives are.
The short answer: yes, with conditions and caveats. The longer answer requires understanding what happened.
What actually happened to Tamarindo
Tamarindo was always a busy surf town. The beach break at Playa Tamarindo produces consistent, learner-friendly waves that have made it the default recommendation for beginners since the 1990s. Dozens of surf schools operate along the beach. The town itself has the best infrastructure in Guanacaste outside of Liberia — reliable internet, solid restaurants, nightlife, the kind of beachfront scene that makes it a social destination as much as a surf destination.
What changed post-2020 was scale. The digital nomad wave brought a new category of visitor: people who weren’t there for a week or two, but for months. They occupied the mid-range apartment stock that had previously turned over quickly. They filled the co-working spaces. And when they surfed — which many did, because learning to surf is one of the obvious things to do when you live somewhere with surf — they filled the lineups.
By 2022 and into 2023, Tamarindo’s main break on a good Saturday morning was running 40-60 people in the water at once. In surf terms, that is not a lineup — that is a parking lot. The etiquette degrades when the crowd gets that large. Collisions become more frequent. The hierarchy that naturally forms around skilled surfers breaks down when you have thirty beginners who have had two lessons paddling for the same set wave.
The town itself has expanded to accommodate the growth: new restaurants open every month, new surf camps, new yoga studios, new hostels. This makes Tamarindo a vibrant, energetic place. It does not make it a peaceful one.
Tamarindo surf: learn and practice surfingSanta Teresa: a different version of the same problem
Santa Teresa’s story is different in texture but similar in direction. Where Tamarindo is busy in a beach-town way — noisy, social, full of nightlife — Santa Teresa’s overcrowding is an irony. The place built its reputation on being the alternative to places like Tamarindo: harder to reach (the road from Cobano remains a challenge), more focused on wellness, a surf scene for people who took their surfing seriously.
The reputation attracted exactly the people who prized it, and then more of those people, and then the infrastructure to support them, and now in 2023 Santa Teresa has six surf schools, multiple high-end yoga retreat centers, boutique hotels running $300-500 per night, and a main break at Playa Carmen that sees comparable lineup density to Tamarindo on good days.
The quality of the waves at Santa Teresa is genuinely higher than Tamarindo — the beach break here handles bigger south swells better and produces longer, more powerful rides that intermediate and advanced surfers can work with. But the best waves attract the best surfers, and the best surfers claim priority. In a crowded lineup at Teresa, a mid-level surfer is going to spend a lot of time watching the local pros and the serious regulars take the better sets.
The surrounding area — Mal País, Playa Hermosa south of Teresa, the various right and left peaks spread across the beach — has more space than the main break. If you are with a surf guide who knows the area, you can find corners that are not overrun. But the era of showing up to Teresa and having a quiet morning on a mid-size swell is over.
Nosara: still the most coherent experience
If you want to surf in Costa Rica in 2023 and your priority is quality of experience over quantity of buzz, Nosara is the honest recommendation. Specifically, Playa Guiones — the long, consistent beach break north of the river mouth — is still the best all-round surf experience in Guanacaste.
It is not uncrowded. It has never been uncrowded during peak season. But Guiones is long enough — over four kilometers — that the crowd disperses in ways it cannot at Tamarindo’s shorter beach. The town of Nosara has also, so far, resisted the kind of infrastructure explosion that has transformed Tamarindo. There is no strip, no main drag full of surf shops and tourist bars. What there is, instead, is a cluster of excellent restaurants and yoga studios spread over a broad area that does not concentrate foot traffic the way Tamarindo’s beachfront does.
The demographic skews older and more intentional than Tamarindo — the yoga retreat clientele, the return visitors, the families who have discovered that Guiones is safe for kids in most swell conditions. This tends to produce better lineup etiquette and a more relaxed vibe even when the wave count is high.
Playa Tamarindo: sunset sailing and snorkeling tourWhat is actually quiet
A recurring theme in our research for this post was the search for genuinely uncrowded Costa Rica surf in 2023. Here is an honest map.
Playa Avellanas and Playa Negra (north of Tamarindo): both have consistent surf and meaningfully fewer people than the main Tamarindo break. Avellanas has beach break similar to Tamarindo but at lower intensity. Negra has a right-hander that gets exciting in overhead swell and sees skilled surfers but manageable numbers.
Playa Guanacaste / Brasilito area: niche, not heavily promoted, accessible with a car.
Dominical on the central Pacific: a heavier beach break that filters out casual surfers — the shore break is punishing enough that beginners learn quickly whether they want to be there. The crowd that shows up is primarily intermediate to advanced, and the beach is long enough to spread out. The town is small and the infrastructure is basic compared to Tamarindo — this is a feature for many people.
Pavones: the long left point break in the far south is still the best surf experience in Costa Rica for the surfer who can handle it. Getting there requires a serious commitment: a multi-hour drive on deteriorating roads from San José, or a flight to Puerto Jiménez followed by more ground travel. The infrastructure is minimal and the journey filters the crowd to people who actually want to be there.
The Caribbean: Salsa Brava at Puerto Viejo is not beginner territory — the reef break is powerful and the wipeouts are unforgiving. But the Caribbean coast as a whole sees far fewer dedicated surf travelers than the Pacific, partly because the peak season there (December through February) is winter, and partly because the journey from San José to Puerto Viejo takes four to five hours.
The practical question for trip planning
We are not going to tell you not to go to Tamarindo or Santa Teresa. Both places deliver real value — consistent waves, excellent surf schools, solid restaurants, a social scene that many people genuinely enjoy. The question is what you are prioritizing.
If you want to learn to surf in an environment with good instructors and don’t mind crowds: Tamarindo works perfectly, is well-set-up for beginners, and the town infrastructure makes the non-surf parts of the day easy.
If you are intermediate and want to improve: Tamarindo has improved coaching options but the lineups are frustrating. Consider Nosara or Dominical instead.
If you are advanced and want consistent quality surf: Pavones is worth the effort if your schedule allows. Alternatively, the Osa Peninsula’s Matapalo has a long right that breaks rarely but is extraordinary when it works, with almost no one on it.
For a complete breakdown of where to surf by skill level, read our surf spots by skill level guide.
Costa Rica’s surf is not what it was in 2010 or 2015 — that era is over, and mourning it does not serve the traveler of 2023. What it still is, in the right places with realistic expectations, is very good.