Jaco is Costa Rica's wildest, most popular beach destination. Less than sixty miles from San Jose and just south of Puntarenas, Jaco and its beach will literally pack with domestic and international tourists during any holiday season, filling Jaco's long, wide, very surf-able beach with every kind of personality and festivity legally and not-so-legally available, coming together for the biggest year-round beach party to be had in Costa Rica.

 

One of the hottest party centrals available in the entire region, Jaco has something for everyone, any day of the year.

Now home to everything from high rise hotels to time share condos, from all night bars to suspicious looking casinos, from steak houses to taco stands, from tie-die vendors to snow cone carts, Jaco has experienced a boom in investment and expansion in recent years. The streets of Jaco seem to be a never ending string of bars, casinos, clubs, cafes, and cheap souvenier shops  (a good idea to collect some souveniers if you want to remember your stay beyond the foggy blur of the partying).

Originally Jaco was an exclusively surfing destination, a surprise considering the strikingly uninspiring natural surroundings, misty air, and particularly dingy beach. Jaco is not the place to witness the world-renowned flora, fauna, and natural wildlife of Costa Rica, but rather is an excellent place to find the vice and hedonism that's the "other side" of Costa Rica's wildlife,  trucked down to the area by the busload from the capital nearly any day of the week, and absolutely every weekend of the year. For those wishing to party in Jaco, but enjoy better surfing and more beautiful surroundings and accomodations, Jaco is right down the road from neighboring Playa Hermosa to the south, a quieter, more exclusive environment. During the National Surf Championship finals that land in Hermosa area around April, be sure to arrange accomodations in advance.

San Jose is not the only place to find hedonistic fun in Costa Rica any more. Jaco has taken its place as a far more accessible and fulfilling party destination, year around.