Jaco sits ninety minutes from the international airport, which makes it the practical first or last stop on a Costa Rica trip rather than a four hour drive on your arrival day. It is a proper surf town with a long beach break, the busiest nightlife on this coast, and Los Suenos Marina next door at Playa Herradura.
Carara National Park is the standout. It sits on the line where the dry northern forest meets the wet southern forest, which is why the bird list is enormous, and it is the most reliable place in the country to see scarlet macaws in the wild. From Jaco the tour is both shorter and cheaper than the same trip from Manuel Antonio.
Manuel Antonio National Park and the Damas mangroves are both doable as day trips, but they are long days, because the drive south eats the morning. We list them with their real durations rather than pretending the distance is not there.
Los Suenos is the closest world class sportfishing to the airport, with a tournament fleet and a marina built around it. See our Los Suenos charters page.
9 trips with pickup from Jaco, Herradura, Los Suenos, and Esterillos.
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