Surfing Playa Santa Teresa Costa Rica is famous. The break is fast and powerful. It can be surfed any time of the day. However, it holds shape better at low tide. There are good lefts and rights. Best conditions are on the west/southwest swell. There are scattered rocks.

North of Santa Teresa is Playa Manzanillo where there is a combination of sand and rock that's best surfed when the tide is rising and there's an offshore wind. It doesn't work so well when the swell isn't big.

The top Costa Rica surfing destinations are listed below:

• Pavones: The legendary longest left in the country is located in the southern Golfo Dulce.
• Playa Hermosa: The country's most consistent waves.
• Playa Grande: Great waves and a gorgeous beach, in the midst of the national park north of Tamarindo.
• Salsa Brava: The roughest beach (Caribbean side) has earned this break its nasty reputation and is for experts only.
• Witch's Rock/Ollie's Point: Way-out-of the-way but worth the trip.
• Jaco: Offers consistent surf year-round.
• Cabo Matapalo: Steady surf and still undiscovered.
• Caribbean coast: One long surf paradise from Puerto Limon to the Panama border.
• Playa Avellana & Playa Negra: Near Tamarindo and famous/busy.
• Playa Tamarindo: Filled with surfers who are learning but most consistent waves are in nearby Playa Grande.
• Playa Manzanillo: Best surfed when the tide is rising and there's an offshore wind.
• Playa Santa Teresa: Has powerful waves and is fast with scattered rocks.
• Playa Dominical: Monster waves in a laid-back beach town.