Vanguard Costa Rica: Where to Park Your Yacht
In truth, there are infinite places one could drop anchor along the coast of Costa Rica. Who needs a marina? The town of Flamingo has plenty of boats, all moored offshore. They've been trying to complete their marina since Flamingo came into prominence. The breakwater currently houses the coast guard and all of our hopes for it's completion. The rumors are more staggering than the views. It will certainly be a contender for this list should it ever be completed.
Until such time, this is list of marinas you will find on the pacific side of Costa Rica, starting with Golfito.
"Golfito Bay... is within the larger Golfo Dulce, and separated from the open Pacific Coast by the famous Osa Peninsula." -Wikipedia
You can't talk about marinas in Costa Rica without mentioning Golfito. This is the official first stop en route from Panama. Most locals know Golfito by it’s modern reputation as the largest duty-free shopping center in the country. With a couple of days to spare in Golfito, one can register, and shop the large Duty Free mall for discounts on: booze, tobacco, electronics, and clothing.
The history of Golfito is directly connected to the old banana trade. The bay itself is almost fully enclosed from the sea, so reasonably it's the oldest port around, and the natural choice for anyone trying to run an import-export business.
A quick Google search for "Golfito" turns up these results:
- Bahia Escondida (In construction)
These next three gems are up the coast a bit, and each offer slightly different experiences.
"Quepos is well known thanks to being the gateway to a popular National Park and beaches in Costa Rica." -Wikipedia
The bay of Quepos often gets thrown in the mix with the Manuel Antonio National Park as it marks the entrance. The name for the town comes from the name of the native people who used to inhabit that area. The town, like many towns along the coast, is geared towards tourism. It is also home to a brand new marina: Marina Pez Vela.
The marina is currently a modest 100 wet slips and 40 dry docks. Like many of the marinas in Costa Rica, it’s a floating dock. The marina depth accommodates 14-feet of depth for vessels from 45 to 120-feet in length. As it is still very new, the marina website claims on of the "largest and most sophisticated fuel docks in the world.” It also offers variables in electricity, potable water, and free sewage services.
"Playa Herradura or Herradura Beach is home to the Los Suenos Resort and Marina and is globally known as the Fishing Capital of Costa Rica playing home to Costa Rica's only full service five star Marina and home to the largest fleet of the country's top Big Game Sport fishing Captains and boats." -Wikipedia
North of Quepos, past Jaco, is Playa Herradura. Like many beach towns it has a long history of fishing, pirates, and tourism. It’s no good for surfing, so they build a marina. In fact, there is also a hillside settlement of beautiful homes, condos, and a golf course. The area around the marina is known as Los Sueños. It is a veritable gem on the coast.
The marina has 200-wet slips, and 100-dry docks. The lift for their dock can handle ten tons, and accommodate craft up to 35-feet in length. The marina itself has been designed for boats from 30 to 180-feet in length. They keep a full-time staff, and offer a robust marina village shopping center, which has restaurants, shopping, and public restrooms. The marina has ample public parking with round the clock security.Boat service-features include 65-gallon per minute fuel pumping system, and the Los Sueños fireboat, El Extinguidor, which can respond to an emergency anywhere in the marina within 3.5 minutes.
Other than port town of Puntarenas, and the aforementioned marina to be built in Flamingo, the next marina on our map is a bit north, in Guanacaste.
"The Gulf of Papagayo (Spanish: Golfo del Papagayo, meaning "gulf of the parrot") is a large body of water off Guanacaste province and the northwestern coast of Costa Rica."
Papagayo is the gulf which opens up to Culebra Bay. These are the waterways of Playas del Coco, which includes the beaches of Coco, Hermosa, and Panamá. The bay is massive, extending up to the north where the Four Seasons has built a massive resort on the isthmus.
The Marina here is called Marina Papagayo. It currently houses 180-wet slips, but will have 380 when complete. That easily makes this the largest marina of the bunch. Their site doesn't mention dry docks but it stands to reason that they will are part of the long term plan.
The marina can accommodate boats from 35 to 220-feet, with 20-feet of depth. The dock is floating, but Papagayo brags a Shoremaster® concrete floating dock-system. As is standard, they offer varieties of electricity, potable water and free sewage services. Papagayo is the only marina which claims to be a zero-discharge marina, and the only marina which offers wifi at every slip, free of charge.
There is 24-hour security, seven days a week, public parking, and emergency services like fire and ambulance. You will also find an internet lounge, recreational lounge, a bar, fitness centre, swimming pool, and sun deck.
As with any shore activity in Costa Rica, the laws are tough, the penalties are tougher. The best course of action is use common sense, but know the laws, and at the very least don't do anything here you wouldn't do at home.
We can't imagine a better place to park your favorite yacht. Feel free to contact us with your thoughts, and definitely reach out if you are in the market for a home, or if there is anything we can help you with in Costa Rica. We are your subject matter experts.
If you're a pinner, you have to come see our Pinterest board for this post.
