Zman, I'm sorry but I have to disagree with some of your post. How do you define clean? No litter on the beach itself or no visible chunks of shit floating in the water? "Clear" water? The thing that makes some beaches unsafe in CR is the stuff you CAN'T see. When scientists report finding high levels of microscopic contamination like E-coli at certain locations, I have to sit up and take notice. Add to that the fact that we all know that the enforcement of all sorts of regulations in CR is lax and that the government spending on infrastructure projects (like sewage treatment) is severely strain and the "publicity" becomes extremely believable. However, I'll agree with you to the extent that
most of the beaches are still clean. The publicity has been about the larger towns with larger populations, lots of tourist hotels and tons of waste water that is most easily disposed of by dumping it into the seas (ie places like Jaco, Tamarindo and Quepos). My guess would be that the sewage run-off becomes more diffuse the further away you get from the source and the issue disappears entirely at the more remote beaches but at what point does it really become "safe"? 500 meters, 5km or 50?
To that extent, Zman's choice of Playa Hermosa is not a horrible one since it is at at least some distance from the open sewer that is downtown Jaco. It is also much less built up, with more palm trees and green hills as a back drop than rising condo towers. However, his description is also a bit off in some important ways.
First of all, Playa Hermosa does NOT have beautiful "whitish" sand. It is actually what is called a
BLACK sand beach (actually more greyish in color). This is an important distinction. I've had to make this correction before on another board. Rather than rewriting my entire treatise on the subject of beach sand here is the link:
http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/showthread.php?p=708704. The upshot of that post is that while black sand sounds wonderfully exotic and may be a little cooler to walk or lay on, it is really not all that wonderful. Grey is not exactly a pretty shade and fine wet "black" sand can be very "dirty", not in the sense of being polluted but in the sense of having a mudlike consistency and appearance.
Also, Hermosa is actually more like 10km south of Jaco not just 5km. That is actually a good thing if the idea is to put some distance between you and the sewage discharge that comes out in little rivers in town. But it necessitates taking a cab ride if the idea is to be close to nightspots like the Beatle Bar.
But most significantly, Zman's recommendation was based on what is "best" for him, without having any clear idea of what is "best" for Dirt_farmer. Other than "best", which is extremely subjective, the only other criteria that Dirt provided us was that it had to be within a 4 hour busride of San Best for what? For surfing, for swimming, for lounging around on. for having nearby nightlife? Playa Hermosa is a
SURFER beach. It gets good breaks, even barrel waves. But I would not describe it as the best beach for beginning surfers and it is definitely not a good beach for swimmers due to notoriously strong rip currents and all those waves that make it so good for the surfers. I already explained why it may not be that ideal for lounging around on and, while the back drop is more attractive than Jaco (not saying much), I would not exactly call it the most attractive beach in CR. The biggest thing that it has going for it, and why Zman probably likes it, is that it is outside of Jaco yet close enough to it to be able to take a cab in for the night and enjoy the mongering that is so readily available. Hermosa MIGHT be the "best" beach for Dirt_farmer, but without knowing more about what he is really looking for it is not really fair to give him just that one choice.
There ARE other beaches within a 4 hour bus ride from SJ, that one could make just as strong an argument for. First of all, if being close to Jaco's nightlife (but not IN town) is all it takes to make a beach "best", Playa Hermosa is not the only choice.
I already explained why a black sand beach may not be the most beautiful choice for Dirt_farmer. Unfortunately, nearly all the beaches near Jaco are of the black sand variety (actually various shades of grey), but one that isn't is Playa Blanca, which is a beautiful and isolated white sand beach a few kms north of Jaco. The free entrance to this beach is down a "hidden dirt road" that is extremely difficult to find, and it's best to have a local point it out to you. Otherwise, you can also pay to use the beach through the Punta Leona resort.
There is also Playa Herradura, which is located about 6kms north of Jaco between it and Playa Blanca. The sand there is more brownish grey in color and, while it is not the most attractive beach either, it is much more appealing than the beaches in town and, if swimming is part of your agenda, the crescent shaped beach is sheltered by an island and the waters calmer for swimming than what you'd find at Playa Hermosa. OTOH, if you want to try surfing there are waves that are much more suitable for beginners around the south end of the beach near the island.
There are many other beaches around the Jaco area, but a couple more I'll mention are Playas Esterillos (Este y Oeste or East and West). These beaches are really just extensions of Playa Hermosa to the north. Black sand and surfer waves. However, if the goal is greater isolation, they're a little further away from Jaco's pollution and crowds.
But the Jaco area is not the only stretch of CR coastline that is within the 4 hour reach of SJ buses. What about the Caribbean side? Cahuita is a little further than Jaco but is still just a 4 hour bus ride away. Cahuita is just a small sleepy village (ie less likely to have the pollution problems of the larger towns) with miles of beautiful pristine beaches stretching north and south. Playa Negra, north of town, is also a black sand beach. But, the beached south of town are very beautiful and completely undeveloped because they're part of a National Park. In fact, I don't think you'll find a National Park any closer to a major town anywhere else in CR (Quepos is actually 7 kms from Manuel Antonio, Tortuguero is also just a step away from its National Park, but both are more than 4 hours away from SJ).
Why is 4 hours the magic limit? The Jaco area being just a couple of hours away from SJ by bus can be done as a day trip. But, if you're talking about a 4 hour ride each way, I'm guessing we're not just talking about day trips. Most bus rides of 4 hours or more are broken up with rest stops where you can go to the bathroom, grab something to eat or even just stretch your legs. The Cahuita bus stops at a restaurant just before you pass by Limon. For some reason the Quepos bus, which takes 4.5 hours (ie just over the 4hr limit), doesn't make any rest stops, but its not a bad ride and the beaches in the National Park there beat anything that they have in the Jaco area.
As for the question about the cost of a flying to one of the further out places like Dominical, you can't fly to Dominical. The closest airport with commercial flights is Palmar Sur near Punta Uvita and that will cost you over $100 each way. Flying to Quepos is significantly cheaper but still no great bargain at $75 each way. OTOH, flying to any of the Guanacaste beaches will cost you even more. If you book early, you might be able to get one of the "loco" promotional fares, but those fares sell out VERY quickly.
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