ID is absolutely right. I thought I covered that already in the 2nd post in this thread but I guess MG and Jazzbo must have missed that.
Just so we can put this issue to bed once and for all, here is the list of all the rest of the blue-flag beaches in CR (for 2008, not sure which were added or taken off the list this year)
In the Puntarenas Province, which extends from the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula all the way to the Panamanian border:
Playa El Camen
Playa Mal Pais
Playa Quitzalez
Playa Pochote
Isla Tortuga
Central Puntarenas
Playa Roble (Puntarenas)
Playa Limoncito (Punta Leona)
Playa Mantas (Punta Leona)
Playa Bejuco
Playa Tulemar
Playa Dulce Vida
Playa Espadilla Sur
Playa Manuel Antonio
Playa Gemalas
Playa Puerto Escondito
Playa El Rey
Playa Matapalo
Playa Baru
Playa Punta Uvita
Playa La Colonia
Playa Ballena
Playa Pinuela
In the Limon Province which covers the entire Caribbean coast:
Playa Negra (Cahuita)
Playa Blanca (Cahuita)
Playa Puerto Vargas
Playa Cocles
Playa Chiquita
Playa Punta Uva
Playa Mile Creek
Playa Gandoca
Of these, the closest beach to San Jose is probably Playa Tarcoles or maybe Playa Dona Ana or Tivives near Puntarenas, but neither is on the blue flag list. The closest blue flag beaches would probably be the ones around Punta Leona. Those are certainly even closer to San Jose than Playa Jaco and, as Jazzbo correctly pointed out, Jaco is also not even a "blue flag" beach.
Just because a beach doesn't get an AAAA rating or even a single A rating doesn't necessarily mean a beach is dangerous but it does mean it has some issues that need to be addressed. So you don't have to limit yourself to just the above beaches and, of course, if you're just working on your tan lying on the sand and not going in the water, you can hang out at any of them. However, in the case of Jaco, I'd definitely advise NOT to go in the water.
Quote:
In August 2008, the government reported that the following 6 Costa Rica beaches are too contaminated for swimming until they're cleaned up:
PACIFIC BEACHES
Playas del Coco
Playa Tambor
Jaco (a sewage treatment plant is in the design stages but not anticipated to being brought on line for some time)
Quepos (beach DIRECTLY in front of the town; the Quepos Park beaches are clean)
CARIBBEAN BEACHES
Cieneguitas
Portete
Take note: THESE SIX BEACHES MAY NOT HAVE "NO SWIMMING" SIGNS POSTED. IT'S BEST NOT TO SWIM OR SURF AT THESE SIX BEACHES UNTIL THEY ARE CLEANED UP.
And be cautious at Tamarindo.
Tamarindo Beach, on the Pacific, was declared hazardous to human health in 2007. The community and many others in this little country were shocked because Tamarindo is one of the most popular beaches in the country. Community and national governmental action was swift and Tamarindo was removed from the list of contaminated beaches in August 2008. However, the government is monitoring this important beach because it has recently discovered a number of hidden pipes discharging high levels of contaminants into the streams entering Tamarindo.
As these are discovered, corrective action is being taken by the government and many people in Tamarindo. The bottom line: Tamarindo is on a kind of national "watch list" as of this writing but seems to be fine.
source:
http://www.costarica-discover-it.com/costa-rica-beaches_contaminated.html
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Oops. My bad. I didn't realize that he wanted to know the closest "blue flag" beach. Lo siento! 
