Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
Santa Teresa is one of those places that gets flattened by the internet. Surf. Smoothie bowls. Yoga. Jungle villas. Sunset. Repeat. And while all of those things exist here, they barely scratch the surface of what makes this tiny stretch of Costa Rica so hard to leave.
I’ve spent enough time in Santa Teresa to move beyond the version of it you find on a travel itinerary. The best parts aren’t necessarily the most polished or the most photographed but the places you start returning to without thinking about it: the gym where everyone actually trains, the casado you crave after a long day in the water, the beach you swim at in the morning, the practitioner you trust with your body, the café where breakfast quietly turns into half your day.
Santa Teresa is changing quickly, but underneath the new hotels, restaurants and wellness concepts, there’s still a rhythm here that asks you to live differently. You move more. You spend more time outside. You eat simply. You follow the tide, the heat and the light. Plans become looser. Days become fuller.
This is our guide to experiencing Santa Teresa our way, not as a checklist of everything there is to do, but a collection of the places genuinely worth building your days around.
WHERE TO EAT
Voy Caliente: Come hungry and forget about ordering. Voy Caliente’s whole philosophy is summed up by its slogan: “Fuck the Menu”. Instead of choosing your own dishes, you hand over control and let the kitchen send out a surprise menu built around what they’re cooking that night. The experience is playful, communal, and intentionally unpredictable, turning dinner into something you participate in rather than simply order. Go with an open mind, trust the kitchen, and let them feed you.
Drift Kitchen: Once known as the best vegan spot in town, Drift has evolved, reintroducing high-quality animal protein while maintaining a deep commitment to sourcing, preparation, and flavor. The intention here is real. This is food that feels good. A staple since 2021. Come for the juices, stay for the daily raw desserts.
Roca Mar: The best casado in town and it’s not even close. Equipped with a traditional rice and bean, protein of choice (get the beef birria), fresh greens, beet salad, home made tortilla, and a sweet plantain to contrast the savoryness, this is a proper dinner meal.
Playa de los Artistas (Mal País): More than dinner, an experience. Set on the water in Montezuma, Playa de los Artistas feels like something you discovered rather than booked. The space is built from natural materials, lit softly at night, and designed to blend into the coastline rather than compete with it.The menu is seafood-forward with a Mediterranean influence, fresh catch, layered flavors, and dishes that feel considered without being overworked. It’s the kind of place where you order a few things for the table and let the meal unfold slowly. Go for sunset if you can, or book a later reservation for a more intimate, candlelit feel. It’s a bit outside the main stretch of Santa Teresa, which is exactly why it works. Warning, their schedule is fairly unpredictable, especially in the rainy season.
Koji’s: The highest-quality sushi in town. Fresh catch, clean execution, and an atmosphere that actually lives up to the hype. The menu leans traditional with a few more creative rolls, but everything is grounded in quality, nothing feels overdone. The fish is consistently fresh, the rice is right, and the plating is thoughtful without trying too hard. It’s one of the few places in Santa Teresa where you can settle in for a slower, more intentional dinner. If you’re driving, park at the bottom and walk up. It sets the tone before you even sit down.
Mantarayya Cafe (Hermosa): Hermosa is quietly becoming the escape within the escape, and Mantarayya is the place that defines it. Yes, it’s visually striking, but it backs it up across the board. The menu is expansive without feeling scattered, with everything from traditional gallo pinto to more elevated breakfast plates and house-made baked goods. The oat pancakes are a standout, and the coconut almond cake is non-negotiable. It’s the kind of place you go for breakfast and end up staying through lunch. Worth the short trip out of town and almost a daily staple for me after a morning swim at Hermosa beach.
El Facon: When your body is asking for something more substantial, this is where you go. An Argentinian steakhouse that delivers exactly what it promises, high-quality cuts, cooked properly, with minimal interference. The chorizo is a go-to, especially paired with a simple house salad to balance it out. The setting is relaxed but intentional, making it just as suited for a casual dinner as it is for a more grounded, sit-down meal after a long day. It’s one of the few places in town that truly satisfies that deeper, nutrient-heavy craving.
Restaurante La Choza: As local as it gets. La Choza is a true Costa Rican soda; unpretentious, consistent, and rooted in tradition. The move here is a casado: rice, beans, plantains, salad, and your protein of choice, served simply and generously. It’s not trying to impress, and that’s exactly why it works. This is the kind of meal that grounds you between the more curated experiences around town. Affordable, filling, and exactly what you need after a long beach day.
Fermata Kitchen: A quiet standout tucked inside a boutique villa in North Santa Teresa. Led by Executive Chef Olivier Palazzo, raised in the Ivory Coast and trained in Paris. the menu blends Mediterranean influence with refined French technique, grounded in local Costa Rican ingredients. It leans more elevated than most spots in town, but never feels out of place. The ricotta and Caesar are strong starts, but the half chicken is the dish. beautifully executed and one of the most memorable plates in the area. Finish with their house-made vanilla ice cream and take your time leaving.
Munchies: The post-surf, late-night staple of Santa Teresa. Munchies has earned its reputation as the go-to spot when you want something fast, satisfying, and reliably good after a long beach day or night out. The menu leans indulgent in the best way; stacked burgers, loaded wraps, smoothies, breakfast plates, and one of the more underrated items in town: their arepas. Crispy on the outside, soft in the center, and generously filled, the arepas hit that perfect middle ground between comfort food and substantial fuel after hours in the sun. Simple, flavorful, and consistently satisfying.
BoltLocated across the street of Lifeguard Gym, Bolt is a protein smoothie shop and laundry. You read that right. Bolt serves up fresh smoothies with an array of added protein selections and is really the only reliable laundry service in town. Stop in for a post workout boost and leave your laundry to be picked up clean later that day. Lookout for their Saturday run club collabs and involvement in other fitness events in town.
WHERE TO STAY
Airbnbs: Santa Teresa is best experienced through its homes. Open-air layouts, jungle-wrapped villas, and barefoot walkability to the beach define the stay here more than any hotel ever could. Renting an Airbnb gives you a front-row seat to the rhythm of the town; waking with the light, hearing howler monkeys in the morning, and living a bit more like a local than a visitor.
Where you stay matters. The north end offers more privacy, ocean views, and a quieter pace. Closer to Playa Carmen, you’ll be within walking distance to restaurants, cafés, and the main strip, more convenience, more energy. Expect dirt roads, minimal signage, and homes that blur the line between indoors and out. That’s part of it.
Baya Beach House: Baya Beach House feels less like a hotel and more like stepping into someone’s thoughtfully designed home, if that home happened to sit in one of the most desirable pockets of Santa Teresa. Located in the north end of town, just a short walk from La Lora beach, it strikes a balance that’s hard to find here: close enough to everything, but removed enough to actually exhale. The property is intentionally small, seven individually designed spaces centered around a shared pool and outdoor living areas. No two rooms are the same. The aesthetic leans colorful, warm, and slightly surf-inspired without falling into cliché. It feels personal, not manufactured.
ARjAU: A recent gem of a discovery for me in my most recent trip, ARjAU is an incredibly designed boutique hotel in the heart of Santa Teresa. It’s situated not too close to the start of the main road but not deep enough to be considered North ST. P.S. You gauge South ST vs. North ST by using the local rugby field as the dividing factor.
Hotel Nantipa: One of the most refined stays in town, set directly on the beach. Nantipa delivers barefoot luxury without losing the spirit of the area. Private bungalows, thoughtful design, and a service experience that feels present but not intrusive, you’re steps from the ocean, with everything you need contained within the property, making it easy to fully settle in. This is where you stay when you want Santa Teresa, but with a softer edge.
Florblanca Resort: A long-standing staple that leans more retreat than hotel. Spacious villas are spread out across lush grounds, creating a sense of privacy that’s hard to come by in a growing town. There’s a full spa, yoga offerings, and a quieter stretch of beach that makes it easy to unplug completely. It’s not trying to be trendy—it’s built for longevity, and it shows.
Bohemia Experience: More social, more design-forward, and a bit more playful than the traditional boutique stays. Bohemia attracts a younger, creative crowd—people who want their stay to feel like part of the experience, not just a place to sleep. The layout encourages interaction, but still gives you space to retreat when you want it. A strong option if you’re traveling solo or looking to meet people naturally.
Mint Santa Teresa: Small, intentional, and beautifully executed. With only a handful of rooms, Mint feels more like a private residence than a hotel. The design is clean and modern, with a focus on comfort and detail rather than excess. It’s quiet, understated, and ideal if you want something curated without the presence of a larger property.
Selva Boutique Resort: Set deeper into the jungle, Selva leans into nature while still offering a level of comfort that makes longer stays easy. You’ll feel more removed from the main strip here, which can be a plus if you’re looking for space and quiet. Expect more greenery, more wildlife, and a slower pace overall
Vista del Alma: Perched higher up, with wide ocean views that shift throughout the day. This is where you go for sunsets that feel uninterrupted and mornings that start a little slower. It’s more secluded, more expansive, and best suited for travelers who don’t mind being slightly removed from the center of town in exchange for perspective.
WHERE TO MOVE
Activo: If you’re looking for structure while in a place that can easily pull you out of routine, this is it. Activo is the most complete training facility in Santa Teresa. Proper strength machines, cables, free weights, and a functional fitness space that can handle everything from a quick lift to a full program. The cold plunge and sauna give you a built-in recovery loop, though they run on limited hours. It attracts a mix of serious lifters, surfers cross-training, and travelers trying to stay consistent. Bring your own towel, it’s one of those small details that matters here. I got an open gym pass for just $99 for the month. This excludes sauna and cold plunge use. That’ll run you $15 a pop or over $200 for the month. Go outside to sweat.
Pranamar Yoga: Set directly on the ocean, Pranamar is where you go to slow down. The classes lean more traditional and intentional, with a focus on breath, alignment, and presence rather than performance. It’s less about breaking a sweat and more about recalibrating your nervous system. Morning sessions here, with the sound of the waves just behind you, are hard to beat.
Lifeguard Gym: This is the anti-boutique gym. Open-air, a little gritty, and steps from the beach, Lifeguard Gym feels like a throwback in the best way. You’ll find rust on some of the equipment, sand on the floor, and people who are there to train—not to be seen. It draws a mix of locals, surfers, and long-stayers who care more about consistency than aesthetics. What sets it apart is its community-first approach. Much of the merch is donation-based, with proceeds going back into the local community—supporting the people and environment that make Santa Teresa what it is. It’s not performative. It’s just how they operate. If you care more about energy than polish, this is your place.
Fuego Lodge Gym: A quieter, more tucked-away option that still delivers everything you need for a solid session. It’s smaller than Activo, but that’s part of the appeal—less foot traffic, less waiting, more focus. Good for days when you want to get in, move well, and get out without distraction.
Pop-Up Pilates & Movement Classes: Santa Teresa runs on word of mouth, and this is where you feel it. Traveling instructors and long-term residents host classes throughout the week. mat Pilates, mobility flows, breath work-infused movement sessions. often at places like Somos or private villas. You won’t find a fixed schedule online. You have to ask around, check boards, or follow local WhatsApp groups. That’s part of the experience.
WHERE TO CHILL
Playa Hermosa: A few minutes north of Santa Teresa, Playa Hermosa is where you go when you want a little more space and privacy for a beach day. The beach is wider, the water tends to feel more approachable, and the entire stretch moves at a noticeably slower pace than the main beaches in town. It’s one of my favorite places for a morning swim, a long walk, or an easy beach day when you don’t need much of a plan. There are enough cafés and places nearby to keep you there for hours, but it still feels removed from the constant movement of Santa Teresa. Come early, get in the water, grab breakfast at Mantarayya, and don’t rush back. Hermosa is my sanctuary.
House of Somos: Part café, part co-working space, part community hub. Somos is where the digital nomads post up, where conversations start, and where you can easily spend half a day without realizing it. Good coffee, reliable WiFi, and a steady flow of people coming in and out. If you’re looking to meet people without forcing it, this is where it happens.
Banana Beach Club: An easy entry into the social side of Santa Teresa. Beachfront seating, music, drinks, and a crowd that shifts throughout the day—from laid-back afternoon lounging to a more energetic sunset scene. It’s not trying to be anything other than a good time, and that’s exactly why it works.
Playa Carmen (Sunset): Every evening, the town funnels here. No tickets, no reservations. just people gathering to watch the sun drop. Bring a towel, maybe a drink, and settle in. It’s one of the few daily rituals that everyone shares, and it never really gets old.
Zwart Café: A more understated coffee spot when you want a slower start. Strong espresso, simple food, and less foot traffic than the bigger cafés. Good for mornings when you want to ease into the day instead of jumping straight into it.
La Lora Amarilla: A bit more tucked away and a bit more local. It doesn’t have the polish of the more visible spots, but that’s the draw. Come here when you want something that feels less curated and more like you stumbled into it.
WHERE TO EXPLORE
Volunteer with ACHermosa: One of the best ways to understand Santa Teresa is to give something back to the place while you’re there. I spent a morning volunteering with Asociación Cívica de Hermosa (ACH), a local nonprofit working to protect Playa Hermosa’s ecosystems and guide development with the community and environment in mind. We planted trees along the roadside to help combat erosion, getting our hands dirty while learning more about the very real environmental pressures facing a place growing this quickly. ACH regularly brings residents, local businesses and visitors into the work, making it an easy way to move beyond simply consuming Santa Teresa and actually participate in protecting it.
Ario Tours: Set on over 300 acres of protected land, this is more than just a horseback ride. You move through jungle, up into the hills for ocean views, and down onto the beach depending on the route. The horses are well cared for, and the experience feels thoughtful from start to finish, not rushed, not overly commercialized.
Del Sol Surf School: If you’re going to learn to surf here, do it right. Del Sol has been around long enough to know these breaks intimately, and their instructors strike the balance between technical and approachable. Lessons are tailored to your level, whether it’s your first time standing up or you’re trying to refine your form. They also keep group sizes tight, which makes a difference in a lineup that can get crowded. What stands out most is their respect for the environment and the local surf culture. It feels rooted, not transactional.
Montezuma Waterfall: A short drive and a worthwhile shift in landscape. The hike in can be slippery and a bit technical in parts, but you’re rewarded with multi-level waterfalls and deep swimming pools. Go early to avoid crowds and give yourself time to actually stay and take it in.
Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve: Costa Rica’s first protected reserve, and it feels like it. Dense jungle, louder wildlife, and more demanding trails than what you’ll find around Santa Teresa. It’s a commitment (heat, humidity, distance) but if you want to experience the ecosystem beyond the beach, this is where you go.
Mal País Tide Pools: Best explored at low tide. The coastline shifts here, rock formations, natural pools, and fewer people. It’s a completely different energy from the main beaches and worth timing your visit around.
Surfing (Playa Hermosa): If you’re going to surf in Santa Teresa, Playa Hermosa is one of the best places to start. The long, open beach gives you more room to find your own section of water, and the breaks can be more forgiving than some of the faster, heavier spots closer to town. Beginners will find plenty of surf schools and instructors along the beach, while more experienced surfers can still find enough power to make a good session out of it. Go early, before the wind picks up and the beach fills in, and give yourself the morning. Surf here has a way of turning one hour in the water into three.
WHERE TO HEAL
Jungle Wellness: Massage and bodywork like I’ve never experienced. I consider myself a treatment connoisseur, and have traveled around the world getting massage, tissue work, and muscle manipulation. Treatments here lean into relaxation and nervous system downregulation; less clinical, more immersive. You leave feeling noticeably different. The founder and owner, Salva, is one of the most intuitive healers I’ve experienced and worked out every inch of pain in our first 90-minute session. Julie, who brought me through an incredibly opening Mayan Abdominal Massage, brought a beautiful blend of deep releases with gentle movement. I hadn’t realized how much my body, specifically my abdomen, was holding on to since an endometriosis surgery in 2024, and this helped awaken many lost emotions. This is a must stop in Santa Teresa if you love your body and want to feel OPEN.
5 Element Acupuncture: A more traditional approach rooted in Chinese medicine. People come here for everything from stress and sleep issues to hormonal balance. It’s subtle work, but impactful over time. I’ve received acupuncture for over eight years now though I had yet to experience the 5-element approach. It stems from the philosophy that views health through the lens of the five elements found in nature: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Rather than focusing only on symptoms, Five Element Acupuncture looks at the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual patterns underneath imbalance. The idea is that every person has a primary elemental constitution, and when that element falls out of harmony, it can affect everything from mood and digestion to sleep, pain, energy, relationships, and overall sense of self. My sessions with Ashley have been deeply insightful and immediately impactful.
Re:Center: A modern, data-driven take on wellness. HRV testing, recovery tools, and structured insights into how your body is actually functioning. It’s a useful counterbalance to the otherwise intuitive, free-flowing nature of Santa Teresa. I stopped in and met with the owner, Benlee, and was gifted their standard 6-minute HRV test which provided me with a profound chunk of data to review. I’m never one for single-point of failure testing, meaning I don’t like to read too much into a single test for my entire health outlook, but when I noticed overlapping notes that my acupuncturist and care providers at home have pointed out in recent history, I bought in. The center is truly a healing oasis, equipped with world renowned doctors dedicated to healing the gut microbiome through nutrition protocols and a series of nervous system regulation practices. Drop in with a day pass to access the movement area, packed with weights, functional fitness tools, sauna, cold plunge, red light therapy, compression boots and more. If nothing else, go to see the awe-inspiring campus they’ve built on the hilltop.
The Sanctuary at Two Rivers: A bit outside of town, which is part of the appeal. Surrounded by nature, with offerings like sound healing, yoga, and full-day retreats. It feels removed, in a good way. Come here when you want to step fully out of the Santa Teresa pace and into something quieter.
