Anamaya Resort in Forbes: A History of International Yoga Retreat Recognition

Montezuma is a small beach town at the bottom of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, a long way from the places travel magazines usually write about. Yet one retreat on the hill above it keeps turning up in international roundups of the world’s best places to practice yoga. Anamaya Resort, which opened in 2009 with a single yoga deck, has appeared on Forbes.com three times since 2012, and in 2026 National Geographic named it one of the world’s best wellness experiences.

We went back through each Forbes piece to see what the writers noticed, what kind of article each one was, and how well their descriptions hold up today.

2012: Forbes Travel Guide picks six hotels for a yoga escape

On December 28, 2012, Forbes Travel Guide, the organization behind the Forbes star ratings for hotels, published 6 Hotels for a Yoga Escape on Forbes.com, and ran the same piece on its own site a few days later as Six Hotels for Finding Your Inner Yogi. Anamaya was the only Latin American pick on a list that otherwise read like a roll call of luxury travel: The Oberoi Udaivilas in India, Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Parrot Cay by COMO in Turks and Caicos, and The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Colorado.

What won the writer over was the setting. The write-up centered on the covered outdoor yoga deck, where you look down over treetops and cliffs to the Pacific with the sound of waterfalls nearby, and called it the ultimate backdrop for practice. It also mentioned the daily classes, retreats nearly every week, organic cooking, and the glass-walled Bali Cabina, a bungalow built in Bali and reassembled on the hillside. Its closing verdict: “Anamaya is nothing if not authentic.”

For a boutique property that was only three years old at the time, sharing a list with Post Ranch Inn and Parrot Cay was a big moment.

2019: Ann Abel’s five yoga retreats for fall

Seven years later, travel writer Ann Abel, a longtime Forbes contributor covering luxury travel, included Anamaya in 5 Yoga Retreats to Book for Fall 2019, published on August 20, 2019. Anamaya’s company on the list: Ananda in the Himalayas in India, Kamalaya in Thailand, COMO Shambhala Estate in Bali and Vale de Moses in Portugal.

Abel’s angle was different. Where the 2012 piece was about the view, hers was about people. She recommended Anamaya to travelers who want a social retreat among like-minded guests from around the world, pointing to the communal meals, an infinity pool where nearly everyone ends up between classes, and Montezuma’s surf as a natural partner to yoga. She also noted that most stays run a full week, with shorter retreats at certain times of year, and that a respected guest teacher is in residence most weeks.

2020: five luxury yoga retreats

On January 8, 2020, Anamaya appeared in Take Your Yoga Practice to the Next Level at These 5 Luxury Retreats. on Forbes.com. The piece described the guest-teacher model, with teachers from around the world leading retreats, weeklong packages that paired yoga with adventure or with surfing, the option to design your own program, and the view from the yoga deck over the rainforest to the ocean. The other four retreats were Bodhi Khaya in South Africa, Absolute Sanctuary in Thailand, Ananda in India and Floating Leaf in Bali.

What the coverage gets right, years later

Read side by side, the three articles describe the same place from three angles: the setting, the community and the program. We checked them against Anamaya’s current retreat calendar and website in October 2026, and most of it still holds.

• The decks. The open-air yoga decks above the jungle and the ocean are still the heart of the place, and the Bali Cabina is still one of the rooms.
• The weekly guest teacher. This is still how Anamaya works. Most weeks a visiting teacher leads a themed retreat, from somatic and breathwork-focused weeks to classic vinyasa, and guests can join the classes and workshops or simply rest, eat well and explore.
• The community. Meals are still shared, and with guests arriving from many countries for the same week, the social feel Abel described is built in.
• Yoga and surf. Playa Cedros, the best-known surf break near Montezuma and Cabuya, is about ten minutes away by car, and the beaches of Santa Teresa and Mal País about half an hour.
• Teacher training. Anamaya has run yoga teacher trainings since 2010. Its current 200-hour programs run for three weeks.

The biggest change is the food, which is now 100% gluten-free, with no white sugar and no red meat, built around local produce and greens from the resort’s own farm. The other change is the scale of the recognition. In 2026, National Geographic included Anamaya in its Best of the World list of wellness destinations, calling it “a jungle-meets-sea retreat in the heart of a blue zone.”

Why a small retreat keeps making these lists

Most hotels on lists like these have a famous brand or hundreds of rooms behind them. Anamaya has neither. Three things seem to explain why writers keep finding it:

• The site. It sits on a cliff edge above Montezuma, with rainforest on one side, the Pacific on the other and Montezuma’s waterfalls next door. Every writer, in every year, mentions the view.
• The format. Weekly themed retreats with rotating teachers mean each week feels different, which suits first-timers and repeat guests alike.
• The region. The Nicoya Peninsula is one of the world’s five Blue Zones, places where people live measurably longer, and that has become a reason in itself for wellness travelers to come.

Visiting Anamaya

Anamaya is on the hill just above the town of Montezuma, near the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Most visitors arrive by the ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera and then drive, or take a short domestic flight to the airstrip at Tambor.

Upcoming retreat weeks and their guest teachers are listed on the Anamaya yoga retreats calendar, and training dates are on the yoga teacher training calendar. For more on the resort itself, see our Anamaya Yoga Retreat Center profile, and for the town, our guide to Montezuma. If you’re comparing programs, our roundup of yoga teacher training programs in Costa Rica is a good place to start.

Sources

• Forbes Travel Guide, 6 Hotels for a Yoga Escape, Forbes.com, December 28, 2012.
• Forbes Travel Guide, Six Hotels for Finding Your Inner Yogi, Forbes Travel Guide Stories, January 2, 2013.
• Ann Abel, 5 Yoga Retreats to Book for Fall 2019, Forbes.com, August 20, 2019.
• Jennifer Brunton, Take Your Yoga Practice to the Next Level at These 5 Luxury Retreats, Forbes.com, January 8, 2020.
• National Geographic, Best of the World 2026: wellness destinations.

Common questions

Has Anamaya Resort been featured in Forbes?

Yes, three times on Forbes.com. Forbes Travel Guide included it in 6 Hotels for a Yoga Escape (December 28, 2012), contributor Ann Abel picked it for 5 Yoga Retreats to Book for Fall 2019 (August 20, 2019), and it appeared in Take Your Yoga Practice to the Next Level at These 5 Luxury Retreats (January 8, 2020).

What did Forbes say about Anamaya?

The 2012 Forbes Travel Guide piece focused on the covered outdoor yoga deck with views over the treetops to the Pacific, and the Bali Cabina. Ann Abel's 2019 piece described Anamaya as a social retreat with communal meals, an infinity pool, guest teachers most weeks and easy access to surfing. The 2020 piece highlighted its visiting teachers and its yoga-and-surf and yoga-and-adventure weeks.

Where is Anamaya Resort?

Anamaya is on a cliff above the beach town of Montezuma, near the southern tip of Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Most visitors arrive by the Puntarenas to Paquera ferry or by a short flight to Tambor.

Does Anamaya offer yoga teacher training?

Yes. Anamaya has run yoga teacher trainings since 2010, and its current 200-hour programs run for three weeks. Dates are on the Anamaya teacher training calendar.