Costa Rica is blessed with an amazing array of fantastically beautiful beaches on both coasts. They range from white sand to dark sand, to pebble beaches, and rocky shores. The beaches are adored by the Costa Ricans and nearly everyone in the country packs up their family and heads to their favorite beach for New Years and Easter Week (Semana Santa).

Costa Rica’s beaches in the Santa Teresa / Malpais area were rated to be among the world’s top ten most beautiful, by Forbes Magazine. Montezuma’s beaches, shown in the photo above, were rated by forbes to be in Central America’s “top ten” (along with Malpais).

There are also phenomenal beaches in Manuel Antonio, Uvita, and Guanacaste. Of course it depends on your taste, but most people prefer white sand beaches, made over the centuries from ground up shell and coral, which make the softest beaches.

Costa Rica’s beaches are also protected nearly nationwide. The first fifty meters from the high tide line is public property, and cannot be built upon, so it also acts as a wildlife corridor. Costa Rica’s strong environmental protection laws have made it one of the “greenest” countries in the world, and hence one of the most beautiful.