Mal País & Santa Teresa · Costa Rica
Surfing Playa Coyote
A right point in Mal País & Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, for beginner and intermediate surfers.
Playa Coyote is a long, wild beach south of Mal País with a short right point off the headland near the beach hotels. The point is slow and easy, a good place for improvers to practise turns without a crowd.
The beach on either side picks up plenty of south-west swell and has empty peaks for kilometres. Mid tide on a clean south-west swell is best.
Getting there is slow: dirt roads and river crossings, so you need a 4x4 in the wet season. That's also why it stays quiet.
When to surf
Playa Coyote
Playa Coyote is at its best from May to November. Conditions it likes: S-SW swell, mid tide.
December to April: Good
Dry season, cleaner conditions and WNW pulses, though smaller than the summer swell
May to July: Prime
Green season SW groundswell fires the points and beachbreaks; offshore mornings
August to October: Prime
Peak S-SW swell, most consistent and biggest, but the wettest months
Nov: Quiet
Transition, rain and swell easing into the dry season
The year across Golfo de Nicoya
Waves near Playa Coyote
Playa Caletas
6 kmMal País & Santa Teresa · Right Reef · Intermediate
Playa Manzanillo
11 kmMal País & Santa Teresa · Reef Break · Intermediate / Advanced
Playa Santa Teresa
21 kmMal País & Santa Teresa · Beach Break · Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced
Straight-line distances. By road it is usually further.
Getting there
Where to stay: Santa Teresa and Playa Carmen run into one another and hold most of the beds, food and board hire; Mal País proper is quieter and closer to Cabo Blanco. Access is by 4x4 over dusty (or muddy) roads, most people fly to SJO and take a shuttle and the Puntarenas-Paquera ferry.
Transport, costs, where to stay and the rest of the waves in the area are in the Mal País & Santa Teresa guide.
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