Santa Teresa / Mal Pais

The Extremely Diverse Community here have opened Restaurants, Featuring Some of the Most Interesting Food to be found in the Country! You can work off the great food with a Yoga Class, some of the Best Surfing in Costa Rica.

The sleepy little villages of  Santa Teresa and Mal Pais have gone through a resurgence lately. There is now an extremely varied choice of accommodations, and at very good prices.  Once only known as a surfers beach, this region has been embraced as a yoga and wellness center.

While North Americans have arrived, and own several tourism related businesses, their are lots of ex-pats from Europe and South America.  Many of them has been opened restaurants!  This is our favorite place in the country to eat.  There is real Peruvian Ceviche at the beach, a European style bakery owned by a Belgian, fantastic Italian food done by a chef from Florence, and a myriad of Asian and South American specialties.  You are going to have to be active to compensate for the awesome meals!

But surfing is still king. There are several surf shops catering to an international clientele.  The bars tend to offer entertainment that appeals to the younger crowd, along with the ever popular discos.

A small note of caution. The waves are the reason that the surfers love this area so much. The currents at this beach can be a little tricky.  We recommend that families with small children be especially careful.