A protected coastline, a long-standing yoga and surf community, and strict building rules that kept it low.
Nosara is defined by two things: the Ostional wildlife refuge immediately to the north, and a set of local building restrictions established decades ago that kept construction behind the tree line and below the canopy. There are no beachfront towers here and there will not be.
The result is a town that feels like a forest with houses in it. Playa Guiones runs for seven kilometres with consistent, forgiving surf, and the community that formed around it — yoga, wellness, a strong international school — has been there long enough to be settled rather than transient.
Access is the trade-off. The road in is unpaved in sections and demanding in the green season, though a local airstrip and improving routes have softened this. Properties are mostly single houses on generous, heavily planted lots rather than condominiums.
Nosara, Guanacaste
