Before Guanacaste’s string of beaches was accessible and Costa Rica’s southern zone opened up, the port town of Puntarenas enjoyed its heyday. El Puerto as it is affectionately called by the ticos (Costa Ricans) was the main beach destination for Costa Ricans from the Central Valley for more than a century. In fact, thirty or forty years ago Puntareanas was the tourism epicenter of Costa Rica. The town’s long beach, a seaside palm-shaded promenade called el Paseo de los Turistas with its series of souvenir kiosks, open-air bars and inexpensive have always been a magnet for the locals.

This port city is the best places in the country to savor fresh seafood, including chuchecas (ink-black clams). In fact, the people who live in Puntarenas are affectionately called chuchequeros. Some of the best marisquerías or seafood restaurants in the country are found all along the Paseo de los Turistas. Puntarenas is also the home of another local delight called the Churchill, a beverage similar to a snow cone over which layers of syrup and ice cream are poured.

In the 1990s the town suffered a decline because of a crime problem, many unsavory characters and its dirty beach. Fortunately, everything has changed in recent years and the town has been reborn. The seven-mile brown-sand, palm studded, beach has been cleaned up and now included in the ”Blue Flag” category. All of the recent improvements have led this beach town to be renamed the “New Riviera.” The new Caldera Highway has added to the boom by virtually cutting the driving time in half from the Central Valley.