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Photo credit: Carlos Corrales
Surf Break: Playa Jaco

Playa Jaco in Golfo de Nicoya is a fairly exposed beach break that has quite reliable surf Offshore winds are from the northeast. Clean groundswells prevail and the best swell direction is from the south southwest. The beach break offers both left and right hand waves. Best around high tide. Even when there are waves, it's not likley to be crowded. Watch out for sea-lice etc.

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Overall Playa Jaco Surf Consistency and Wind Distribution

IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.

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This image shows the combination of swells directed at Playa Jaco over a normal year an... (show all text)

The graph illustrates how often and how strongly the wind blows from different directio... (show all text)

Also see Playa Jaco surf quality by season and Playa Jaco surf quality by month.

Select Playa Jaco Location Map Detail:

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Use this relief map to navigate to Costa-Rica - Golfo de Nicoya surf breaks and tide stations that are in the area of Playa Jaco

Other Nearby Surf Breaks closest to Playa Jaco:   (click location name for more details)
Closest break	Roca Loca	1 mi
Second closest break	Playa Hermosa	3 mi
Third closest break	Playa Herradura	3 mi
Fourth closest break	The Tree	3 mi
Fifth closest break	Little Fiji	5 mi
Wave buoys nearest to Playa Jaco:
Closest wave buoy	Western Caribbean Buoy	539 mi
Second closest wave buoy	Yucatan Basin Buoy	706 mi
Third closest wave buoy	Bay of Campeche Buoy	1058 mi
Fourth closest wave buoy	East Gulf Buoy	1127 mi
Fifth closest wave buoy	Mid Gulf Buoy	1168 mi
Tide stations nearest to Playa Jaco:
Closest tide station	Puntarenas, Costa Rica	29 mi
Second closest tide station	San Juan del Norte (Greytown), Nicaragua	110 mi
Third closest tide station	Limon, Costa Rica	112 mi
Fourth closest tide station	Bocas del Toro, Almirante Bay, Panama	163 mi
Fifth closest tide station	Bluefields Lagoon entrance, Nicaragua	177 mi
Ski Resorts closest to Playa Jaco:
Closest ski area	Huascaran (Peru)	1382 mi
Second closest ski area	Sky Valley (United States)	1757 mi
Third closest ski area	Scaly Mountain (United States)	1760 mi
Fourth closest ski area	Cataloochee (United States)	1796 mi
Fifth closest ski area	Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort (United States)	1805 mi
Town and city forecasts close to Playa Jaco:
Closest city location	Jaco (Costa Rica)	1 mi
Second closest city location	Orotina (Costa Rica)	21 mi
Third closest city location	Parrita (Costa Rica)	22 mi
Fourth closest city location	Desamparados (Costa Rica)	25 mi
Fifth closest city location	Paquera (Costa Rica)	25 mi

• The closest passenger airport to Playa Jaco is Quepos Managua Airport (XQP) in Costa Rica, 58 km (36 miles) away (directly).
• The second nearest airport to Playa Jaco is Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), also in Costa Rica, 63 km (39 miles) away.
• Third is Nosara Airport (NOB) in Costa Rica, 120 km (75 miles) away.
• Palmar Sur Airport (PMZ) in Costa Rica is 147 km (91 miles) away.
• Daniel Oduber Quiros International (Liberia) Airport (LIR), also in Costa Rica is the fifth nearest airport to Playa Jaco and is 149 km (93 miles) away.