Stand-up paddleboarding in Costa Rica is a fun experience for all ages and skill levels. You can paddle board in the calmer waters of the lakes and mangroves in Costa Rica, or if you are up for a challenge, you can paddle board in the rivers or open ocean in Costa Rica.
Regardless of what type of stand-up paddleboarding you choose to try in Costa Rica, you are bound to have an unforgettable experience. Here is everything you need to know about stand-up paddle boarding in Costa Rica!
Why Should You Try Stand-Up Paddle Boarding in Costa Rica?
Costa Rica is the perfect place for paddleboarders to explore. With miles and miles of coastline on two sides of the country — the Pacific Coast and Caribbean Coast — as well as stunning lakes, raging rivers, and calm waters in mangroves, there is no better place to embark on a paddle boarding adventure.
Though you can kayak, surf, and dive in Costa Rica, stand-up paddle boarding remains one of the country’s most popular activities for all ages!
Best Spots for Stand-Up Paddle Boarding in Costa Rica
You will find plenty of places to rent boards and opportunities to take lessons for beginners at the Costa Rica stand-up paddle boarding destinations listed below.
Gulf of Papagayo (Guanacaste)
The Gulf of Papagayo is an excellent paddle-boarding destination for those who are trying this sport for the first time. The calm waters in the Gulf of Papagayo are protected from the choppy waves in the Papagayo Peninsula.
During the dry season, when the waters are clear and calm, you can see marine life, like fish, turtles, and dolphins, as you float above the waves. Many resorts near the Gulf of Papagayo offer paddleboard rentals and lessons for beginners.
Golfo Dulce (Osa Peninsula)
Golfo Dulce is located near Corcovado National Park, and it is an amazing place to paddleboard because it is protected by the Osa Peninsula. Golfo Dulce is also known as one of the top places for spotting humpback whales and dolphins in Costa Rica, so you may be lucky enough to spot one of these majestic creatures while paddling in Golfo Dulce.
Tamarindo Beach (Guanacaste)
Tamarindo Beach is known for its beautiful beaches, fun atmosphere, and excellent surfing. Playa Tamarindo and the other nearby beaches, Playa Grande and Playa Langosta, are also popular places for stand-up paddle boarding in Costa Rica.
There are tons of surfing and paddle-boarding schools in Playa Tamarindo, which is perfect for beginners who want to try either of these popular sports. If you are staying in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Province — head to Playa Tamarindo to spend a fun day on the ocean.
Lake Arenal (Arenal Volcano)
Lake Arenal, located near Arenal Volcano National Park, is one of the best places to stand-up paddle board for a calmer, smoother adventure. Generally, stand-up paddle boarding on lakes is less “choppy” than paddle boarding on the ocean, so it is the perfect alternative to ocean paddleboarding for the whole family — even the little ones. Plus, since the water is calmer, you can take time to soak up the scenic nature and local wildlife surrounding the lake, like birds, reptiles, and monkeys.
If you aren’t staying near Lake Arenal, you can often book a day trip or tour from your accommodations that will include a few hours of stand-up paddle boarding.
Tortuguero National Park (Caribbean Coast)
Tortuguero National Park on Costa Rica’s Caribbean Coast is known as one of the best places to see green sea turtles in Costa Rica. It is also the home of other wildlife species, including monkeys, sloths, iguanas, and dozens of birds.
Tortuguero National Park offers calm, desolate waterways filled with incredible wildlife that make it an excellent destination for paddleboarding. You and the family won’t regret taking a stand-up paddleboarding tour or a trip down the waterways of Tortuguero National Park if you are visiting the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica!
Manuel Antonio National Park (Puntarenas)
Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the most popular destinations for tourists to visit in Costa Rica. It is known for its stunning beaches, abundant wildlife, and outdoor recreation — from hiking and swimming to surfing and stand-up paddle boarding.
There are plenty of tour operators around this national park, making it easy to book a stand-up paddle-boarding adventure along the park’s coastline. The calm waters off the coast of Manuel Antonio are a great place for beginners to try their hand at surfing or paddle-boarding for the first time.
FAQs: Stand-Up Paddle Boarding in Costa Rica
Do I need to have experience in stand-up paddle boarding?
If you’ve never been stand-up paddle boarding before your trip to Costa Rica, rest assured — it is an easy sport to pick up on. You simply use a stand-up paddle to propel yourself across the water while standing on a special paddle board (or a surfboard).
Suppose you’re nervous about stand-up paddle boarding for the first time. In that case, you can book a stand-up paddle boarding lesson at many destinations in Costa Rica — including Manuel Antonio National Park, Tamarindo Beach, and the Gulf of Papagayo.
Is stand-up paddle boarding and SUP surfing the same thing?
Stand-up paddle boarding and SUP surfing are similar but slightly different. Stand-up paddle boarding is a sport that happens in calm and protected waters — like coves, bays, lakes, and rivers — and is better suited for beginners. SUP surfing is a more challenging sport that surfers or athletes will attempt on the choppy waves of surfing beaches.
What safety precautions should I take before stand-up paddle boarding?
Before renting a paddle board in Costa Rica, remember — safety always comes first. If you have never tried this sport before, consider taking a lesson to learn the ropes. Even if you are confident on the board, always wear a life jacket and stick with a buddy. Keep an eye on local weather and water conditions, and if it looks stormy — stay off the lake or ocean.
Enjoy Costa Rica Stand-Up Paddle Boarding During Your Vacation
If you are planning a vacation to Costa Rica soon, we hope you have penciled in a fun day of paddle boarding on the country’s stunning lakes, oceans, or rivers into your itinerary!
If you are still looking for a place to stay, Special Places of Costa Rica offers hundreds of vacation rentals, condos, and villas in the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica, right near some of the best paddle boarding spots, like the Gulf of Papagayo and Tamarindo Beach!
Contact Kenny to have your property featured here for an entire month! kenny@crvr.net
The Special Places Potrero / Flamingo Office - Just up the hill from the office of Economy Rent-a-Car
We are very proud of our professional maid service staff, who provide regular cleaning for some 150 properties — and do it with a smile. A half-dozen maids provide full-time service at a single house, but all the rest rotate among a wide variety of properties from Matapalo to Playa del Coco.
Maids are responsible not just for cleaning but for staging the house, with everything in its proper place, and keeping track of inventory (so that, for example, new clients don’t check in and find there’s no toilet paper). At times, say on Jan. 2, there are so many checkouts and check-ins that the maids bring their sisters, brothers and mothers to get all the work done.
Full-time maids assigned to a single property assist clients with shopping, cooking and laundry, and they often form close bonds with clients. It’s no surprise that our clients often want to take their maids home with them.
Special Places of Costa Rica employs two full-time maintenance men who service all our properties, plus a handful of caretakers dedicated to a single property each.
These men will fix just about any problem that arises — leaks, electrical and plumbing issues, a door that scrapes on a floor, a noisy ceiling fan… you name it. They also paint homes and provide roofing maintenance.
Our maintenance staff are available 24/7 for emergencies like a burst pipe that causes a flood. Special Places of Costa Rica also enjoys a network of qualified subcontractors to handle swimming pool service, gardening / landscaping and repairs to air conditioning units & kitchen appliances.
Steven, from Potrero, is a rental agent for Special Places. He processes rental inquiries, checks on property availability, makes reservations and helps with check-in and check-out info.
Steven has worked at three hotels: as a bellman at Casa Chameleon in Las Catalinas, as a receptionist in the Sugar Beach Hotel near there, and as a receptionist at Jardín del Edén in Tamarindo. He has a bachelor’s degree in teaching English from the Universidad Latina in Santa Cruz, and someday he hopes to teach English at his old high school in Cartagena.
Steven likes to ride his Kawasaki 250 dirt bike in the Potrero Hills, around Las Catalinas and in Tempate. He’s also interested in cars and mechanics, and he’s skilled at repairing motorcycles.
Quote: “I think work is a very important tool that helps us to fulfill ourselves as human beings in life and to improve on what we already know.”
Rebeca is an accounting assistant at Special Places, processing invoices and accounts payable and monitoring vehicle fleet expenses.
Originally from San José, she studied accounting at two institutions there and spent years working in accounting for two international shipping firms.
She currently lives in Santa Cruz, where she is married and has dogs and cats. She is a big fan of the Saprissa soccer team and also likes going to the beach and the movies.
Quote: “Haz bien y no mires a quién,” meaning, “Do good without considering to whom.”
Born in Samar Province in the Philippines, Phem has a two-year degree in computer science from the Asian Institute of Computer Studies. She came to Costa Rica at age 19 to work for her aunt, who owned the Mariner Inn in Flamingo. She later worked for House of Rentals, then Special Places of Costa Rica when the companies merged. As a concierge, she books tours, rental cars, chefs or whatever clients need to make their stay enjoyable. “Whatever they request, you do it,” she said.
She enjoys “having a connection to people, meeting different people, helping people.” Her proudest accomplishment was moving from the Philippines to Costa Rica to explore better opportunities. She recommends that visitors to Flamingo try an ATV tour, a catamaran cruise, rappelling or whitewater rafting.
Quote: “I love Potrero. I live in Surfside. It’s quiet, safe, and people there are very accommodating, nice, friendly, always willing to help you. They’re open to anyone. I like that community. And the bars are within walking distance.”
Pascale, Kenny’s mother and business partner, is the head accountant at Special Places. She is responsible for all the accounting, billing and taxes, managing the maid service, setting work schedules and procuring cleaning products.
Pascale is from Antwerp, Belgium, where she and her husband had a food-service business specializing in poultry. But they often traveled to the Caribbean and Central America, and in 2009 decided to move to Costa Rica.
“We thought it was time to follow some dreams, so we sold the business and came to Costa Rica,” she said. They traveled to every corner of the country, but they fell in love with Guanacaste and decided to settle in Flamingo. They couldn’t find a house that satisfied Pascale’s handyman husband, so they built their own on the hills above Potrero in Pacific Heights.
She says her proudest accomplishment is “bringing two beautiful sons into the world.”
Quote: “The way we raised them, they were very independent. We taught them to work also. Of course, school came first. To us it’s white and black, and the gray doesn’t exist. It’s good or bad.”
Norlyng coordinates the maintenance of all Special Places properties, and she’s also in charge of Human Relations and is an assistant to Kenny Segers.
Born in Limón but a longtime resident of Matapalo, she previously worked as a receptionist at the Best Western Seis Playas Hotel. She also spent six years at the Wyndham Tamarindo, working as head of reception and as an administrative assistant.
Norlyng studied law for a year and a half at the University of Costa Rica in Liberia, but currently she is more focused on tourism. She is married and has two daughters, ages 9 and 2. Her interests include reading (the Bible, inspirational works and finance) and going to relaxing places.
Quote: “My philosophy of life is to live in the present and try not to worry about the future, to have clear objectives, to try not to stress too much and to act in the present.”
A native of Brasilito, Karolayn has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Universidad Latina in Santa Cruz. She is responsible for the billing, accounting and filing at Special Places.
She enjoys hiking and swimming, and her favorite local places are Playa Danta and Playa Conchal. Asked what activity she would recommend to visitors, she said riding a Banana Boat, an inflatable, banana-shaped boat towed behind a speedboat.
Quote: “The working environment here is very nice, very tranquilo. We get along really well, the management, the coworkers, and also the maids and maintenance people. Also, in my job I’ve learned a lot of things that in university classes they don’t teach. It gives you the opportunity to learn and grow.”
A native of Antwerp, Belgium, Kenny emigrated to Costa Rica in 2008. Having graduated from high school in Belgium, he studied economics and business administration in Costa Rica. Eager to go into business, Kenny left university to work as a property manager for House of Rentals in Flamingo, which he acquired not long after starting the job. House of Rentals grew into Special Places of Costa Rica, currently represented by offices in Playa Flamingo and Playas del Coco, and known as one of the leading agencies in the area.
Kenny speaks and writes fluent Spanish, English and Dutch. He is the proud father of a Costa Rican son, Khael, who was born in 2016.
Passionate about his growing vacation rental and management business, Kenny is always looking for investments and opportunities. Hotel Pitaya Lodge (formerly Kakaos Lodge) is also under his management.
In 2020, he began building the first of several homes as part of a newly launched project development/construction company.
Juan Carlos works as a rental agent, attending to any questions about renting a property, explaining the options available, answering any questions and supporting the concierge team in extra services like tours or transport.
Juan Carlos was born in San José and currently lives in Potrero. He has worked for some 15 years in sales or customer service at hotels, including the Hotel Barceló in San José, the Hotel Parador in Manuel Antonio and the Lagarta Lodge in Nosara.
He also studied English at the Instituto Norteamericano in San José, earning a C2 certification in English. He has also taken several courses in administration.
Juan Carlos likes walking on the beach (“so I’m definitely in the right place”) with his French bulldog. “They’re very mischievous but very sweet, very good company.”
Quote: “I always say, ‘It costs nothing to smile.’ I always like to convey that people should be happy no matter what.”
Juan Diego, who was born and raised in Villarreal, works as a concierge. That means he helps visitors arrange tours and transportation, rental cars, airport pickup and dropoff, and other services.
Juan Diego studied sustainable tourism management at UNED, the Universidad Estatal a Distancia, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 2013. He has worked as an admin for the Dream Chaser catamaran in Tamarindo, as a receptionist at the Hotel Pasatiempo in Tamarindo, and as a concierge at the Hotel Dreams Las Mareas in El Jobo.
Juan Diego enjoys watching HBO series and movies, riding his bike, going out with friends and watching the sunset on the beach.
Quote: “I like concierge work because I get to help a lot of people, fulfilling the dreams of tourists who visit a beautiful country like Costa Rica that’s full of nature.”
José does property inspections, check-ins and check-outs for Special Places, making sure that properties are in great shape for new clients.
Born in Limón, he currently lives in Cartagena. He went to high school at Liceo Experimental Bilingüe de Santa Cruz, and he spent seven years working as a waiter and bartender at the JW Marriotts in Hacienda Pinilla and Reserva Conchal.
He enjoys going to the beach, listening to music, watching movies and series, playing video games and spending time with family.
Quote: “If you’re afraid of dying, it’s better not to be born.”
A native of Nicoya who lives in Cartagena, Jhon works in accounting at Special Places, calculating reservation contracts, sales commissions and billing. He has been studying accounting at the Universidad Latina in Santa Cruz for a year and a half.
His goal is to have an accounting firm of his own. His favorite hobby is artisanal fishing, usually from a boat out of Flamingo, and he once caught a 70-pound mahi-mahi. He also has caught marlin in Tamarindo and Quepos.
His greatest pride is a nearly 2-year-old daughter named Elizabeth Aitana.
Quote: “I think the most marvelous thing that’s happened to me would be the birth of my daughter. That’s the thing I’m most proud of.”
Jason is a concierge and rental specialist with an interesting job — knocking on new clients’ doors to see if they need anything or would like to book any tours or other services.
Born in Limón and currently living in Huacas, Jason speaks flawless English. He has taken some university courses on websites and social media marketing. He is married, no kids, but has a cat named Kirara.
Jason previously worked as a database analyst at Western Union in San José, typically addressing charge-backs on credit cards and resolving other monetary issues.
Jason loves “adrenaline,” muddy offroad adventures, motorcycling, ATV, video games, surfing and skateboarding.
Quote: “You don’t have to be the smartest person to fulfill your dreams, all you need is to put in a little effort and be certain that you will achieve whatever you set your mind to.”
Gabriel joined Special Places as an accounting assistant at the age of 20. He was born in Liberia and currently lives in Filadelfia with his family.
He studied at the Colegio Técnico Profesional de Carrillo, with a specialty in accounting and auditing. He worked previously as an accounting assistant and secretary for a clinic in Palestina de Belén that serves disabled people.
Gabriel enjoys mountain biking, and for the past eight years he has volunteered at the Red Cross in Filadelfia, working mostly in strategic communication.
Quote: “We never have to give up on a dream just because of the time it takes to achieve it.”
Daniela works as an administrative assistant in Human Resources, helping with payroll, health benefits and insurance, as well as onboarding new personnel.
Born in Liberia, she now lives in Villarreal, and she not only has two dogs but also a horse. She adores animals and loves to go horseback riding in the country. She also likes listening to Latin music like cumbia and salsa.
Daniela has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Universidad Libre de Costa Rica (ULICORI). Before coming to Special Places, she worked as an HR assistant at the Occidental Hotel in Tamarindo, where she learned a lot about Human Resources in a real-world environment.
Quote: “Take risks, because everything good starts with a little fear!”
Carla works as an accounting assistant at Special Places and is also involved in property management.
She was born in Caracas, Venezuela, and raised in Ciudad Guayana, where she earned a law and accountant degree and worked as a lawyer and accountant. Since coming to Costa Rica, she has worked as a manicurist, masseuse, bartender, waitress and artist.
A gifted artist and something of a Renaissance woman, Carla also draws and makes earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. Her varied interests include dancing, hiking, scuba diving, traveling and discovering new cultures.
Quote: “My motto is ‘I know that I own the weak and fragile body of a woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king.’ ”
Pricing Notice
This property is not managed by Special Places of Costa Rica.
Accordingly, rental rates and availability for this property might not be current. Please submit an inquiry and will be be happy to verify the details and assist you with your booking.
