Punta Leona Hotel, Jaco

If you are a beach lover as well as a nature lover, then this is one of the hotels for you! Just a little more than an hour from Atenas or 2 hours+ from San Jose, depending on the time of day & week for traffic. It is on the beach just north of Jaco where most San Jose people go for beach weekends! 🙂 And the main Jaco beach is crowded, but not Punta Leona.

There is so much to say about this place which is also a large nature reserve and a private beach club with houses and condos, in addition to the hotel, some condos& houses are available on Airbnb. Read on for what else I say or see what they say about themselves on their Punta Leona Website.

In the “Selvamar” area for Hotel Rooms.

Would I Return There?

Yes!

Likes

  • It is a great place for immersion in nature with many forest trails and lots of birds, butterflies and other nature to photograph.
  • I’m not a beach person, but this place has the two nicest beaches I’ve been on with easy access from the hotel. The only CR beach that competes for me is Playa Negra at Hotel Banana Azul in Limón Province, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Caribe, a different world.
  • Though plenty of nature on property, they do offer field trips to Carara National Park & Rio Tarcoles Boats.
  • Excellent hotel room & service plus good food in multiple restaurants.
  • And several options for less than $200 a night! Even Glamping! 🙂

Dislikes

  • Buffet meals in the main restaurant by the hotel, Selvamar. But they have three other choices for menu restaurants and actually the food was good in all four, I just swore off buffet’s during Covid and still don’t like. 🙂

Punta Leona & Carara NP BIRDS Slideshow . . .

  • Turquoise-browed Motmot
  • Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
  • Scarlet Macaw
  • Red-legged Honeycreeper
  • Oven Bird
  • Stripe-throated Hermit
  • Black-throated Trogon
  • Brown Pelican
  • Northern Waterthrush

Nature & Other Activities

  • Nature is the main thing I like about Punta Leona.
  • Specifically, I enjoyed the Morning Bird Walk, their night hike, and their excursion to Carara National Park. Plus their own hiking trails, and a pretty good Butterfly Garden! And two beaches for walking, photos, and limited wildlife, mainly birds.
  • For other people, the three swimming pools will be a plus, especially with children.
  • Their Experiences Web Page include many more activities like beach volleyball, yoga, other guided hikes for birds or other nature, water sports of every kind available there or through a vender, including snorkeling and diving and even an underwater museum! Plus a playground for little children and nightlife entertainment for adults! 🙂

Punta Leona OTHER NATURE Slideshow . . .

  • Spiny-tailed Iguana
  • White-faced Capuchin Monkey
  • Hewitson’s Longwing
  • Passion Flower
  • Heliconia

Rooms & Food

  • The hotel rooms are first class! As good or better than any other hotel I’ve been to anywhere else in Costa Rica.
  • Likewise, the food is as good or better than just about anywhere. In addition to the big restaurant in the hotel area (below pix), they have three smaller restaurants by the pools and at Playa Blanca! And all three are menu restaurants! While the big one is buffet that I’m not fond of. 🙂
Hotel Restaurant Selvamar near hotel rooms & hotel pool. There are separate restaurants on both beaches.

Getting There

  • For you who live in Atenas and want to drive there, it is 55 km or a one hour+ drive, depending on traffic and time of day and week.
  • The public buses go only to nearby Jaco, not to Punta Leona, but the direct bus from Atenas goes right by the Punta Leona exit off Hwy 34 and they will probably let you off there and you call the hotel for a ride or the gate guard will. Or go on to Jaco and take a taxi back to Punta Leona. 1:30 bus ride from Atenas. See the bus schedules on https://thebusschedule.com/cr/
  • Hire a driver from Atenas. I use Walter’s Tours & Taxis, or call 8873 4266 or WhatsApp the same number.
Playa Blanca, the white sand beach. Play Mantas is larger and on the other side of that island/peninsula.

My Trip Gallery

  • CLICK the gallery image below to go to the gallery for this hotel trip.

My Related Photo Books

CLICK cover image for free preview.
  • This older book (in 2017), covers the two hotels I’ve visited in Tarcoles with easy access to both Carara National Park & Tarcoles River for birding: Villa Lapas & Cerro Lodge. Since you have access to both of these birding places from Punta Leona, I’m including this book here. For a free preview, click the cover image below or go to this address: https://www.blurb.com/b/7747505-carara-national-park-tarcoles-river-birds

¡Pura Vida!

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Sunset on Playa Mantas, Punta Leona. In Costa Rica all beaches are legally public, thus a boat can anchor like this one and use the beaches by the hotel. +The village of Punta Leona has a public access trail to Playa Mantas. 🙂