Playa Jaco – The Las Vegas and Acapulco of Costa Rica

Light gray sand and Palms, makes Jaco the most popular town in Costa Rica

Lets start out, Jacó means “horse” in Spanish and AKA “The city of surfing” for this very popular/diverse coastal city in Costa Rica’s Puntarenas province. It is the closest beach from San Jose (about an hour and half drive), and the mecca to Costa Rica’s partyness that has now caught the attention to Spring Breakers.

If I were going to put Jaco’s crazyness, in perspective, it’s Las Vegas, but without the desert, glitter, and concrete part. Think Green!  Think Jungle! Think Unreal Mountain Tops and Beaches. Think Loud Music!  Think Sports Fishing, Gambling, Ecotours, Zipling, White Water Rafting!  Think, after I get  sh#%faced  … uuggg … where will I wake up this time?

A 24/7 party town, somewhat unsafe, sin city, extremely diverse, families welcome, and until last year, the fastest growing town in Costa Rica. Jaco has and always will maintain one of the most popular tourism and surfing destinations in Costa Rica. It offers an incredible mixture of restaurants, recreations, casinos, hotels, services and nightlife to tourist and residents alike.  So if you also heard Jaco was a dangerous adult playground, complete with crime, drugs, shaky characters, and hookers, well you heard right!

Small and cluttered shops, business, and hotels line the main drag

One of the first things you will notice when arriving  is the fast-food franchises like KFC, Burger King, Quiznos and Pizza Hut. The second  is the array of people, all shapes, sizes, ethnic, rich and poor. The third thing  everyone is very friendly, no bias behavior at this town.

With luxury hotel chains like the Ritz Carlton and Hard Rock Cafe,  building  high-rise hotels, locals have dubbed it, “Jaco-pulco”, jokingly referring to it as early Acapulco (30 years ago) during its growth.

A Friday or Saturday night (or any night for that reason)  the main street resembles a  Sunset Strip with its cruising cars, trucks, noisy, surfers, drifters, crowds hanging out in front of bars, racing taxis, restaurants; exhaust fumes and cooking odors that clash into a chaotic mesmerizing form of  culture all crammed together in a mile and half long strip.  If you like this type of action,  the below would be just a few, that will welcome your money.  Yes, Jaco has gotten be somewhat expensive,  a good night out drinking and dinning can cost you 250-$300 USD.

•    The Monkey Bar
•    Copacabana Sport Bar and Hotel
•    Disco Central
•    Pancho Villa’s Bar
•    Onyx
•    Nacho Daddy’s
•    Tabacon Pizza Bar
•    Los Faroles Bar
•    La Bruja Bar Jaco Beach
•    Discotheque La Central

…. and last but not lease, the world famous, Beatle Club, the best adult nightclub action that  can also drip deep into the pocketbook ;-0

For 2009, the International Surf Association will hold the World  Masters Surfing Championship in Jacó. The event will take place from July 31 to August 8.

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