• Playa OcotalA small dark sand cove between rocky headlands, used more for diving than a long walk. Midday sun sits on it. Come early or late. Bring water.
  • Ocotal dive sitesRocks and a wall, and the clear hour is the morning. If the cove is stirred, go by boat, not from the beach. Do not leave it for later.
  • Father Rooster beachThe sand in front is short, with rocks to both sides. Shade past the palapa is scarce. Swim early. By noon you are standing in the open.
  • Playa del CocoGray sand and the working fleet sit a few minutes north: boats and dinner. This cove is the quieter water, and morning is when it is clear.
  • Bahía Pez VelaThe wider bay around the cove is for fishing boats, not a second town beach. The usable swim is still the morning, before the breeze fills in.
  • Snorkeling wallThe wall is off the point. With any swell it is a boat, not a walk in from the sand. Go in the morning. Later the surface is too stirred to read.
  • Ocotal point sunsetSit the point or the top of the cove. The sun drops into the Pacific. Come with time to find a seat. This is a lookout, not a sail. Bring water.
  • Fishing chartersAsk the night before, and be ready early. Boats leave this bay ahead of the wind. Bring water. Looking at the dock does not put you on board.
  • Hermosa coveThe calm crescent north of Coco, a short ride from this rocky cove. The swim there is easier. Do it in the morning, before the wind rakes the bay.
  • Catalina IslandsAn early boat to offshore rocks. Bring water. There is nothing to buy when you arrive, and the ride back is into whatever wind has filled in.

The landscape is dark-sand cove, rocky headlands, and dry forest. You are likely to see howler monkeys, parrots, iguanas, frigatebirds and reef fish on the wall. The plants around them are dry forest, cacti on the headlands and beach almond in the cove.

Around Playa Ocotal, howlers are in the forest above the cove at first light. The reef fish are on the wall in the morning, before the wind turns the water white.

Dive operators follow reef codes on the Ocotal wall, and the cove stays a small pocket beside developed Coco.

In Playa Ocotal, stay on the trail and do not feed what you came to see. That is the rule that keeps this place the way it is.

The climate is tropical dry. It is hot, about 28–33°C. Little rain falls from December to April. Afternoon showers fall from May to November. Playa Ocotal sits at sea level.

In the greener months the morning is still usable, and the rain tends to wait until afternoon. The countrywide calendar is in the best time to visit Costa Rica.

The nearest airport is Daniel Oduber in Liberia. Juan Santamaría in Alajuela is the other option. From the Central Valley the road crosses mountains, so the drive takes longer than the map says.

The drive is simple until the last kilometers. Arrive in daylight if you do not know the road. Buses, shuttles, and rental cars are compared in getting around Costa Rica.