• Playa PotreroA long fishing bay, not an open beach break. You can stay in the water if you go before the afternoon wind. Palms help early. Midday is hard sun.
  • Potrero fishing boatsPangas rest on the sand, not in a marina. Ask the evening before, and be there when they leave. Bring water. The far end sells nothing.
  • Playa FlamingoThe next bay south is a tighter crescent and an easier swim than the open points. It is a short drive. Do it in the morning, before the chop.
  • Playa PencaA small cove between the longer bays. The point outside takes what swell there is, so this pocket stays quiet. Morning is the flat hour.
  • Playa PrietaDark sand, and the neighboring point takes the swell. Swim the pocket when you want the water quieter than the open beach just south.
  • BrasilitoIts own town beach and a small estuary, a short drive south. Give it a real walk. You will not get the sand, or the boats, from the car.
  • Marina FlamingoA working dock a few minutes south. Walk it even if you are not going out. The crews will tell you what leaves the bay in the morning.
  • Catalina Islands diveA boat dive to offshore rocks, not a shore entry. They leave early. The morning is on the water, so bring water and a layer against the wind.
  • Potrero bay swimThe swim is the bay itself: it does not dump the way an open beach does. Stay in while it is smooth. The afternoon wind is what pushes you out.
  • Sunset on PotreroA quiet west-facing sand, with fewer people than the bay to the south. Arrive while there is still room to sit. The sunset is the reason to stay.

The landscape is calm bay, sandy beach, and dry forest hills. You are likely to see howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, magpie jays, iguanas and coatis. The plants around them are tropical dry forest of guanacaste, pochote and beach almond, with mangrove in the estuaries.

Around Playa Potrero, howlers are in the dry forest behind the bay at first light. The fishing boats leave around then. By noon the bay is a swim, and the monkeys have gone quiet.

Shared nest patrols with Flamingo, marina waste rules, and dry-forest patches left standing behind the bay.

In Playa Potrero, nesting beaches need low lights and a guide who follows the rules. On the trails, stay on the marked path.

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 Potrero 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.