The Papagayo Peninsula, a crooked finger of land cradling the west side of Bahía Culebra (Snake Bay), enjoys guaranteed sun from January to April, making it a prime site for all-inclusive hotels catering to snowbirds escaping North American winters. Five large hotels are already situated around Papagayo Bay, and others are slated to be built here, all part of a government-sponsored development program modeled after Cancún. Just before the entrance to Andaz Resort is the impressive Marina Papagayo, where luxury yachts and sailboats dock. Although the hotels are reminiscent of their Caribbean counterparts, the beaches are distinctly Costa Rican, with brown sand and aquamarine water that grows cool from January to April. Isolation is the name of the game here, which means that getting out of the man-made "paradise" to explore anything off-property often entails a pricey tour.
High season here coincides with dry season, when the heat is intense and the landscape becomes brown and brittle. In the rainy season (August to December), the landscape is greener and lusher. The sparkling water and spectacular sunsets are beautiful year-round.
