Advertisement
Playa Ventanas

Playa Ventanas

Playa Ventanas
4.5
About
Duration: 1-2 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Top ways to experience Playa Ventanas and nearby attractions

See what travelers are saying

  • amyAtlantaGA
    Atlanta, Georgia96 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great swimming beach
    We went at low tide. Easy access, though road is a bit rough. We ended up not paying for parking because no one was in the kiosk. Beautiful beach (though I am not partial to the type of sand in CR) with a good number of people but not too crowded. Swimming was good-with only medium waves.
    Visited December 2023
    Traveled with friends
    Written December 10, 2023
  • Go06455774158
    4 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great little beach!
    Cool little beach, and one of just a few you can access south of Uvita that isn’t part of the Ballena NP. Only 2000c per vehicle. Lots of food vendors, lots of locals on a Saturday, very safe and fun beach. Check out the caves on the north side!
    Visited December 2023
    Traveled with family
    Written December 25, 2023
  • Jorge V
    San Jose, Costa Rica506 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Fun beach with waves, some little caves and plenty of space
    We were looking for a beach near Uvita outside of the national park, and this is one of the closest ones. Getting to it is easy enough, through a short gravel road. It crosses a small stream that maybe would get dicey if it rains a lot, so be aware of that. There's plenty of parking when you get there, and there are vendors offering seats and big shades for you to use. There were more than enough options to sit, walk, and find shade at this beach when we visited, so you don't really need to pay for anything extra. You can walk to the edges of the beach to see nice rock formations and some small caves. Also some good photo ops. The waves are strong enough to have a good time hanging out in the water, but also enough to make you cautious about going too far. There's a lifeguard on duty, but better to be careful on your own.
    Visited September 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written September 1, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles215 reviews
Excellent
134
Very good
67
Average
9
Poor
5
Terrible
1

HCEdin
Edinburgh, UK93 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
What a beautiful spot. It's 2,000 colones to park and although we were happy to sit on the sand, there were cabanas and loungers to hire. The waves were calmer compared to beaches like Dominical and shallow waters safe for younger children. There are lots of vendors here selling drinks and food - although beware to check prices as we foolishly didn't (it was our first day in Costa Rica!) and after ordering were charged 7,000 for a small fried fish and plantains.
Written February 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Okanagan13
British Columbia125 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021
Playa Ventanas is a picturesque beach with interesting caves. You can easily spend your day swimming, boogie boarding, exploring the caves at low tide, or just chilling on the beach.
Entry Fee: $2 USD per car - Dec, 2021
Onsite beach patrol/lifeguards and bathrooms (bring toilet paper)
Vendors: food, water, alcoholic beverages, souvenirs
Rentals: beach chairs, tent canopies to protect you from the sun
To get here you will need to cross a small creek in your car.
Written December 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Triplebock
Fairfax County, VA107 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2021
This was our second visit to Dominical, Costa Rica, and our second visit to Playa Ventanas. It's a great beach for families, as there is plenty of beach area for little kids to play in the sand, and there is not a steep dropoff.

At low tide, you can explore some caves that go all the way through the rocks on one side of the beach (hence the name "Ventanas" (windows)). There are interesting cliffs on the other side of the beach and some caves/overhangs to explore.

We paid $3 per car for parking. Parking spaces are marked among the palm trees in the area between the stream that runs behind the beach, and the beach itself. These palm trees provide a lot of shade for those who want it.

The first time we came to this beach, it was June 2018, and there were no vendors on the beach. Perhaps it was low season. We were glad we had picked up some empanadas at the BM Supermarket in Uvita on our way down.

In December 2021, there were lots of vendors on the beach. It looks like some reviewers don't like this. I'm not sure why the presence of non-pushy vendors on a public beach makes it a fake experience. We had our empanadas again, but some of the fish casados looked really yummy. I was glad to be able to buy a Pipa Fria (chilled coconut, and then they cut a hole in the top and you drink the coconut water through a straw), and we rented a canopy and some chairs for the family to share.

The stream that runs behind the beach outlets across the beach at one point. It was nice to hike up the creek a bit and wash the salt off. If I recall correctly, there is a footwash somewhere near the entrance.

I'm always impressed that even at a relatively isolated beach in Costa Rica, there are always multiple recycling sorting bins. There was no trash on the beach.

The kids had a good time boogie-boarding and diving through the waves. There were lifeguards on duty.

This has become one of our favorite family beaches. It's hard to find one with this much shade, sand, and a little for everyone.
Written January 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BuenViaje68
Tempe, AZ563 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021 • Couples
Our experience with Ventanas was not great. I’m willing to own that maybe our mood was not as great heading to this beach. We had hoped to hike into Playa Arco, but had our plans dashed by limited access and La Cusinga Lodge charging $10/person to access the trail and was going to require us to go back to Uvita to purchase a national Park pass.

We settled for Las Ventanas. We were charged 4000 Colones to enter. The beach was a little grimy. They had 2 bathrooms for the entire beach and there is not toilet paper provided. The beach is rocky. We had a hammock ans set it up in the trees. That was a nice feature. We ended up not staying very long…a couple of hours and then left. We didn’t explore or go looking for the caves.

It’s an average beach. I’ve seen much better.
Written September 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rochelle F
Randolph, NJ1,162 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022 • Couples
You pay a small fee of 1,500 colones to park here. There are tables and shade. It is not a big beach but nice. The water can be rough so we did not go far in but it was nice and warm

There are 2 sea caves on the far right of the beach. We were there at high tide so no one went through them although we have done that a few years back.
Written February 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

FellowTraveler783082
Casper, WY13 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022 • Family
Lovely!! When we arrived we were able to easily get a beach cover. We rented some boogie boards for $3 each and played in the water. We loved the view forward as well as the view looking back toward land. The water gushes through the rocks as the tide rolls in. We had a lovely time .
Written April 2, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

amyAtlantaGA
Atlanta, GA96 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2023 • Friends
We went at low tide. Easy access, though road is a bit rough. We ended up not paying for parking because no one was in the kiosk. Beautiful beach (though I am not partial to the type of sand in CR) with a good number of people but not too crowded. Swimming was good-with only medium waves.
Written December 10, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Carl Johan
Copenhagen, Denmark18 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022 • Family
Wonderfull small and beautiful beach. Yes, there are other people, but this also means parking close to the beach, lifeguards, great options for food in terms of local streetfood and possibility for renting boogey boards at 4 USD / hour, which I find super fair. My children aged 8 and 10 had a great day in the waves.
Written July 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kim
Saint Louis, MO5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023
Fun beach with great waves (for the whole family (11+) to jump in) and some food and other vendors. Best to go at low tide to be able to go in the caves. Also loved that there were lifeguards there. Pay attention to the flags and only swim on the yellow flag side of the beach.
Written July 31, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Brittany F
Plano, TX29 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2023
We visited Playa Ventanas during our Waterfall Tour, and were lucky to be able to see the caves at low tide! This beach is GORGEOUS! There are red flags and yellow flags - the red are "don't swim" areas, and the yellow mean swimming is okay. I wish I had more time at this beach and had the chance to boogey board - the waves were perfect for it! The caves were very cool to experience. It was gorgeous to see the mountains in the background of this lush jungle beach while floating in the warm Pacific.
Written March 5, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

…
Showing results 1-10 of 148
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

Playa Ventanas - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

All things to do in Ballena
RestaurantsFlightsVacation RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars