Punta Leona beaches: Playa Blanca and Mantas

Playa Mantas is the beach you walk to from the house; Playa Blanca is the white-sand cove 15 minutes farther south on foot, around a rocky point that is easiest at low tide. Both are about 90 km and one and a half hours from San José airport per the resort’s own FAQ, and both changed in June 2026 when a judge ordered the entrance gate removed. This guide covers access as it stands now, parking, tides and the macaws.

Where exactly are the two beaches?

Both sit inside Punta Leona, a resort and residential area on the Costanera (Route 34) about 15 minutes north of Jacó. Playa Mantas is the northern cove, reached by a signed road on the left shortly before the main Punta Leona entrance if you are driving from Jacó. Playa Blanca is the next cove south, at the end of the internal road and behind the rocky headland you can see from the Mantas sand.

They look different. Costa Rica Travel Blog describes Mantas as soft, light-brown sand with a thick backing of jungle, and Blanca as smooth, nearly white sand with water that turns aquamarine in places. Blanca holds the maximum five white stars in Costa Rica’s Bandera Azul beach cleanliness program as of July 2026, and Mantas regained the flag in 2025 with one star after years without it.

How do you get to Playa Blanca now that the gate is gone?

On 4 June 2026, national and municipal police removed the gate and guardhouse at Punta Leona on a judge’s order, opening the road to the public; by July 2026 Drink Tea and Travel reported the beach open around the clock with no fee to enter. The dispute goes back to Law 6043, which the mayor of Garabito cited in 2025 when he said the beach had to be reachable by Costa Ricans without paying. The resort calls the police action arbitrary and says the internal roads are private and under review in court, so treat the open road as current, not permanent.

The traditional way still works and, from our houses, is the nicer one: walk to Playa Mantas, go to the south end of the sand, and climb over the small rocky point to Playa Blanca. Costa Rica Travel Blog times it at roughly 15 minutes. The quickest way across is up a steep embankment, and at lower tides you can pick your way along the rocks farther out on the point instead.

The third way is the resort day pass, which Hotel Punta Leona sells for the pools, restaurant, sports courts and the club shuttle to Playa Blanca. Prices and hours change by season, so check with the hotel for your dates. If you are staying in a house with a pool, you do not need it for the beach.

When is low tide and why does it matter?

The walk from Mantas to Blanca crosses rocks that the sea covers at high water, so check the tide the evening before. Two Weeks in Costa Rica says Playa Blanca is best reached at low and mid tides, and Drink Tea and Travel says the crossing is easiest at low tide. Use the Playa Herradura tide forecast on costarica.com or the Jacó table on tidetime.org. Both show two lows and two highs a day, about six hours apart, so there is a workable window most mornings or afternoons. We send the week’s tide times on WhatsApp before you arrive.

Is it safe to swim?

Mantas is the calmer of the two for children; Two Weeks in Costa Rica says the waves are usually gentle and good for swimming even with young kids. Blanca is protected by the headlands and has clear water at the rocky ends, which Drink Tea and Travel calls one of the better snorkeling spots on this coast. Two Weeks in Costa Rica mentions a lifeguard at Playa Blanca (February 2026); for Playa Mantas we found no source that confirms one, so at Mantas count on there being none and check on the day. With children do not swim alone: swim where others are swimming, stay inside the coves and get out if a current starts pulling sideways. The water is warm all year; Costa Rica Vibes puts Jacó’s daily lows at 24 to 26 °C.

Will you see the macaws?

Almost certainly, and you will hear them first. Punta Leona has run an artificial nest program for scarlet macaws since 1994, and 2026 field guides call the coast between Tárcoles, Herradura and Jacó the best macaw area in the country. The birds are most active between 6 and 8 in the morning and in the hour before sunset, flying in pairs between the beach almond trees behind both coves. The resort’s own bird walk leaves at 6:15 for that reason.

Where do you park and what should you bring?

If you are not walking from one of our houses, park at the public lot at Playa Mantas: 10,000 colones per car per day Monday to Friday and 20,000 on weekends and holidays (about $20 and $40), open 8:00 to 16:30, per Two Weeks in Costa Rica in February 2026. Bring colones, water, reef-safe sunscreen and shoes you can wear over wet rock, because the point is sharp. Casa Azul is 75 meters from the Arenas supermarket and the Pops ice cream shop, the closest supplies to the beaches.

Where to stay

All three houses below are ours, each a walk from Playa Mantas and a low-tide walk from Playa Blanca, and every one has a pool. Casa Azul sleeps eight with a private pool and the supermarket next door. Natural Leona and Lapas Paradise each sleep eight and share a salt water pool and rancho with each other when both are booked; book them together as Lapas Leona Home for up to 16 with the pool to yourselves. Read more about the area in our Punta Leona guide, or pair it with a night in Escazú on the airport side.