Los Sueños Vacation Rentals — What to Know Before You Book

Los Sueños occupies 1,100 acres of rainforest along Herradura Bay on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific coast. The scarlet macaws fly over the golf course around 4 PM. The marina has 200 slips and more sportfishing boats than you can count. The beach club has a wood-fired pizza oven and a swim-up bar where nobody’s in a rush. And Jacó — with its surf break, restaurants, and actual grocery stores — is a 10-minute drive when you need the real world.

Why Stay in Los Sueños

Here’s what people get wrong about Los Sueños: they think it’s just a resort. It’s not. It’s a gated residential community with resort-grade amenities that happens to have some of the best vacation rentals on the Central Pacific.

The Resort

Inside the gates you’ll find the Los Sueños Marina — the first government-approved marina in Costa Rica, with 200 wet slips and 166 dry slips — an 18-hole championship golf course, a 4.6-acre private beach club, and a cluster of restaurants in the Marina Village. There’s a Marriott hotel on the property too, but the private condos and villas are where the resort really opens up — full kitchens, living rooms, and none of the hotel-hallway feeling.

The Marina Village restaurants cover the range: Bambú for sushi, Dolce Vita for Italian and pastries, Al Fresco at the Beach Club for poolside ceviche and wood-fired pizza. You don’t need a car for any of it.

The Location

Los Sueños is roughly 90 minutes from Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in San José — a straightforward drive on paved highway. The surf town of Jacó is 10 minutes south, which means you get nightlife, more restaurants, and a solid beach break without any of the noise when you’re back inside the resort. Carara National Park — one of the best birdwatching spots in the country, famous for scarlet macaws — is about 20 minutes north. Manuel Antonio, another top destination, is an hour further south.

That Central Pacific position matters. It’s the most accessible coast from San José, and the climate runs drier than the Caribbean side, with a reliable dry season from December through April.

Who It’s For

Los Sueños works for a surprisingly wide range of trips:

• Fishing groups book here for the marina. The offshore fishing out of Herradura Bay draws tournament teams from around the hemisphere — more on that below.
• Golf trips come for La Iguana, a Ted Robinson Jr. design cut through actual rainforest.
• Families like the beach club, the pools, and the fact that everything is walkable and gated.
• Couples use it as a base — a few days at the resort, day trips to waterfalls and national parks, dinner in Jacó.

What sets it apart from other Costa Rica destinations is the infrastructure. Nosara has surf. Manuel Antonio has the national park. Guanacaste has the big all-inclusives. Los Sueños has a full-service marina, a championship golf course, and a private beach club all inside one gated community — with a real town 10 minutes away. You’re not isolated and you’re not roughing it.

Where to Stay in Los Sueños

Los Sueños vacation rentals fall into two categories: condos and villas. Both come with full resort access — beach club, golf (at guest rates), marina, restaurants, pools.

Condos

Condo complexes are spread throughout the resort, ranging from one-bedroom units to three-bedroom layouts. Most have ocean, marina, or rainforest views. Expect full kitchens, air conditioning, washer/dryers, and access to shared pools. One-bedrooms work for couples; three-bedrooms can sleep six to eight comfortably, which makes them popular with families and small groups.

Condos are the more accessible option — lower nightly rates than villas, and you’re still getting the full Los Sueños experience.

Villas

Villas are standalone homes within the resort, typically three to six bedrooms with private pools, outdoor entertaining areas, and significantly more space. They’re the choice for larger groups, multi-family trips, or anyone who wants that extra layer of privacy. Some sit up on the hillside with panoramic ocean views; others are closer to the marina and beach club.

What’s Included with Nest Stays

Every Nest Stays property at Los Sueños comes with concierge service. That means airport transfers, restaurant reservations, fishing charters, golf tee times, day trips — we handle the logistics so you don’t spend your vacation on the phone. You also get a local team on the ground if anything comes up during your stay.

What to Do in Los Sueños

Sportfishing

This is what put Los Sueños on the map. The marina hosts the Signature Triple Crown Billfish Tournament series — three legs running January through March — and the tournament keeps growing because the fishing backs it up. The waters off Herradura Bay produce marlin, sailfish, dorado, yellowfin tuna, and roosterfish depending on the season.

Peak billfish season runs roughly from December through April, but there’s good fishing year-round. The marina’s charter fleet ranges from 31-foot center consoles for inshore trips to 60-foot-plus sportfishers for full-day offshore runs. We can book charters for any group size.

Golf at La Iguana

La Iguana is an 18-hole, par-72 course designed by Ted Robinson Jr., playing 6,698 yards through actual rainforest. Course rating 73.4, slope 145 — it’ll test you. This isn’t a flat resort course you play once for the photos. White-faced capuchin monkeys cross the fairways. Iguanas sun themselves on the cart paths. Scarlet macaws fly overhead on the back nine, which runs along the coast.

Fair warning: the back nine views will wreck your concentration. Budget an extra stroke per hole for staring at the Pacific.

Resort guests get preferred tee times and rates. The pro shop and practice facilities are solid.

The Beach Club

The Beach Club is a 4.6-acre private facility on the ocean, exclusively for resort residents and guests. It has a large swimming pool, a swim-up bar, a jacuzzi, a kids’ play area, an elevated white-sand beach, a yoga pavilion, and a soccer field. Al Fresco, the on-site restaurant, serves lunch daily — the wood-fired pizzas and fresh ceviche are the go-to orders.

This is where most families spend their mornings. Grab a lounge chair, order food to your spot, let the kids run between the pool and the beach. It’s low-key and uncrowded because it’s only open to Los Sueños residents and their guests.

Jacó

Ten minutes south by car, Jacó is the closest town and the most developed beach community on the Central Pacific. Good surf — the beach break works for beginners and intermediates. Plenty of restaurants, from local sodas (Costa Rican diners) to higher-end spots. Nightlife on weekends. Grocery stores, pharmacies, ATMs — all the practical stuff.

Jacó is also where many of the adventure tour operators are based: ATV tours, zip-lining, waterfall rappelling, jet skis. It’s useful to have nearby without it being inside the resort itself.

Day Trips

• Carara National Park — 20 minutes north. A transitional forest between dry and wet tropical zones, and one of the most reliable spots in Costa Rica to see scarlet macaws. Bring binoculars. Guided tours run about two hours.
• Tárcoles River — Just past Carara. Famous for massive American crocodiles visible from the bridge. Boat tours get you closer.
• Waterfall tours — Several operators run trips to waterfalls in the nearby mountains, including Bijagual (a 590-foot cascade about 45 minutes away).
• Manuel Antonio National Park — About an hour south. White-sand beaches, sloths, monkeys, easy trails. One of the most visited parks in the country for a reason. Makes a great full-day trip.
• Zip-lining and canopy tours — Multiple operators in the Jacó/Herradura area with canopy tours through primary rainforest.

One thing nobody mentions in the brochures: the fish market at the marina sells the day’s catch directly off the boats. Buy a pound of yellowfin, take it back to your rental’s kitchen, and you’ve got the best dinner on the coast for $15. That’s the kind of thing that makes a vacation rental at Los Sueños different from a hotel stay.

Getting to Los Sueños

From San José (SJO Airport)

The drive from Juan Santamaría International Airport to Los Sueños is about 90 minutes via Route 27 — a modern toll highway that cuts through the mountains to the coast. It’s an easy, well-maintained road. We arrange private transfers for all guests, so you don’t need to deal with rental cars on day one.

From Liberia (LIR Airport)

Liberia’s Daniel Oduber Airport is in Guanacaste, roughly 4-5 hours north. If you’re flying into Liberia, Los Sueños isn’t practical — book through SJO instead.

Getting Around Once You’re Here

Inside the resort, you can walk to the beach club, marina, and restaurants. For Jacó, day trips, and restaurants outside the resort, you’ll want either a rental car or to use our concierge to arrange transport. Many guests rent a car for the flexibility — the roads in this area are good and driving is straightforward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Los Sueños worth the price?

If what you want is a secure, well-maintained resort with a real marina, a serious golf course, and a private beach club — all within reach of the rest of the Central Pacific — then yes. The alternative is piecing that together from separate hotels, separate clubs, and separate locations. Los Sueños puts it all in one place. A condo rental often costs less per night than a comparable hotel room, especially for families and groups splitting the rate.

How far is Los Sueños from the airport?

About 90 minutes from SJO (San José’s international airport) via the Route 27 highway. It’s one of the easiest resort transfers in Costa Rica — no puddle jumper flights, no unpaved roads.

Can you visit Los Sueños without staying there?

The Marina Village restaurants are open to the public. The golf course accepts outside tee times. But the Beach Club is private — reserved for residents and guests of the resort. If the beach club is important to you, you need to stay inside the resort.

What’s the best time to visit Los Sueños?

December through April is dry season — sunny days, low humidity, peak fishing. This is also peak pricing. May through November brings more rain (usually afternoon showers, not all-day downpours), greener landscapes, lower rates, and fewer crowds. The fishing stays productive, the golf course is open, and the beach club is less busy. Shoulder months like May and November can be excellent value.

Los Sueños vs. a hotel — what’s better?

Hotels give you a room and shared amenities. A Los Sueños vacation rental gives you a full kitchen, a living room, multiple bedrooms, and often a private pool — plus access to the same resort amenities. For groups of four or more, the math almost always favors a rental. You also get more space, more privacy, and the ability to cook your own meals (the fish market at the marina sells the catch of the day).

Book Your Los Sueños Vacation Rental

Browse our available properties at Los Sueños — from marina-view condos to hillside villas with private pools. Every booking includes concierge service, airport transfer coordination, and a local team on call.

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