What's on in Puerto Viejo (Puerto Viejo de Talamanca), Costa Rica through the year

Busy — Christmas and New Year, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Salsa Brava season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually)), Christmas and New Year (18 Dec – 5 Jan)

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Season

  The dry spells

  1 Feb – 31 Mar · usuallyDry season

  The Caribbean side runs on its own calendar: February and March are the driest weeks of the year, with a second, shorter break around September. The rest of it is genuinely wet, whatever the Pacific coast is doing.

Still on: Salsa Brava season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Leatherback nesting at Gandoca

  1 Mar – 15 Jul · usuallyTurtle nesting

  Leatherbacks, greens and hawksbills all use the refuge beaches south of Manzanillo. Night walks go out with the monitoring project rather than on your own, and the numbers are small enough that nothing is guaranteed. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  San José empties onto this coast for the week and the one road in from Limón backs up. Cabinas that never take bookings suddenly need them, and the bicycles out to Manzanillo all go early. Source ↗

Still on: The dry spells (1 Feb – 31 Mar (usually)), Salsa Brava season (1 Dec – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — Semana Santa

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Leatherback nesting at Gandoca (1 Mar – 15 Jul (usually)), Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Leatherback nesting at Gandoca (1 Mar – 15 Jul (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Leatherback nesting at Gandoca (1 Mar – 15 Jul (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Leatherback nesting at Gandoca (1 Mar – 15 Jul (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Busy — Christmas and New Year, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Salsa Brava season

  1 Dec – 31 Mar · usuallySurf season

  The north swells arrive and Salsa Brava breaks over shallow reef straight in front of town — the heaviest wave in Costa Rica and not somewhere to learn. Playa Cocles down the road takes everyone else.

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year

  18 Dec – 5 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  The town is at its fullest and its loudest, with Costa Ricans, long-stay Europeans and the surf crowd all in at once. It also lands in the middle of the swell season, which is not a coincidence. Source ↗