What's on in Santa Teresa (Malpais), Costa Rica through the year

Peak crowds — Dry season, Christmas and New Year

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually)), Christmas and New Year (18 Dec – 5 Jan)

Busy — Dry season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Dry season

• Season

  Surf season

  15 Mar – 31 Oct · usually

  The southern swells arrive and the beach breaks from Playa Carmen up to Manzanillo work most days — consistent and forgiving, which is why the town exists at all. Dawn is when it is cleanest.

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowdedBook early

  Costa Ricans drive down for the whole week and the track in from Cóbano fills with pickups. Everything on the strip is booked and the ferry queue at Paquera runs to hours in both directions. Source ↗

Still on: Dry season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Dry season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr), Dry season (15 Dec – 15 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (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: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

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

• Season

  The shutdown months

  15 Sep – 31 Oct · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  The wettest weeks of the year, when the road in gets cut more than once and a good share of the restaurants and hotels close until November. Cheap, empty, and half of it shut.

Still on: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually))

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Surf season (15 Mar – 31 Oct (usually)), The shutdown months (15 Sep – 31 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Peak crowds — Dry season, Christmas and New Year

• Season

  Dry season

  15 Dec – 15 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  The Nicoya turns brown and the unpaved road through town becomes dust deep enough to taste — every business hoses its frontage twice a day. Mornings are offshore and glassy, which is the trade-off.

• Holiday

  Christmas and New Year

  18 Dec – 5 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedBook early

  The fullest and dearest fortnight on the peninsula, with a mostly foreign crowd and a New Year that stays on the beach until it gets light. Hotels want a week's minimum stay for it. Source ↗