Hotel Punta Islita

Hotel Punta Islita is a small luxury hotel on a headland above Islita Beach, on the quiet southern Pacific coast of Guanacaste. It’s one of the few upscale resorts in Costa Rica that holds the top Elite level of the national sustainable tourism certification, and its real draw is the setting: a protected patch of tropical dry forest, a village of about 140 people that the hotel has worked alongside for three decades, and a scarlet macaw release project a short walk away.

At a glance

Where it is

Islita sits in Nandayure canton, between Sámara to the north and Playa Coyote to the south, on a stretch of coast with no big towns and few hotels. According to the hotel’s website, the transfer from the local airstrip takes about 15 minutes, and the flight there from San José is around 50 minutes. By road, the hotel gives Nosara as about 1.5 hours away, Liberia about 3 hours, and Santa Teresa 2 hours in the dry season and 3 in the rainy season. Monteverde and La Fortuna are 3.5 and 4.5 hours respectively, so this works best as a stop of several nights rather than a one-night hop.

The village of Islita below the hotel is small and rural. The hotel describes it as a community of roughly 140 residents, and it’s the main reason a stay here feels different from a resort in the busier north of Guanacaste.

History

The hotel opened in June 1994, designed by the Costa Rican architect Ronald Zürcher, according to a 2013 profile in The Voice of Guanacaste. That article counted 56 rooms at the time and reported that 93% of the hotel’s staff came from the surrounding area. It also described a music school teaching percussion and marimba to children from Islita, Corozalito, Pilas and Pueblo Nuevo, and a small art museum showing work by local artists. Those figures are a snapshot from more than a decade ago, so treat them as history rather than a current count.

Villas and suites

The hotel’s current site describes “only 27” villas, which tells you this isn’t a large resort. It also lists six suites of 30 square meters, each with an ocean-view bedroom, an ensuite bathroom, a generous terrace with an outdoor shower and a private plunge pool. Older descriptions of the property, including our previous page, listed standard and deluxe rooms, junior suites and two- to four-bedroom private villas with kitchens, but the hotel no longer publishes a breakdown by category, so check what’s available when you book, especially if you’re traveling as a family or group.

Food

Dining is spread across the property rather than concentrated in one big restaurant. The website lists:

• The Beach Club, with a restaurant focused on lighter, healthy food by the sand.
• Multi-course menus from the executive chef.
• A wine cellar with sommelier-chosen bottles.
• Farm-to-table lunches in the hotel’s organic garden.
• A shop and coffee shop for snacks and drinks.

The hotel doesn’t publish detailed menus or dietary policies online, so contact it ahead of time if you have specific needs.

Things to do

The hotel organizes its activities into a handful of themes, according to its website:

• Forest and adventure: forest and night hikes, a hike out to the Punta Islita point, ziplines through the 40-hectare protected forest, horseback riding, e-bikes and ATVs.
• Wildlife: birdwatching, guided sea turtle night patrols in season, monkey and sloth walks, and visits to the macaw project.
• Water: surf lessons, kayaking in the mangroves, beach hopping, shore fishing and offshore fishing.
• Community: village walks, a “Blue Zone” experience on the long-lived traditions of the Nicoya Peninsula, art therapy workshops with local artisans, and a Community Museum on the area’s history and heritage.
• Wellness: a holistic center built from bamboo, offering therapies and wellness rituals.
• Helicopter flights: scenic flights and transfers to volcanoes, beaches and national parks.

The macaw project

The most distinctive outing here is to the Macaw Recovery Network’s wild macaw reserve in Punta Islita, minutes from the beach in dry tropical forest. The hotel calls it its Macaw Conservation Project, and the 2013 profile describes how the hotel helped fund the group (then called The Ara Project). On the network’s visitor tours page, the regular one-hour tour starts with a short slideshow and a guided walk to watch a released, free-flying flock of scarlet macaws come in for their morning food. There’s also a two-hour photography morning. Tours run at 7:30 am or 4 pm (photography at 7 am) and must be booked at least 24 hours ahead. The breeding facilities aren’t open to visitors.

Sustainability

Punta Islita holds the Elite level in Costa Rica’s Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST), certified on April 22, 2025 and valid until April 2028. In its CST statement, the hotel says it has used the program to make its operations more efficient and reduce its environmental impact, and that it works closely with the local community. On its own site, the hotel lists local development projects, reforestation, community-led initiatives, beach cleanups, the macaw project and sea turtle patrols. It doesn’t publish energy or water figures. The 2013 profile also mentions support for a sea turtle egg protection program at the nearby Camaronal Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife and nature

The hotel’s forest is tropical dry forest rather than rainforest, which means a different cast of animals and a landscape that turns noticeably drier in the summer months. The hotel highlights scarlet macaws, monkeys, sloths, birds and nesting sea turtles. As always, sightings depend on season and luck, but the released macaws at the nearby reserve are one of the more reliable wildlife encounters on this coast.

Who it suits

Punta Islita suits couples, honeymooners and families who want a polished, quiet base with beaches, forest and a real connection to the village around it. It’s a good fit if you care about where your money goes: the CST Elite level and the community programs are more substantial than most luxury resorts offer.

It’s less suited to travelers on a tight budget, to anyone who wants nightlife or restaurants within walking distance, or to wildlife enthusiasts who want deep rainforest. For that, head south to the Osa Peninsula. If you’d like to compare nearby options on this coast, look at Casa Caletas Hotel on Playa Coyote, or go north to Lagarta Lodge above the Nosara Biological Reserve. Our Guanacaste eco-lodges section covers the wider region, and our guide to CST certification explains what the Elite level means. You can also read more about Hotel Punta Islita on Costa Rica Journeys.