The Harmony Hotel, Nosara

The Harmony Hotel is a low-key boutique hotel set in native-plant gardens a two-minute walk from Playa Guiones, one of Costa Rica’s best-known surf beaches. Its owners rebuilt an old surf hotel in 2004 around a simple idea: protect what makes Nosara special. Today it holds the Elite level of Costa Rica’s sustainability certification and its parent company is a certified B Corp, which makes it one of the more serious green choices on the Nicoya Peninsula.

At a glance

Where it is

The hotel sits in Guiones, a short bike ride south of the busier commercial strip in North Guiones. A sandy path from its back gate runs through coastal forest to the beach in about two minutes. Because this shoreline lies inside the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, nothing can be built within 200 m of the high-tide line, so the beach has no bars or hotels on the sand. To the north, the hotel borders a green zone protected by the Nosara Civic Association.

Getting there is part of the experience. The hotel’s FAQ suggests flying into the Nosara airstrip on a small Sansa plane, under an hour from San José or about 20 minutes from Liberia, with staff meeting you on landing. By road it’s about two and a half hours from Liberia airport, ending on what the hotel cheerfully calls its “infamously bumpy” roads.

The story behind it

According to the hotel’s own account, the owners were surfers who met on Nosara’s beaches. In 2004 a run-down bungalow surf hotel came up for sale with plans that worried them, so they bought it, despite having no wish to become hoteliers. They tore out the “tropical” lawns and replaced them with native species to draw wildlife back, hired local staff for most positions, and treated sustainability as seriously as comfort. The relaunched hotel opened in 2005.

Rooms

There are several room types, all built around the same ethos: no TVs, no sodas, and a lockbox where guests are encouraged to leave their phones. The rooms page describes:

• Cocos, closest to the pool and front desk, for two adults, each with a private deck and outdoor shower
• Bungalows, set further out for privacy, sleeping up to two adults and two small children
• Palma Bungalows, family-sized, with a study area, kitchenette, outdoor patio and private plunge pool
• The Suite, with a second bedroom and a large terrace
• Two villas on the edge of the property, each with three ensuite bedrooms and a full kitchen; one has its own pool

Every guest gets one complimentary yoga class a day, plus use of the saltwater pool, a dry sauna and cold plunge pools, and the hotel’s surfboards and bikes. Toiletries are made from natural biodegradable ingredients.

Yoga, surf and the Healing Centre

The Healing Centre is deliberately not a spa. The hotel describes it as a place for yoga, meditation and bodywork for “sore surfers” and anyone wanting to slow down. The schedule posted on the Healing Centre page runs a 75-minute Harmony Yoga class every morning, plus free evening meditation on some weekdays. Massages and treatments are booked separately.

Surfing is the other draw. Playa Guiones has a long, consistent beach break that works for beginners and experienced surfers alike, and surf schools operate along the beach.

Food

The restaurant cooks with what Costa Rican farmers and local fishers bring in, and the menu shifts with the season and the daily catch. The kitchen is working toward zero waste by using every part of its ingredients. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are always available, and longer-stay guests can ask the chef to plan a wider menu in advance. A separate juice bar under a thatched ranchito serves house-baked bread, salads and fresh juices and is popular with locals as well as guests.

Sustainability

The Harmony is listed at the Elite level in the CST directory, certified in March 2025 and valid until March 2028. Its parent company, Harmony Projects, became a certified B Corp in May 2023 after a process the company says began in 2018.

The Harmony Projects environment page lists the practical details:

• Low-flow fixtures, monthly water monitoring and a goal of zero pipe leaks
• A target of composting and recycling 85% of waste, with no single-use plastics and on-site composting
• Solar water heaters, efficient lighting and motion-sensor switches
• On-site wastewater treatment, much of it reused to irrigate the gardens, plus swales to slow storm runoff
• Native-plant landscaping with no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides

In 2021 the hotel helped set up a fund with the wildlife refuge, Fundecodes and the Tempisque Conservation Area. It now donates a fixed amount for every guest and every night to support the refuge’s work and invites other local businesses to do the same, according to the hotel’s Nosara page.

Wildlife and turtles

The gardens attract iguanas, monkeys, birds and the orange-and-purple Halloween crabs that scurry across the beach path. Olive ridley sea turtles nest on these beaches year-round, and the big mass nestings, or arribadas, happen at Playa Ostional, about 5 km north. The hotel says the peak is September to November, often a few days before the new moon, with hatchlings emerging some 45 to 54 days later. Humpback whales also pass along this coast.

Who it suits, and who might not enjoy it

The Harmony suits surfers, yoga regulars and couples who want design, good food and a real conservation story without the formality of a big resort. Families are welcome, though the hotel itself warns that school holidays can be lively.

It isn’t for travelers who want air-conditioned isolation from nature. The hotel notes that geckos, bugs and the odd crab may wander into rooms. If you want a quieter clifftop setting nearby, Lagarta Lodge overlooks the Nosara river mouth and its own reserve. For more ideas, see our Guanacaste guide, our list of yoga retreats in Costa Rica and our guide to sea turtle nesting.