Costa Rica has just been named the world’s best nature destination at the inaugural Forbes Travel Awards 2026, a distinction presented in Madrid on March 17 and grounded in what this country has been proving for decades: a vast protected lands system, extraordinary biodiversity, and a travel identity built around nature rather than mass tourism. According to reporting on the award, Costa Rica took the top spot in the nature category while standing alongside winners like Chile, Austria, and Madrid in other major tourism categories.
This is exactly the kind of recognition that sends a fresh wave of travelers chasing Costa Rica’s rainforests, volcanoes, beaches, wildlife, and waterfall hikes, often with only the broadest idea of what they’re actually looking for. And that’s just where things get interesting, because now that Costa Rica has been officially crowned the best nature destination, how you experience it matters even more.
This is not a country that reveals itself fully through a generic checklist. Nature here is too layered, too seasonal, too rich, and too thrillingly specific for that. You can absolutely come to Costa Rica with your list, check off a volcano, a sloth, a beach, and a national park, and go home happy… but if you want to understand why we keep earning global attention, you need something more than a to-do list and enthusiasm.
You need curation. You need local judgment. You need someone who knows the difference between what looks good online and what’s actually worth your time. That’s where Stay in Tamarindo shines.
Costa Rica’s Nature Story Is Bigger Than Most People Realize
Costa Rica’s reputation is not based on marketing magic; it’s based on numbers that still sound a bit ridiculous if you think about it. Official tourism and country-branding sources state that Costa Rica holds roughly 6% to 6.5% of the planet’s biodiversity, despite occupying less than 1% of the Earth’s surface – and the country’s tourism image continues to lean hard into protected lands, conservation, volcanoes, forests, beaches, and lower-impact travel.
That means biodiversity is not some side attraction here. It is the main event.
It also means that “nature travel” in Costa Rica can go in about a hundred different directions. Maybe it means migratory birding on the Tempisque River. Maybe it means watching olive ridley sea turtles arrive in waves at Ostional. Maybe it means mangrove estuaries, dry forest hikes, volcanic mud pots, turquoise waterfall pools, or a leatherback turtle nesting experience so surreal it feels made up. And that’s not even getting into the cloud forests, offshore islands, and inland rivers.
In other words, Costa Rica is not just one great nature trip. It is a whole collection of them.
Why More Recognition Can Mean More Average Travel
This is the part fewer people say out loud: when a destination gets this kind of attention, the average trip doesn’t quite cut it anymore.
Now, more people come to experience the world’s best nature destination. But that means that more people book the obvious thing. More people follow the same lists, take the same photos, rush through the same high-traffic stops, and leave thinking they’ve seen Costa Rica, when what they’ve actually seen is the most convenient, easiest, least challenging version of it.
Awards spotlight a destination, but they can’t tell you how to experience it well. (We can, though.)
This matters especially in a place like Costa Rica, where timing changes everything, where wildlife encounters are often highly location-specific, and where the difference between a good day and an unforgettable one can come down to the route you chose, the guide you booked, or the fact that one of us told you, “No, not that one – do this instead.”
Tamarindo Is More Than Sun, Sand, and Surf
Most people arrive in Tamarindo expecting a beach town. They’re not wrong. Tamarindo absolutely delivers on surf, sunshine, long sandy stretches, sunset cocktails, and the kind of easygoing coastal energy that convinces people to stay an extra week.
What many travelers don’t realize, though, is that Tamarindo is also one of the smartest gateways into Guanacaste’s natural riches, and that is a big part of why we love it so much.
From here, you can spend one day on the beach and the next threading through mangroves in search of monkeys, crocodiles, and water birds. You can go from estuary wildlife tours to turtle nesting excursions to volcanic day trips without turning your vacation into a giant transportation puzzle.
Tamarindo gives you the best of both worlds: a highly livable, well-equipped beach town and real access to some of the most exciting nature experiences in northwestern Costa Rica. And that’s the key: Not just access, but smart access.
Start Close: Tamarindo’s Immediate Wild Side
You don’t have to go very far from Tamarindo to understand why Costa Rica was named the best nature destination.
Start with the Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge and estuary, where calm waters, thick mangroves, and wildlife-rich banks make for one of the easiest and most rewarding outings in the area. Depending on the day, that can mean crocodiles, monkeys, iguanas, herons, kingfishers, and scenery so quiet, you have to pay attention to realize how much life is actually packed into it.
Then there is Las Baulas National Marine Park, one of the world’s most important nesting sites for leatherback sea turtles, and Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, famous for arribadas, the mass nesting events in which olive ridley turtles come ashore in astonishing numbers. These are not “nice little nature activities,” but the kinds of experiences that recalibrate how you think about wildlife travel. And that’s before you even leave the immediate Tamarindo orbit.
Then Go Wider: Guanacaste Gets Wild Fast
One of the great, often underappreciated advantages of staying in Tamarindo is how many excellent day trips fan out from here in every direction.
Palo Verde National Park is a perfect example. It’s one of the most important wetland and migratory bird habitats in the region, and a float or safari boat trip there can feel like stepping into an entirely different Costa Rica: quieter, greener, more riverine, and absolutely packed with life.
Rincón de la Vieja National Park is another. Here, the day can swing from bubbling mud pots and volcanic steam vents to waterfall swims, hot springs, canyon zip lines, or river tubing, depending on how much adrenaline or scenery you want to fold into it. And Miravalles Volcano, which tends to get less hype than it deserves, offers one of those wonderful combinations that Costa Rica does so well: horse trails, waterfalls, volcanic craters, mud, and hot springs all in one beautiful, under-the-radar package.
This is where Tamarindo becomes so valuable as a base. It doesn’t ask you to choose between beach life and nature travel. It lets you combine them.
Why Curation Matters More Now
Now that Costa Rica has another major international stamp of approval, more people will come looking for nature. The question is whether they’ll find the right version of it.
Curation matters because not every traveler wants the same thing. Some guests want a birding-rich morning and a poolside afternoon. Some want a high-adventure volcano day with waterfalls, mud, and a side of adrenaline. Some want a life-list turtle tour and then a very slow following day with coffee, ocean views, and nowhere to be. Some are traveling with children. Some are traveling with friends. Some are traveling as couples and want that sweet spot where the day feels full, but never overstuffed.
This is where Stay in Tamarindo acts as your filter. Not in the sense of limiting options, but in the much more valuable sense of refining them.
Because anyone can search “nature tours Costa Rica.” Not everyone knows which outing is worth the drive from Tamarindo, which guide is actually excellent, what to book in which season, how to balance one big excursion with two slower days, or when an estuary tour is a better call than a longer, more complicated day trip. That is the difference local expertise makes, and that is one of the reasons our concierge model matters so much.
The Villa Is Part of the Equation
This is also where Guanacaste villa rentals come into the picture.
A well-chosen villa doesn’t just give you a place to sleep between excursions. It gives shape to the entire trip. You can head out for wildlife and waterfalls, then come home to a private pool, a beautiful terrace, a gourmet kitchen, and quiet that lets the day settle in properly. You can spend one day in a wetland birding paradise and the next doing almost nothing at all, which, frankly, is often the smartest move.
That balance is part of the appeal of Guanacaste villa rentals done well. They support your adventure without forcing constant motion. They give families space. They give couples privacy. They give friend groups the freedom to go in different directions and still come back together easily. And from Tamarindo, they place you close enough to all this natural beauty that you can explore boldly without sacrificing comfort.
Casa Eclipse
Tamarindo | 5 Bedrooms | 6 Baths | 12 to 15 Guests
Casa Eclipse is exactly the kind of home that proves our point. Yes, Tamarindo is full of things to do, and yes, the beach, the surf, the cafés, and the restaurants are all just a short walk away. But the moment you step through Casa Eclipse’s gates, the outside world falls away. Built into the hillside and wrapped in curved walls, glass, and ocean light, this brand-new villa feels like its own private realm, the kind of place where the home itself becomes part of the trip.
And what a home it is. The infinity pool seems to pour straight into the horizon. The spiral staircase, set beneath a skylight, casts a sunburst pattern across the floor below. Ocean views follow you everywhere, from the dining table to the couch, from the bed to the soaking tub. Private balconies and multiple terraces on different levels give the whole group room to spread out, settle in, and find their own rhythm, whether that means sunrise coffee, an afternoon swim, or sunset with a drink in hand.
Casa Eclipse is also a perfect match for a Tamarindo trip that doesn’t need to be overplanned. If you want to wander into town for dinner, book a surf lesson, or head out for a sunset horseback ride, it’s all within easy reach. If you’d rather stay put, that works beautifully too. With daily housekeeping, staff-prepared breakfasts and snacks, and a dedicated concierge included, the house supports exactly the kind of ease this post is talking about: less coordination, more enjoyment, and a lot more room to let the day unfold naturally.
In other words, Casa Eclipse doesn’t just give you a place to stay in Tamarindo. It gives you a front-row seat to the Tamarindo state of mind.
Costa Rica Deserves the Award, and Your Trip Deserves a Filter
Costa Rica absolutely deserves to be called the world’s best nature destination. Our biodiversity is real. Our conservation story is real. Our wildlife is real. Our landscapes are as rich and varied as the country’s reputation suggests.
But here’s the thing: the award doesn’t build your trip for you. That part still comes down to choices: Where you stay. What you prioritize. What you skip. What you do close to Tamarindo, and what you save for the right full-day outing. That’s why we believe this moment, this Forbes recognition, makes curation more important, not less.
At Stay in Tamarindo, we love that the world is paying attention. We also know that Costa Rica is too special to experience on autopilot. So yes, come for the beaches, the surf, the sunsets, and the easy tropical energy. But while you’re here, let us show you the estuaries, the wetlands, the turtle beaches, the volcanoes, the waterfalls, and the wilder corners of Guanacaste that make this country worthy of the title it just received.
Because the best way to experience the world’s best nature destination is not to do everything.
It’s to do the right things, beautifully, from the right base, with the right people guiding the way.