The trip didn’t really start at the airport for me; it started in our group chat back in Houston. I’m Logan, 28, and after months of trading surf clips and “we need a vacation” memes with two of my college buddies, we finally committed to a week in Jaco Beach, Costa Rica. None of us had been to Costa Rica before, but we kept hearing the same things from people who had: warm water, consistent waves, crazy sunsets, good nightlife, and a town that’s easy to get around without a car. That combination was exactly what we were looking for.

We skipped the resort route and booked a modern Jaco Beach Airbnb apartment close to the surf and nightlife. The place had three beds, cold A/C, a small kitchen, and a balcony that looked down over a quiet street where locals walked their dogs in the evening. The host was clearly used to hosting surfers and groups—he left a printed map with spots circled: board rental shops, his favorite soda for cheap casados, and a couple of bars he said we “couldn’t miss.” The building itself was secure, with gated access and a front desk that always seemed to have someone smiling behind it. Coming back late at night never felt sketchy.

Our days naturally rotated around the tide charts. On the first morning, the three of us walked down to the sand with boards rented from a little shop at the north end of town. Jaco Beach is long and open, and even just seeing the waves roll in with the jungle-covered hills behind town gave us that “we’re really here” jolt. The waves were forgiving enough that my friend who’d surfed the least still got plenty of rides. In between sets we’d look back at the mountains and remind ourselves that back home people were sitting in traffic.

We didn’t just surf, though. One afternoon we swapped boards for engines and signed up for an ATV jungle ride. The tour wound us up into the hills behind Jaco and Hermosa, splashing through streams and grinding up muddy tracks, with stops at lookouts where we could see all the way down the coast toward Esterillos and Bejuco. Another day we tackled the Miro Mountain Hike, not in a rush but in that slow, sweaty way where you stop to listen to the jungle and let the view sink in. At the top, next to the old concrete structure covered in street art, we watched macaws fly over the town, red and blue flashes against a green and blue backdrop. We also fit in a Jungle Crocodile Safari Tour on the Tarcoles River, which felt worlds away from the beach but was just a short drive from Jaco.

The nights took on a different rhythm. We’d start with dinner—maybe tacos at Tacobar Restaurant or a huge burger at Ridiculous Burgers Restaurant—then ease into the bar and club scene. Some evenings we kept it simple, hanging at Jaco Blu Beach Club with our feet practically in the sand, watching the lights shimmer off the pool and listening to the surf beyond the music. Other nights we aimed squarely at the chaos: Cocal Casino for gambling and people-watching, Monkey Bar for that classic Jaco party vibe, and Jaco Vice Nightclub when we wanted to dance until our legs were as tired as our arms. Even when the streets were buzzing, we never felt unsafe walking between places. There were always other travelers around, taxis passing by, and locals who were more likely to shout “pura vida” than anything else.

On one of our last evenings, we took a quick taxi out to Herradura just before sunset, walked around Los Sueños Marina, and talked about coming back for a deep sea fishing trip next time. On the ride back, our driver pointed out towns along the way—Tarcoles, Parrita, Quepos, Manuel Antonio further down the coast—making it clear that this stretch of Costa Rica is loaded with places worth exploring. He talked with pride about how much Jaco has grown, and how tourism supports families there. That conversation stuck with me almost as much as any wave I caught.

Getting around Jaco and the nearby areas was easy. We used Ubers when we wanted to plan ahead, taxis when we just waved something down, and buses when we felt like traveling like locals. The roads link Jaco to Hermosa, Herradura, and beyond without much hassle, and every ride gave us glimpses of lush green hills, little roadside sodas, and the occasional monkey or iguana. The whole region is this blend of beach town energy and rainforest wildness. People say Costa Ricans are friendly, but you don’t really understand it until you’re there, asking for directions and getting a full conversation and restaurant recommendation in return.

By the time our week was up, we’d fallen into a simple pattern: surf, eat, explore, party, repeat. But it never felt repetitive because the setting kept changing—the tide, the clouds over the mountains, the mix of people we met from all over the world. Jaco Beach manage to be both a party town and a place where you can stand quietly at the waterline at sunset, listening to the waves and feeling really grateful to be alive. If you’re a group of friends looking for that combination of surf and nightlife, surrounded by some of the most beautiful coastline and rainforest you can imagine, Jaco is hard to beat.