Gilded Iguana Surf Hotel, Nosara Costa Rica

Nosara is located on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula. It is known for yoga, Playa Guiones’s long surf break, Playa Pelada’s offshore reef, and just north of Nosara is the beach at Ostional Wildlife Refuge which is a nesting site for Olive Ridley Turtles.

Gilded Iguana Surf Hotel

The Gilded Iguana is an amazing hotel at the end of a 5 minute walk that leads to Playa Guiones, a famous surfing beach with unspoiled, protected landscape. This surf hotel is located in the town of Guiones (Ge-oh-nays), a jungle beach town located in Nosara in the Guanacaste Province. You won’t find crowds, paved roads, or high rise hotels. Unlike Tamarindo, this laid back beach & surf town has not been taken over by tourist shops and loud nightlife.

Contact me to book your stay or check out the hotel HERE.

Check out my travel essentials HERE.

To reach the Gilded Iguana we flew into Liberia, 2 flights from NYC with both being approximately 3.5 hours. We had arranged for transportation through the hotel and found them conveniently waiting for us when we arrived. The driver stopped at a local supermarket for us to pick up some snacks and Imperials. The drive is a little over 2 hours, with the last 25 minutes on an unpaved, dust covered road into Guiones. Quads, motorcyles and dirtbikes are the main transportation in Guiones. Young children sit between adults or hang on the waist of the driver. While most riders do not wear helmets, almost all have a bandana to cover their nose & mouth to keep the dust out.

The Gilded Iguana is the original surfer spot since 1988. It has been recently updated to include beautiful pools, bars, restaurant, yoga, surf club, and contemporary hotel rooms. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were greeted with fresh coconut water and a tour of the property.

Our jungle room had a super comfortable king bed, a walk in indoor shower, magnifying mirror with light, sitting area, closet with drawers, refrigerator, coffee maker, outdoor swing AND outdoor shower.

Lounge chairs and umbrellas surrounding the pool at Gilded Iguana. The hot tub was the same temperature as the pool during our stay, which was fine by the kids. The pool bar, serving drinks and food, is open all day until 6pm with complementary cold lemon water which is used to refill water bottles. Another great family feature is the shallow kids pool next to the pool bar.

Breakfast, open from 7:30-10:30 am, is included in the stay at Gilded Iguana. Fresh squeezed orange juice is available throughout breakfast. Try the fresh catch of the day or the selection of pizzas, pastas, burgers, or casados, a Costa Rican meal of rice, beans, sweet plantains, and salad. There are vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free options and a kids menu. The food is DELICIOUS!

The Queens of Reggae played at the Gilded Iguana one night during our stay. They were AWESOME! The festival was advertised to start at 3pm but actually started at 6pm. Maybe that’s a Costa Rican schedule. Tuesday nights are always live music night from 6-8pm. I recommend scheduling dinner around the music leaving some time to dance at the end.

We did not make any reservations during our stay but it is suggested to do so for dinner during the weekend.

STRAWS!! Over 500,000,000 single use plastic straws are used each day in America with a large percentage of them ending up as ocean pollution.

The Gilded Iguana uses all bamboo straws!! There are cold water filtration systems outside of the hotel rooms as well as cold lemon water set around the property to encourage people to refill their bottles instead of purchasing single use plastics.

The Gilded Iguana is the original surf hotel of Nosara. Playa Guiones is 200 meters from the hotel, with the surf club in between the hotel and beach. ASurf Club membership gives you full access to all surf equipment- SUP’s, boogie boards, skim boards, beaters (hybrid between boogie and surf boards), and surf boards for all skill levels and sizes. Members have access to the lockers, showers, bathroom, surf storage, juice bar, ping pong table, foosball, lounge, and changing stalls. Members receive a 20% discount at the juice bar, restaurant, surf lessons, hotel store, spa, and tours.

The Surf Club made it so convenient to surf. We grabbed boards on the way to the beach and returned them when we were finished. We were able to rinse off and then grab smoothies on the way back to the hotel. When it was too hot to be at the beach the kids played ping pong and foosball at the lounge while sipping on drinks and looking through surf books. The surf lessons are 2 hours long, 4 students to one instructor. The lesson consisted of a 30 minute demo and discussion on the beach followed by time in the waves. Maria gave me helpful pointers on my foot position which helped me riding the white waves in.

Playa Guiones is a beautiful beach just steps from the Gilded Iguana. The beach and the beach break are all sand. Low tides gives way to long white wave break easy to surf in. The sunsets are AMAZING and in April occurred early, around 6pm. After the sunsets as you walk back to the Surf Club you can hear the rattle of crabs crawling over the dried leaf cover surrounding the path. There are no street lights in the area surrounding Gilded Iguana so it gets very dark at night. Bring a flashlight with you if you plan to walk to any neighboring restaurants.

Check out family beach bag tips to ensure you have everything you need packed and ready to go.

Check out my video of Gilded Iguana!

For things to do in Nosara click HERE.