Details for Puntarenas City

Perched on a slender finger of land jutting into the Gulf of Nicoya, the port city of Puntarenas — meaning "sandy point" in Spanish — is one of Costa Rica's most historically significant coastal towns and the provincial capital of the country's largest province. Once the primary coffee export port of the 19th century and a thriving fishing hub, the city retains a distinctly unhurried, authentically Tico character that sets it apart from the country's more polished resort destinations. The celebrated Paseo de los Turistas promenade stretches along the seafront, lined with open-air restaurants serving the finest fresh ceviche and seafood in the country, alongside vendors of the legendary Churchill — Puntarenas's iconic shaved-ice dessert. Today the city serves as the primary ferry gateway to the Nicoya Peninsula, a popular cruise port, and a natural jumping-off point for day trips to Tortuga Island and the wider Central Pacific coast.