Swell Cabin › Mexico & Central America › Costa Rica
Puerto Viejo surf guide
Caribbean Costa Rica's Salsa Brava, a shallow, powerful right reef, in a reggae-flavoured jungle town.
- Location
- Limón (Caribbean), Costa Rica (9.6560, -82.7540)
- Best season
- Dec – Mar: December, January, February, March
- Water temperature
- 26–29°C (boardshorts)
- Waves
- Reef break, Beach break
- Suits
- Intermediate, Advanced surfers
Surf spots in Puerto Viejo
- Salsa Brava: Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides. Coral reef. Experts only. (9.6612, -82.7530)
- Playa Cocles: Beach break, lefts and rights, advanced surfers, faces NE (offshore wind from the SW), best at all tides (9.6556, -82.7391)
- Punta Uva: Reef break, right-hander, all levels, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides. Coral reef. Suits all levels. (9.6461, -82.6886)
- Playa Negra - Limon: Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces NNE (offshore wind from the SSW), best at all tides (9.7421, -82.8468)
Where to stay in Puerto Viejo
283 places to stay within 10 km: 170 hotel, 36 holiday rental, 29 guest house, 15 hostel, 14 resort, 8 villa, 6 bed and breakfast, 2 camp site, 2 chalet, 1 surf camp. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.
Surf camps: Casa club dub the surf house.
Hostels: KanWolaba Poshtel, Pagalú Hostel, Roots Family Hostel, La Tribu Hostel for Women, Hostel Mar Caribe, The Lazy Loft.
Cafés, food and surf shops
14 cafés and bakeries, 123 restaurants and bars, 3 surf schools and 0 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Caribbean Surf School and Shop, Bamboo Surf Center, Surf the Jungle Surf School.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to surf in Puerto Viejo?
The best surf season in Puerto Viejo is Dec – Mar (December, January, February, March). The sea ranges from 26°C to 29°C over the year.
Which months have the most good surf days in Puerto Viejo?
Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Puerto Viejo's best spot were good or better most often in July (88% of days, 20% great), January (70% of days, 16% great) and February (76% of days, 7% great), and least often in October (17%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.
Do I need a wetsuit in Puerto Viejo?
Water temperature in Puerto Viejo is 26–29°C: boardshorts.
Is Puerto Viejo good for beginner surfers?
Puerto Viejo is better for intermediate and advanced surfers, though Punta Uva can suit all levels on smaller days.
What are the surf spots in Puerto Viejo?
Puerto Viejo has 4 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Salsa Brava (Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides); Playa Cocles (Beach break, lefts and rights, advanced surfers, faces NE (offshore wind from the SW), best at all tides); Punta Uva (Reef break, right-hander, all levels, faces NNW (offshore wind from the SSE), best at all tides); Playa Negra - Limon (Reef break, right-hander, advanced surfers, faces NNE (offshore wind from the SSW), best at all tides).
Where should surfers stay in Puerto Viejo?
Swell Cabin lists 283 places to stay within 10 km of Puerto Viejo, including 1 surf camps such as Casa club dub the surf house, 15 hostels, 29 guesthouses and homestays, 44 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.
What is the surf forecast for Puerto Viejo this week?
Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Puerto Viejo and each of its 4 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/puerto-viejo: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).
When is the best tide to surf in Puerto Viejo?
It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Puerto Viejo weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the Puerto Limon tide gauge (48 km away).
How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Puerto Viejo?
Trust in this page's data is medium (55/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 0 of 4 spots fully verified, 4 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; no open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).
Is there a live surf cam in Puerto Viejo?
Swell Cabin hasn't found a live surf cam it could check in Puerto Viejo yet (it only lists cams it has opened); the surf forecast on its page shows the waves this week.
Where can I take surf lessons in Puerto Viejo?
Surf schools in and around Puerto Viejo include Caribbean Surf School and Shop, Bamboo Surf Center and Surf the Jungle Surf School.
Nearby surf towns
- Dominical, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
- Pavones, Costa Rica (best Apr – Sep)
- Jacó & Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
- Santa Teresa, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
- Nosara, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
- Tamarindo, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
This page in other languages: Português · Español · Français · Deutsch · עברית