Puntarenas

This is a laid-back surfer’s paradise on the Nicoya Peninsula in eastern Costa Rica, where "pura vida" – the simple life – comes easily. Cool eco-resorts rub shoulders with cute cafes and feet-in-the-sand beach bars where those not seeking a surf thrill might enjoy turtle snorkelling followed by super-fresh sea bass ceviche and guaro sours. Just offshore is the former prison island of San Lucas, the Alcatraz of Latin America, now a national park open to visitors where trails weave among the howler monkeys, spiders and snakes and its waters are encircled by hammerheads and rays.