Photos: Guanacaste, Costa Rica’s Gold Coast

This is a collection of images I captured while visiting Costa Rica in 2009. The images were taken in the North Pacific Region, or the Guanacaste Region (map).

Excerpted from Frommer’s Costa Rica 2009 

Guanacaste is known as Costa Rica’s “Gold Coast.” And it’s not because this is where the Spaniards found vast quantities of the shiny soft metal ore. Instead, it’s because more and more visitors to Costa Rica are choosing Guanacaste as their first — and often only — stop. Beautiful beaches abound along this coastline. Some are still pristine and deserted, some are packed with a mix of hotels and resorts, and others are backed by small fishing villages. Choices range from long, broad stretches of sand to tiny pocket coves bordered by rocky headlands.