When bikinis and swimsuits fall to the sand at nude beaches in Costa Rica, sunglasses start steaming up. And while there is clearly no bikini island in Costa Rica, the “scenery” can sometimes get hotter than the tropical Costa Rican sun.

The first nude beach that comes to mind is Manuel Antonio. If you go to the public beach and walk north, you will find an area where women often go sans top, though full nudity is rare. Of course, this is also known locally as a gay beach (Playa de Playos), something to keep in mind before dropping your swim trunks in full view of several dozen people and who the heck knows how many monkeys, sloths and stray coatimundis

Nudity at High Noon

The farther south you go, the more secluded the area and the fewer people you will encounter. That has made it a better kept secret than the public sunbathing area.

Keep in mind that though there may be no one else around, you may still be in plain view of tourists hiking the trails along the hill overlooking the sea. In the past, the park guards have merely requested naked sunbathers to put their clothes back on.

In Guanacaste, you will discover the same trend. The most popular stretches of sand that are close to hotels and resorts are not the place for nudists. But on the harder to reach playas, you are often pretty much on your own. As long as you are not offending anyone, you are not likely to get into trouble. At the same time, please do not consider this story to be an endorsement of such activities in any way.

But if you insist on going totally nude on a Costa Rican beach, at least be sure to smear tons of sun block all over yourself.