Pick a coast for the yoga Costa Rica is known for

In Nosara the day starts on the sand. A class meets on the beach at sunrise, the tide drops along Playa Guiones, and the beginners paddle out in the low water while the stronger surfers wait for the bigger waves. Later the cafes and surf shops on the main road fill up, and the smoothies come in every colour and flavour. Visit Costa Rica, the site of the Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT), calls it the land of surfing, yoga and good smoothies. It is the right place to start, though not the only one.

Pick Nosara for a retreat week with a timetable and early nights, and Santa Teresa for a social week with surf and drop-in classes. Both sit on the Nicoya Peninsula, known for its wellness retreats, where open-air platforms look over the ocean. Expect Vinyasa, the flowing style that links each pose to the breath, and restorative yoga, which holds supported poses for minutes at a time.

Nosara is the quieter one. Its main beach, Playa Guiones, runs for 7 km of white sand beside Playa Pelada and Playa Garza, and it holds an Ecological Blue Flag (Bandera Azul Ecológica) as one of the country's cleanest beaches. Two of the tourism board's six picked wellness retreats are here: Harmony Hotel, whose Healing Centre runs yoga classes, tai chi, a sauna and cold pools, and Bodhi Tree Yoga Resort, whose weeklong retreats add surfing, Pilates and salsa to the yoga.

On a rest day, the Nosara Biological Reserve has easy trails through tropical dry forest, with howler monkeys and iguanas, and the village of San Juanillo gives a glimpse of traditional coastal life. Nosara suits a first retreat, a couple, or anyone who wants the week planned for them.

Santa Teresa is livelier. The tourism board describes a cosmopolitan, youthful surf town, with music and dance in its bars and restaurants and a busy social scene of casual dining and beachside activities. Mal País, close by, has about 6 km of coast with rock formations and natural pools full of fish at low tide, and the Montezuma waterfall and the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve are near. The stay we have picked for yoga there is Nautilus Surf & Yoga Villas Santa Teresa, rated 8.4 / 10 by guests from 50 reviews. Santa Teresa suits a group of friends, or a solo traveller who wants company at dinner.

Skip the Pacific if you want rainforest around the mat, hot springs after it, or a trip in September and October, when the west coast is at its wettest. The Caribbean coast and the volcano country inland both run yoga, at a gentler pace than the surf towns.

The Caribbean side centres on Puerto Viejo and Cahuita in Limón province. Days off mean the beaches at Puerto Viejo, Playa Cocles and Punta Uva, wildlife walks in Cahuita National Park and the Gandoca-Manzanillo refuge, and a chocolate farm tour. Samasati Nature Retreat at Puerto Viejo sits within 250 acres of rainforest and runs yoga classes, meditation and restorative treatments. In Cahuita, Sonora Caribbean Jungle Retreat is rated 9.6 / 10 by guests from 45 reviews. This coast suits a yogi who likes waking to the forest and travels in autumn.

Inland, Rio Perdido Hotel & Thermal River sits in a rare dwarf forest in Bagaces, Guanacaste, with meditation, yoga and hot springs, and zip lines and white-water rafting for the restless. Guests rate it 9.5 / 10 from 204 reviews. At the base of Arenal Volcano, Nayara Gardens in La Fortuna holds open-air yoga classes among the treetops. Inland suits a couple who want warm water after practice and one big day out.

For Nosara and Santa Teresa, the best time is the Pacific dry season, December to March; for Puerto Viejo and Cahuita, it is September and October.

Costa Rica's best months for yoga depend on the coast. On the Pacific side, home to Nosara and Santa Teresa, the Costa Rica Tourism Board's climate guide gives a well-defined dry season from December to March, with April a transition month and March the driest and hottest. The rainy season runs from May to October, with November a transition, and the rain falls mainly in the afternoon and early evening, so morning classes usually stay dry. July and August bring a drier spell called the veranillo, the little summer, while September and October are the rainiest months. The Caribbean side, around Puerto Viejo and Cahuita, has no well-defined dry season. Its two relatively dry periods fall in February to March and September to October, and its rain comes mostly at night and in the morning. A yogi who can only travel in autumn should go east, and one who wants dry outdoor decks should go west between December and March.

The table below is theKlub's month-by-month climate for Costa Rica: the average daily high and low and the days with 1 mm or more of rain, from Open-Meteo for 2016 to 2025. It is measured at a single point for the whole country, so read it for the shape of the year rather than the beach forecast. The drier run from December to March and the wet months from May to November match the Pacific pattern above.

The green season, May to November, is quieter. Check your dates before booking October, though: it is the wettest month on the Pacific coast, and some retreat centres close then because of flooding and muddy roads.

Yes, and the Nicoya towns make it easy. On Playa Guiones, beginners practise at low tide while experienced surfers take the big waves, and a number of schools and instructors will get you standing on a board. Santa Teresa surfs all year, with options for beginners and advanced surfers. Bodhi Tree Yoga Resort in Nosara folds surfing into its weeklong retreats, and on the Caribbean side the dry season brings surfing at Puerto Viejo, Playa Cocles and Punta Uva.

Book the surf lesson for low tide and the class for the other end of the day. A slow evening session suits shoulders tired from a morning of paddling, so look for a retreat that offers restorative classes alongside Vinyasa. This pairing suits a first-timer who wants a lesson each morning and a stretch each evening, and a group where some surf and some do not.

Ask whether the school is a Registered Yoga School with Yoga Alliance, and what its certificate will show. Yoga Alliance, the body that registers yoga teachers and schools, uses two terms you will meet on every training page. A Registered Yoga School (RYS) runs a teacher training registered with it. A Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) has completed one of those trainings and registered with Yoga Alliance afterwards.

To register as an RYT, you send proof of completion, usually the school's certificate. Yoga Alliance says it must show:

Some schools hand out a participation certificate as well as a graduation one, and Yoga Alliance recommends the participation one says it does not meet its requirements. Schools must also make sure you finish the practicum, the assignments and the competency requirements before issuing the certificate. Before you book, ask which certificate you will leave with, and what you must complete to earn it.

Fly into Liberia for Nosara and the Guanacaste coast, or into San José for the Caribbean side. Costa Rica has two main international airports, as Visit Costa Rica's airline guide sets out: Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport (LIR) in Liberia, the gateway to Guanacaste, and Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela near San José, the country's main airport. Over 10 domestic airports, served by Sansa and Green Airways, cut the long drives.

Nosara is a drive through Nicoya towards Sámara and Nosara, and the tourism board suggests a 4x4: the beach access at Guiones is by gravel road. Car and ATV rentals are available in town. Santa Teresa is reached by the ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera, then 1 hour 15 minutes by road. The road is in good condition, though some stretches near the beach and the trails are rougher. Puerto Viejo and Cahuita are on the far coast from Liberia, so start from San José.

Before you fly, read the UK government's Costa Rica entry requirements, and leave the shells on the beach: taking wildlife out of the country, seashells included, can bring a fine.

For yoga in Asia, read our guide to a yoga retreat in Bali.

Choose the coast first, then the month, then the retreat. Nosara gives you the fullest retreat timetable, Santa Teresa the liveliest evenings, the Caribbean the forest and an autumn window, and the volcano country hot springs after class. Our page on yoga in Costa Rica keeps the stays we have picked for each, and yoga holidays with theKlub covers the other places we know for yoga. Start by matching your travel dates to the climate table above, then pick the town that is dry in those weeks.