La Casona de Santa Bárbara (Finca La Zanja Negra)
Tours & Adventure · Guanacaste · Historic house and village tour
A 150-year-old country house about 30 minutes from Santa Cruz where local cooks Marta Vallejos and Geiny Ruiz host village history walks, traditional food tastings, clay workshops and hands-on tortilla and clay-oven cooking, with music and Guanacaste cheers.
Before you go
- Tickets
- Better to book ahead
- Checked
- 2026-10
Contact & directions
- Phone: 8458-9950 / 8706-6910
- Location: 10.28147, -85.52476 — Google Maps · Waze
Secret spots nearby
- Guaitil Pottery VillageLocal shop · FreeA village where families still make Chorotega-style pottery by hand — coiled, burnished with stones, painted with natural clay pigments and fired in wood kilns — and sell it from their front porches.
- Ecomuseo de la Cerámica Chorotega (San Vicente)Landmark · FreeA community museum in San Vicente, the potters' village just past Guaitil, telling the story of Chorotega ceramics - old pieces like the comal for tortillas and the tinaja for chicha.
- Plaza Los Mangos (Santa Cruz)Park · FreeThe square also known as Plaza López, in Costa Rica's 'folklore city', where the wooden bullring and grandstands go up every January for the Fiestas de Santa Cruz in honor of the Santo Cristo de Esquipulas.
- Parroquia Santo Cristo de Esquipulas (Santa Cruz)Landmark · FreeSanta Cruz's parish church holds the Cristo Negro de Esquipulas, a dark crucifix that draws pilgrims every January; the old pink bell tower stands beside the modern church.
- Parque Bernabela Ramos (Santa Cruz)Park · FreeThe shady central plaza of Santa Cruz, best known for its domed stone kiosk carved with Chorotega-style motifs.
- Humedal Lacustrino Río CañasNature spotA protected wetland created in 1994, managed by the Tempisque Conservation Area.