Parque Bernabela Ramos (Santa Cruz)
Park · Guanacaste
The shady central plaza of Santa Cruz, best known for its domed stone kiosk carved with Chorotega-style motifs. The town is known as Costa Rica's folklore capital.
- Cost
- Free
- Time there
- 30 min
- Best time
- evening
- Kids
- 6 / 10
- View
- 4 / 10
- Crowds
- 3 / 10
- Swimming
- 0 / 10
- Effort
- 0 / 10
- Location
- 10.25911, -85.58607 — Google Maps
Tip
If you can, visit on a January evening: the Esquipulas festival fills the plaza, the church and the streets.
Be careful
Festival nights are crowded; keep an eye on bags and phones.
Places nearby
- El Cafecito Santa CruzFood & CoffeeCozy café in an old house in the middle of Santa Cruz, the cowboy town of Guanacaste, with casados, milkshakes and vegan options.
- CoopetortillasSodas & Local FoodA women's cooperative about 500 m from Santa Cruz's main park that has cooked traditional Guanacaste food over a nearly 5-meter wood stove for decades - hand-patted corn tortillas, rice-and-corn soup and tripe soup at very low prices.
- La Casona de Santa Bárbara (Finca La Zanja Negra)Tours & AdventureA 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.
- Restaurante La Fulana CosaFood & CoffeeRestaurant tucked into the woods outside Nicoya, praised for its mixed ceviche, Italian dishes, friendly staff and relaxed garden setting.
- Palo Verde Boat ToursParks & WildlifeFamily-run boat safari on the Tempisque river next to Palo Verde National Park, known for crocodiles, monkeys and wading birds.
- Apami Wildlife Rescue CenterParks & WildlifeWildlife rescue center run by the Monkey Park Foundation in a forest near Santa Cruz, where guides explain the stories of each rescued animal.
Sources: OpenStreetMap way/106663315 · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parque_de_Santa_Cruz,_Guanacaste,_Costa_Rica.jpg