Costa Rica beach resorts on Pacific side (hotel, hotels, vacations)

[summers19]

My husband and I are planning a vacation for the two of us (no kids).
We want an active vacation that includes a lot of hiking, water rafting, snorkeling, zip lining, etc. We thought about islands in the Caribbean but we want more than laying on the beach or shopping.
I know Cost Rica has beach resorts, but are the beaches really accessible? I notice on the photos of numerous websites they show the beaches, but no one is actually on them. No lounge chairs, no people playing in the sand, etc.
Is the water too cold to utilize the beaches without a wetsuit?
We definitely want to stay at a resort that is on the beach, not in the mountains. We're trying to get out of the freezing cold where we live and vacation somewhere very warm.

[firebll31]

We went to the Guanacaste region about 8 years ago. We stayed at the Blue Bay Papagayo( I believe it is under a different name now)on Papagayo Bay. The area is very mountainous, with black volcanic sand beaches between . There was nothing wrong with the beach, its just not white and sugary. It sparkled in the moonlight.Our lounge chairs were parked on the grassy hill above the beach, where it was a bit cooler.I was very surprised to find the Pacific at that latitude was just as warm as the Caribbean. We snorkeled, swam, took a boat ride down the Tempisque river with crocodiles, visited the town of Liberia, and bathed in the hot pools at Arenal Volcano at Tabacon on a day trip. We stopped in the pottery village of Guayatil to shop and hiked to see the bubbling mud pits at Rincon de la Vieja. There was more to do but we ran out of time to see the cloud forest, go ziplining and horseback riding. In the evenings we hiked to a hilltop for pictures of the sun setting over the water. In the morning we were awakened by howler monkeys. There were a lot more resorts being built at that time, so I imagine the area is more touristy now but I would go back in a heartbeat. One of our favorite vacations.

[dgz]

Costa Rica is great! There is so much to do there and there is a lot of great wildlife too. There are some very large resorts in Guanacaste outside Liberia... I've stayed at two of them in Playa Hermosa a few times, but I really prefer the smaller 'low impact' hotels... One place I especially liked was staying at Hotel Karaha which is right next to the national park in Manuel Antonio (farther south of Guanacaste). Just sitting out at their bar near the beach, I saw monkeys, lizards... in the park, more monkeys, sloths, and lots of other interesting creatures. I love being surrounded by that much nature. The beaches along Playa Hermosa and Playa Coca had a darker sand (because of the volcanic nature of the area), but the water was wonderfully warm and very swimmable. Where I was, there weren't any crowds on the beach, and in a few places, I had the beach to myself. It was wonderful strolling along a quiet beach with a fantastic sunset. Bicycling around Playa Coca was nice too. Also, if you're looking for more active things... there are lots of canopy tours, fishing trips, etc. And sitting in the hot pools at Tabacon Springs is wonderful.