RE: I need a rundown Jaco, Costa Rica
Disclaimer: Unlike other cities and countries which I have visited and posted about, I haven't been to Jaco in many years. I frankly forgot about the place until I read the original post. To the best of my knowledge, the places I will be writing about are all still in existence. Please be advised that there may very have been some changes in Jaco since I was there.
Jaco is a town on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica with a population of about 10,000. It is the closest beach to Costa Rica's capital and largest city, San Jose. Since I was there, they completed a road which shortens the trip from San Jose to Jaco. I believe you can make the trip in somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. Many people consider Jaco to have the most consistant waves in Costa Rica. It is therefore a huge surfing destination.
Getting there:
You obviously have to fly into San Jose. I recommend that to get from San Jose to Jaco that you either rent a car or arrange a shuttle. I strongly suggest that these arrangements be made before you arrive in Costa Rica. I arranged a shuttle through the hotel where I stayed. My plane was severely delayed, but the driver waited for me at the San Jose airport and there were no problems.
Hotels:
I stayed at the Best Western. It was more expensive than most other Jaco hotels, but was also nicer than most. It still shouldn't break the bank to stay there. You can walk to pretty much everywhere from the hotel. When I stayed there, bringing girls into the hotel was a non-issue. I don't know what the present policy is. You definitely want to call ahead to find out. Another hotel which is less expensive than the Best Western, but still popular, is the Copacabana. The Copacabana burned down many years ago, but was reconstructed. It was owned by Canadiens. I don't know if it still is. The Copacabana is also located right on the beach.
There are cabanas all over the place for budget travelers. I don't believe you need to make a reservation for any of those places.
Restaurants:
The food in Jaco and in all of Costa Rica was very impressive to me. The main dish is the casado, which was also discussed in the San Jose Data Sheet. Most restaurants, unless they are restaurants of an ethnicity other than tico, have casados on the menu. This dish consists of a salad, rice, beans, plantains, and either pork, steak, or chicken.
BBQ Tangeri was the best restaurant I went to there. The beef was about the best I have ever had.
Pancho Villa had really good casados and tex-mex food.
There is a Pizza Hut on the main road, which is the best Pizza Hut I have ever been to. Go figure that one out.
Nightlife:
The Beatle Bar is extremely popular. The clientel there is mostly sex tourists and prostitutes. The place does, however, have some attractive female bartenders, some of whom are from San Jose. The only reason to go to the Beetle Bar is to chat up the bartenders.
A Canadien couple owned both the Beatle Bar and a small place called La Bruja. As of just a few weeks ago, La Bruja was still in existence and was still operational, but was for sale. Many people put many Jaco businesses for sale and are unable to sell them. This is a small place on the main road which has live music. I like this place because it is clear of prostitutes. Sex tourists may go there, but if they go there it is not to pick up prostitutes. La Bruja can be good for meeting local women.
A place which opened within the last few years and is said to be popular is Le Loft. This is a pretty high class place which should keep many, if not all of, the prostitutes and sex tourists away. That is probably your best bet as far as nightlife.
In addition to being a restaurant, Pancho Villa is a twenty-four hour bar. The first floor is a bar and restaurant, while the second floor is a strip club. The strip club basically has some girls who strip there some nights and hang around the Beetle Bar some other nights. I didn't really spend any time there. The first floor can be good because being a twenty-four hour bar, it is open after the other nightlife venues close. The after hours crowd is a mixture of everyone. There are normal girls and normal guys in addition to the prostitutes and sex tourists who were probably in the Beatle Bar earlier in the evening. Supposedly, they don't like foreigners being in Pancho Villa anymore and it has become more of a rough place. You can't believe everything you read and it should definitely be checked out as an after-hours spot if nothing else.
Pros of Jaco:
Some of the best waves in the Americas
Little competition as most of the tourists are either sex tourists, there for the surfing, or some combination of the two
You can walk pretty much everywhere. Taxis are cheap and readily available in case you are going somewhere too far to walk
Great weather
Great food
Cons of Jaco:
Limited nightlife options as this is a small town
Very low volume, even including tourists from San Jose and from foreign countries. In San Jose, there is no problem with volume as you literally have hundreds of thousands of options
One last thing. I don't wear short unless I am in the gym or on the beach. Pretty much all of the guys who are in Jaco are shabbily dressed. In my opinion, you will score points here just by being well dressed. That was my experience.
Again, I am less current with my Jaco information than I am with information for pretty much any other country or city I have visited. I am in no way claiming that this post is the masterpiece of the century. Hopefully other posters can add valuable information.
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The following 4 users Like Merenguero's post:
I can get a little info for you from surfers that have been going down there for years. I almost went a couple years ago to hunker down but something about the place turned me off. Let me send out a couple emails and make some phone calls. 
