Playa Pelada, Nosara: A New Walkway Rooted in Community Care

"Today we take another step toward a beach for everyone." Néstor Esquivel, project coordinator at the Nosara Civic Association, said this in late September when Playa Pelada opened as an accessible beach point, as The Costa Rica News reported. Most coverage was about the materials. The walkway is made from 900 kilos of recycled plastic caps, pressed into ten modules that form a 30-meter path across the sand. The less-noticed part of the announcement is about who looks after it. A national nonprofit, a multinational and the tourism board paid for the equipment. Once it was installed, they handed it to a local association.

That handoff fits Pelada well. Much of what happens on this short beach north of Guiones already depends on neighbors who show up on a set day. The new walkway is the latest piece.

A Walkway With a Local Custodian

The project came from three partners. The Costa Rican Network of Accessible Tourism Association, known as RED, contributed through its DONATAPA program. PepsiCo supplied the plastic caps, and the Costa Rican Tourism Board, ICT, provided support. PepsiCo says the caps were collected partly at the recent Picnic Festival, where its Pepsi brand ran a collection drive. DONATAPA collects type 2, 4 and 5 plastics and turns them into recycled plastic lumber for accessibility projects at beaches and natural sites around the country.

The pieces are simple. Each module is 1.5 meters wide by 3 meters long, and the modules can be removed. With them comes an amphibious wheelchair, built in Costa Rica and provided by RED, which can roll over sand and go into and out of the sea.

The day-to-day care belongs to the Nosara Civic Association. It holds the equipment and is responsible for keeping it in good repair, setting it out, taking it up and maintaining it. A usage log will track how many people use it, how many have disabilities, how many come as companions and where they are from, along with the equipment's condition and any maintenance it needs. RED's executive director, Stephanie Sheehy Protti, described the arrangement directly. In her words, the caps remove barriers today, "while the community's commitment ensures the project remains active and sustainable."

The practical details:

• Cost: free and open to the public
• Weekday hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Weekend hours: Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Wheelchair use: someone has to help with getting into and out of the water
• Before you go: check current guidelines with the Costa Rican Network of Accessible Tourism

The announcement does not describe a booking system. The open hours and the advice to check with RED are the only instructions published so far.

The Second Saturday Was Already Taken

Long before the walkway, Pelada had a monthly volunteer routine. The Asociación de Rescate y Desarrollo de Playa Pelada holds a beach cleanup on the second Saturday of every month, from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. Volunteers meet at the main beach entrance in front of Bar Olga's, and gloves, bags and grabbers are provided. Stacey Mac is listed as the contact.

The rest of 2026 has three more dates: October 10, November 14 and December 12.

The two schedules sit side by side. The cleanup ends at 9:00, an hour before the walkway's weekend hours begin. So on the second Saturday of each month, volunteers clear the sand before the accessible point opens. Two associations look after the same small beach, one by the month and one by the day.

A Week Built Around Two Beach Bars

Most of Pelada's regular calendar runs through two places on Pelada Main, El Chivo and Olga's Beach Bar. Both have events listed through the end of the year on the Nosara Calendar.

The next Taco Tuesday on the calendar is October 6. Olga's also has a separate live show listed for Saturday, October 10, the same day as the morning cleanup outside its door. Olga's venue page shows Friday listings through October, November and December 2026, but the page itself carries an older publish stamp. Confirm the times before you plan a Friday around them.

Blue Market Guiones is just down the road. The listing describes dozens of vendors along Guiones Main Street every Tuesday from 8:00 a.m., with fresh produce, coconut water from pipas, empanadas, Jamaican patties, and artisan clothing, jewelry and wood carvings. It is listed as free, family-friendly and pet-friendly. With the market in the morning and tacos at El Chivo in the evening, Tuesday has the fullest schedule of any day in this part of Nosara.

Where the Quiz Money Goes

The El Chivo quiz shows most clearly how Pelada's social calendar supports local causes. Entry costs $6 per person, and the proceeds go to local charities. The winning team chooses which one gets the money. With October's first Thursday already past, the next two quiz nights listed are November 5 and December 3.

The same pattern shows up across Nosara this month. Nosara Trunk or Treat 2026 is on Saturday, October 24, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., with donations for the fire department welcome. It takes place in the parking lot behind La Bomba, the Nosara gas station.

Put the fall together and the same thing repeats. A national program paid for the walkway, and a local association takes care of it. The monthly cleanup is organized by an association named for the beach itself. A trivia night sends its money wherever the winning team chooses, and a Halloween gathering raises money for the fire station. Each is small. Together they explain how a 30-meter path of recycled plastic can become part of Pelada without anyone from outside the community having to run it.

Before Your Next Visit to Pelada

October in Guanacaste is still the rainy season. On October 4, Costa Rica's national weather institute, IMN, issued an alert noting 95% soil saturation nationally and storms forecast for the weekend. The alert covered the whole country, not Nosara specifically. Still, outdoor schedules on a beach with removable walkway modules depend on the weather. The Civic Association decides when the modules go out and when they come up. RED is the published contact for current usage guidelines.

The next shared date at Playa Pelada is Saturday, October 10. The cleanup runs from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. in front of Bar Olga's. The walkway opens at 10:00, and Olga's has a live show later that day.

Communities like Pelada, where the beach is looked after by people who live nearby, are the kind of place Luxury Living Costa Rica has come to know closely since 1990. If you are thinking about what life on this stretch of the Nosara coast could look like for your family, we would be glad to share what we know, discreetly and on your schedule. Get Started Now.