There’s something wonderfully romantic about the belief that the person beside you as one year ends can help set the tone for the one that begins. It’s the thinking behind the tradition of a New Year’s midnight kiss, tied to the idea that who you’re with as the clock strikes twelve carries meaning for the year ahead. And whether or not you put much stock in tradition, we rather like the sentiment.
Start the year with the person you love. Even better, start it somewhere that already feels celebratory.
Here at Santarena, New Year’s means warm Pacific evenings, Playa Danta just outside the door, dinner and drinks downstairs at Ponciana, and a rooftop made for lingering as the light changes. Add a few days in Las Catalinas, and you’ve got room to turn the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027 into something that feels like the two of you. A celebration, indeed.
You could watch the final sunset of the year from a catamaran. Or the first sunset of the new one. You could ride horseback through the tropical dry forest and emerge onto one of the most beautiful stretches of sand along this part of the coast. You could even do both.
There are plenty of reasons to love a sunset sail in Costa Rica, but New Year’s gives this one a little extra meaning.
Imagine heading out on December 31 and watching the very last sunset of 2026 from the water. Or making January 1 the day you begin again, with the first sunset of 2027 spreading across the Pacific in front of you. Either one feels like a wonderful marker between what came before and what comes next.
Our sunset catamaran experience gives you the afternoon to enjoy being out on the water before the sun becomes the main event. You can swim, snorkel, or simply settle into the rhythm of the boat and let the coastline move slowly past you. There are drinks and light bites onboard, and plenty of time to enjoy the Pacific before the light begins to shift.
That’s where “special” really levels up. Settle into one of the catamaran hammocks together and watch the sky begin to change. From offshore, sunset has a way of feeling almost impossibly magical: the horizon stretches out around you, the color seems to come from everywhere at once, and the sun hangs over the water until, little by little, it disappears over the edge of the earth.
On New Year’s Eve, that becomes the last sunset you’ll share in 2026. On New Year’s Day, it becomes the first one of 2027. And if you’re here for a few days and feel particularly committed to the idea, there’s certainly nothing stopping you from making room for both.
Our La Estancia Equine Experience has a completely different energy. This one begins at La Estancia Sustainable Farm, where your guide introduces you to the horses and leads you into the landscape surrounding Las Catalinas.
Our equine companions – Canela, Luna, Cangrejo, Palomo, Lucero, Juancho, and Jalapeño – are cared for daily by our team, spending their days stretching their legs in the pasture and their nights in their own spacious stalls. Once you’re paired with your horse, the two of you set out together.
The ride takes you along dedicated trails through the tropical dry forest and into the rugged Guanacaste countryside, eventually climbing toward an ocean viewpoint before descending toward Sugar Beach, known locally as Playa Pan de Azúcar.
And what a reveal it is. Sugar Beach is an absolutely spectacular stretch of pale sand tucked along the Las Catalinas coastline. Reaching it on horseback gives the whole experience a sense of discovery, because you’ve spent the ride moving through shaded trails and hillside terrain before suddenly arriving at the Pacific. You’re seeing a slice of Costa Rica that relatively few people get to experience this way.
There’s also something naturally connective about horseback riding as a couple. You’re each building trust with your own horse while moving through the same landscape together. You notice things at the same pace. You stop at the same viewpoints. You come down toward the beach side by side. It’s active, but there’s plenty of room to take everything in.
Along the way, you’ll also learn more about our farm life, Las Catalinas’ current and future initiatives, and our Collective Impact work in the surrounding community. The two-hour experience includes a chicken coop visit, approximately 90 minutes with the horses, refreshments made with locally sourced organic ingredients, and a donation to the Collective Impact program. By the end, you’ve got dust on your shoes, ocean views behind you, and one of those shared experiences that inevitably becomes part of the story you tell to everyone who asks about your trip.
The beauty of spending New Year’s at Santarena is that the celebration doesn’t begin and end with a single night. There are little places throughout the hotel that invite you to settle in together. Lounge spaces. Quiet corners. Comfortable seating where you can have a drink, talk for a while, or simply celebrate starting a new year – or reflecting on the last one.
Downstairs, Ponciana Bar gives you an easy place to start the evening with cocktails and late bites, while Ponciana Restaurant turns dinner into part of the occasion. You can dine indoors or outside, linger over a meal, and let the night unfold from there.
Then there’s the rooftop. It’s one of our guests’ favorite places in the hotel at any time of year, but around New Year’s it’s especially suited to the festive mood. The Pacific stretches out in front of you, the ocean-view pool catches the changing light, and the sun loungers give you somewhere to settle in together with a drink during our daily happy hour.
Holiday programming may add even more to the rooftop atmosphere, with specific events and schedules confirmed closer to the season. And even without a formal plan for every hour, there’s plenty to make the stay feel festive. Take a swim. Walk down to Playa Danta. Come back upstairs for sunset. Get dressed for dinner. Find one of the hotel’s tucked-away seating areas for a quieter moment together.
It’s the New Year’s sense of occasion without making the occasion feel like work.
By the time New Year’s arrives, many of us have already spent the holiday season surrounded by family, traditions, meals, and people we love.
New Year’s has a different kind of energy. It’s celebratory. It’s hopeful. And it gives you a natural moment to turn toward the person beside you and think about the year you’re about to begin together.
So this year, watch the final sunset of 2026 from the Pacific. Ride through the tropical dry forest and down toward Sugar Beach. Toast upstairs at Santarena. Have dinner at Ponciana. Kiss at midnight. Then wake up together, in a beachfront boutique hotel in Costa Rica on January 1.
If there’s ever a lovely way to set the tone for the year ahead, we think that’s a pretty good one.