There’s a particular kind of December light at Santarena Hotel that catches in the greenery draped through town. It glows against white walls and tiled roofs. It lingers over Playa Danta just long enough to turn a late afternoon into something worth dressing for. By the time you’re walking down toward dinner, or stepping into a boat with the horizon opening in front of you, the whole season seems to have shifted into a more beautiful key.
That’s part of what makes December at Santarena so compelling for couples. The holidays are still there, of course. The spirit of celebration. The rituals. The sense that this is a time to step out of ordinary life and into something a little more special. But here, the season feels less burdened by pressure and more alive to pleasure. Warm evenings. Festive tables. The sea just offshore. A town where holiday atmosphere feels intimate rather than overwhelming.
In years past, Las Catalinas and Santarena have marked the season in ways that feel especially fitting for this place. Holiday dinners at Ponciana. Festive moments in town. Market energy, music, seasonal food, and the sort of details that make December feel unmistakably like December, even when the beach is only steps away.
Plans always evolve from year to year, of course, but the spirit remains the same. The holidays here tend to feel warm, beautiful, and deeply social in the best sense.
Of course, Costa Rica brings its own traditions to the season as well. Holiday tamales are part of the country’s holiday love language – something people gather to prepare, share, and talk over. There’s a sense of celebration built around food, family, and togetherness, and that emotional texture translates beautifully to a stay like this.
Santarena doesn’t try to imitate a northern winter holiday. Instead, we offer something different, and often more transporting. A festive season by the sea, shaped by Costa Rica and made personal in Las Catalinas. That’s where the experiences come in. A catamaran at sunset. A horseback ride through dry forest and down toward Sugar Beach. These aren’t decorations around the holiday; they’re part of what gives it form.
There’s something about a sunset sail in December that’s immediately cinematic.
The tour leaves in the early afternoon and gives the day time to open slowly. You move out from shore and the coastline begins to widen. This shared sailing experience includes snorkeling gear, snacks, soft drinks, and, most importantly, time. Time to stretch out on the boat, time to get in the water, time to watch the sky begin preparing for what comes later.
For couples, that gradual build is part of the magic. December has a way of making people want everything to matter a little more. A meal should be memorable. A sunset should feel earned. A trip should feel like more than a break in routine. The catamaran does that all beautifully: it takes the final glow of the day and turns it into an event without making it feel overproduced.
And then the light starts changing. The sea catches fire. The sky layers itself one tone at a time. What had been a lovely afternoon becomes a full-scale evening spectacle. It’s easy to understand why people keep reaching for words like magical around this time of year, even when they try not to. Out on the water, just before sunset, it can feel exactly that.
If the catamaran gives December its glow, then our La Estancia Equine Experience grounds it.
This isn’t horseback riding in the generic vacation sense; it’s a route through the hillside of Vivero La Estancia, across untouched tropical dry forest, toward an ocean viewpoint, and then down toward Sugar Beach, aka Playa Pan de Azúcar. It has its own rhythm, quieter and more tactile than the catamaran, but just as evocative in its own way.
There’s something especially appealing about this experience during the holiday season. December is already a time when people want to feel more present, more connected to what they’re doing and to whom they’re doing it with. Horses have a way of asking for exactly that. You pay attention. You settle in. You move at their pace.
And then there’s the setting itself. The path through dry forest. The ocean view waiting at just the right moment. The descent toward Sugar Beach. It’s a side of Las Catalinas that complements the more festive mood in town. Not a contradiction, but a second note. The holiday season here isn’t only about lights, dinners, and market energy. It’s also about being outside, moving through beautiful places, and finding romance in things that feel grounded and real.
The experience also carries a local dimension that makes it feel especially right for this destination. You learn about La Finca, about Las Catalinas’ current and future initiatives, and about Collective Impact efforts in the community. At the end, you can kick off your shoes and enjoy a locally sourced organic refreshment. That detail says a lot about the spirit of the outing: It isn’t trying to impress through scale, but rather works through place, care, and attention.
What ties these experiences together isn’t only that they’re meaningful, but that they’re coherent.
You come back from the water and dinner is close. You return from the equine experience and the rooftop is waiting. The beach is right there if you want one last walk before the evening settles. The town is alive around you, but not in a way that overwhelms the trip. It gives it atmosphere. It gives it context. It gives it that sense of being somewhere that is genuinely celebrating the season, rather than simply marketing it.
That’s what makes a holiday stay here feel so good. Not one big gesture. Not one headline event. But a collection of beautiful things, all close enough to belong to the same story.
If you’re looking ahead to December and wanting something warmer, more romantic, and more distinctive than the usual holiday script, Santarena has a way of making that feel not only possible, but natural. A catamaran at sunset. Horses and forest and ocean views. A festive dinner. A town glowing softly around you. It’s still the holiday season. It just looks different here, and for many couples, that’s exactly the point.