Garabito

Garabito is a canton on the central Pacific of Costa Rica, in the province of Puntarenas, whose seat is Jacó. It is one of the fastest-growing cantons in the country —around 27,000 inhabitants in 2022— and its identity is bound entirely to the sea: its beaches of Jacó, Herradura and Hermosa form one of the country's great destinations for sun, surf and tourism. That coastal calling, rather than a catalogue of large venues, is the heart of its sporting project, articulated around the municipal programme 'Garabito Ciudad Deportiva'.

The canton's distinctive asset is its coastline as a sporting stage. Playa Hermosa is an international surfing reference, and Garabito has been declared the first 'Surf City' of Costa Rica within the World Surf City Network. On the strength of that status, the canton has attracted top-level competition: the Costa Rica Surfing Pro Festival, which brings together several beach disciplines, and the Garabito Surf City PRO, a qualifying-circuit event of the World Surf League planned at Playa Hermosa for 2026, which marks the return of the WSL to the country after several years' absence.

In December 2025, ACES distinguished Garabito as American City of Sport 2026, a title of American scope awarded within the network's annual cohort —the same one in which other cities of the region were recognised. The award rewards a model that makes the natural environment and outdoor sport its main infrastructure, and consolidates the Costa Rican presence in the network of ACES América, opened in the country by Belén, American City of Sport 2024.