"The Next Tulum: Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

...Santa Teresa, a string of beach-backed hamlets on the southern tip of Costa Rica’s westernmost peninsula, has an edge-of-the-world vibe that still feels remote and inspires dreams of relocation. Driving down the dusty dirt road that connects the locale’s four beach areas — Playa Carmen (notable mainly for having the only ATMs in this no-credit-card zone), Playa Hermosa, Santa Teresa proper and Mal Pais — you look at the tanned, yoga-toned people carrying their surfboards back from the beach and wonder what your life would be like in a town that experiences almost year-round sunshine and consistent 80-degree temperatures.

An outer ripple of Costa Rica’s countrywide eco-tourism boom, Santa Teresa’s international community blossomed in the 2000s as foreign adventure-seekers discovered its confluence of natural attractions: white-sand beaches, reliable, long-breaking waves and innumerable species of wildlife. And while New Age hippies still populate the town’s scores of yoga studios, Santa Teresa is now evolving to cater to the growing number of comfort-loving creative-industry types who’ve discovered its charms..."