It’s no secret that Costa Rica’s Peninsula Papagayo has become a tourist magnet. Located on the country’s north Pacific coast, only 30 minutes from Liberia’s international airport, the 2,300-acre peninsula is comprised of 15 miles of coastline, 31 distinct beaches that range from white to black sand and a number of five-star hotels and luxury real estate developments dotting the landscape.

With golf courses designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, the first phase of the 350-slip Marina Papagayo slated to premiere in 2009 and 500,000 acres of surrounding eco-parks to explore, there’s something for everyone in this lush corner of Costa Rica.

Four Seasons Residence Club

At the tip of Peninsula Papagayo’s southern peninsula, the two- and three-bedroom ocean-view villas of the Four Seasons Residence Club Costa Rica feature large terraces and plantation style decor, accented with indigenous wood finishes. A one-twelfth fraction of a three-bedroom villa is priced at $225,500 and entitles its owner to 21 nights of use per year. A two-bedroom share is $169,500. Owners may enjoy all that the highly lauded Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica has to offer, as well as exchange privileges at other Four Seasons Residence Clubs.

Cacique

Revolution Places, America Online co-founder Steve Case’s development group, will unveil the first phase of the environmentally-friendly resort destination Cacique on 650 acres of the Peninsula Papagayo in 2010. The development will include a One & Only Resort, a Miraval Spa, a Tom Doak 18-hole golf course and an Agassi-Graf Tennis & Fitness Center. Additional real estate offerings are expected to include estate sites, custom and semi-custom whole ownership residences and resort-loft living. More details will be released in Summer 2008. Case, also owns a majority stake in destination club Exclusive Resorts which has 21 residences across the bay from Cacique.

La Punta Papagayo

Minnesota-based development firm Kirchert Pakonen is building La Punta Papagayo, a mixed-use luxury resort on 60 acres of waterfront property overlooking the Gulf of Papagayo. Managed by Regent Hotels & Resorts and opening in 2010, the development will feature a hotel, spa, luxury villas, estate homes and a retail village. Sales will open in March 2008 when the development is expected to break ground; prices on a two-bedroom villa range upward from $1.6 million, with three-bedroom villas starting at $2.3 million.

St. Regis Residences

On the country’s central Pacific coast, the St. Regis Hotel and Residences Costa Rica, set to open in 2008, will include 49 one-, two- and three-bedroom condo hotel residences and 42 whole ownership private villas. Cheryl Rowley Associates, the acclaimed Beverly Hills-based design firm responsible for the Four Seasons Buenos Aires and the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco, is designing the resort’s guestrooms, suites and residences.