A bill moving through Costa Rica’s legislature would tighten the rules meant to keep the country’s beaches open to everyone, setting minimum standards for access points and creating an official registry of beaches and public entryways. The proposal would amend Article 23 of the Coastal Zone Act, Law No. 6043, which already states that the State or municipalities must build roads to guarantee access to the public zone.
Filed as legislative bill No. 24.413, the measure would require each beach recognized by the National Geographic Institute to have at least three public access points, unless a technical review finds that the beach’s size makes that impossible. In those cases, there would still have to be at least one compliant public entrance. The bill also requires each access point to be clearly marked as public, linked to an official beach name, and connected through a public road with a 14-meter right of way unless transport or planning authorities require a wider corridor.
The proposal also includes accessibility rules. Access routes would have to comply with Costa Rica’s disability rights law, and roads would need to allow safe vehicle access up to the restricted zone and safe pedestrian access to the public zone. The text also says access points could not be blocked by permanent objects or structures.
Another major piece of the bill is a nationwide inventory. Under the draft, the National Geographic Institute and the Costa Rican Tourism Institute would have up to two years after the law takes effect to complete a survey of Costa Rica’s beaches and create a public registry of beaches and access points. Public institutions would then have up to four years to guarantee the required access routes.
The push comes against the backdrop of a legal framework that already treats Costa Rica’s beach zone as public. Law 6043 says the maritime-terrestrial zone is part of the national patrimony, while Article 20 states that the public zone is dedicated to public use and free transit. Article 23, in its current form, already declares access roads to the public zone to be in the public interest, but the bill argues that the law lacks clear technical standards and that this has allowed unsafe, inadequate, or functionally restricted entry points to persist.
The University of Costa Rica recently backed the bill, calling it a timely response to growing pressure on coastal public space from touristification, gentrification, and real estate development. The university also urged lawmakers to strengthen the proposal by adding environmental impact reviews, enforcement mechanisms, and penalties for blocked access or misleading signage, while also asking for a stronger technical basis for the rule requiring at least three access points per beach.
Legislative tracking for bill 24.413 identifies the proposal as a reform to guarantee public beach access and lists it as having advanced through the legislative process after being introduced in June 2024.
If approved, the measure would give Costa Rica more explicit legal tools to prevent beaches from becoming effectively privatized in practice, even when they remain public by law.
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