Long before travelers arrived at Costa Pacífica, this land was part of the agricultural life of Esterillos Oeste. The community began taking shape in the 1930s, when early settlers cleared land near the coast and established small farms. Esterillos Oeste remained a rural community for decades; its first school opened in 1959.

The land that is now Costa Pacífica was once used to dry coffee beans. Coffee has deep roots in Costa Rican history, becoming one of the industries that transformed the country's economy during the nineteenth century.

The property's original buildings tell another part of the story. What guests today know as our 200-rooms were originally eight large family rooms, one for each of eight sons. Entire families would stay in them together, which helps explain their unusually generous size today.

As agriculture changed, so did the property. The family eventually moved into watermelon farming. Where guests now swim in the hotel pool, family history recalls a large water-filled pit used to dunk and wash freshly harvested watermelons. The change reflected the evolution happening throughout the Central Pacific, where agriculture shifted among coffee, bananas, oil palm, rice, melons and other crops over the decades.

Eventually, the family saw another future for the property: welcoming visitors to this part of Costa Rica. The farm became Hotel Walt Paraiso. The hotel was operating by 2008. In time, Hotel Walt Paraiso became Hotel Costa Pacífica, but its earlier life remains hidden in plain sight. The oversized rooms that once welcomed a large Costa Rican family still welcome guests. Land once used for farming is now filled with tropical gardens. And where watermelons were once washed after harvest, guests now gather around the pool.

Today, Costa Pacífica is beginning another chapter while honoring the ones that came before it. From coffee and watermelons, to Walt Paraiso, to Costa Pacífica, this has always been a place shaped by Costa Rican family, land and culture.