Tortuga Island (Isla Tortuga) sits in the Gulf of Nicoya off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, a pair of uninhabited islands with white-sand beaches and clear water. Most visitors arrive on day-trip boats from Montezuma or Puntarenas — the crossing takes about an hour and a half.
The main beach is a long strip of white sand fringed with palms, with decent snorkelling on the reef just offshore. The island is privately managed as an eco-tourism site, so facilities are limited to what the tour operators bring with them. It is a straightforward beach day rather than an adventure, but the setting is hard to beat.