Monteverde or Santa Teresa, Costa Rica?

This is the starkest difference between the two. Monteverde sits on a mountain ridge with nowhere to swim, and the nearest coast at Puntarenas is about two hours away on winding roads. Visitors who want the beach usually tack a few nights at the coast onto the trip.

Santa Teresa is built around its beach: a long run of pale sand from Playa Carmen down to the rocky Mal País shore, with forest growing almost to the tideline. It is a surf beach, though, with rip currents on many days, so cautious swimmers head for the rock pools at low tide.

Monteverde's food is plain and honest: casados of rice, beans and plantain in the sodas of Santa Elena, a few more ambitious lodge restaurants, and not much choice once evening comes. Its strength is produce from the place itself. You can taste coffee from the surrounding slopes on farm tours, and the cheese comes from the dairy the Quaker settlers founded.

Santa Teresa eats better overall, with wood-fired pizza, poke, Israeli plates, Argentine grills and fresh seafood under thatched roofs along the main road. That range comes from its international residents rather than from the place, though. There is no market or street food, and after a few days the laid-back cafés start to feel much alike.

Neither is a place for sightseeing, but Monteverde has a little more of a story. The Quaker settlers who arrived in the early 1950s shaped the community, the dairy and the protection of the forest, and small butterfly and insect exhibits add something. Santa Teresa is a fishing hamlet turned surf town with nothing to visit, so its appeal lies wholly in its setting and its international crowd.

Santa Teresa is where you can stay out. Sunset drinks on the sand lead on to beach bars, and a small circuit of DJ nights and jungle parties moves between venues through the week, so on the right night it goes late. It is still a village, without a bar district.

In Monteverde the evening entertainment is a guided night walk looking for tarantulas and tree frogs, followed by a drink in Santa Elena and an early bed before dawn birding.

Both are outdoor destinations, but Monteverde is the more remarkable. Its cloud forest is hung with moss, orchids and bromeliads, protected in several reserves with marked trails and hanging bridges. Birders come for the resplendent quetzal and the bellbirds, and Costa Rica's canopy zip-lines started here.

Santa Teresa's outdoors centres on the water: consistent surf, snorkelling trips to Isla Tortuga, Montezuma's waterfalls and the trail through Cabo Blanco to a remote beach. Howler monkeys turn up in the dry forest behind the coast, but there are no mountains or misty canopy walks.

Neither works well as a base for excursions, because each is a destination in its own right at the end of a slow road. From Santa Teresa, Montezuma makes an easy afternoon, and the reserves and islands nearby fill other days. From Monteverde, Puntarenas is hardly worth the round trip, and Arenal is too far for a day out, so treat it as your next stop.

Monteverde is the easier family choice. Hanging bridges, frog and butterfly exhibits and torchlit hunts for sleeping birds keep school-age children busy, and older ones can try the zip-lines. Toddlers are another matter, given the steep, muddy trails and the cool, damp weather.

Santa Teresa suits outdoorsy families who will happily spend their days in hotel pools, rock pools and gentle surf lessons. The open sea is often unsafe for young swimmers, the main road has quads and no pavements, and medical care is some distance away.

Both take effort to reach, but Monteverde is easier once you are there. Tour operators collect you from your hotel, a small bus runs to the reserves and taxis are easy to find, so you can manage without a car despite the steep roads.

Santa Teresa is strung along one rough coastal road with no pavements or public transport, so most people rent a quad or scooter. Getting there usually means a car ferry to Paquera and the road through Cóbano, or a small plane to Tambor.

The real difference is what you take home. From Monteverde it is bags of coffee and chocolate grown nearby, and embroidery from the women's artisan cooperative, which makes the more meaningful souvenir of the two.

From Santa Teresa it is more likely a bikini, linen clothes or a new surfboard from the boutiques along the main road, with little made locally. In both places shopping fills an hour rather than a day.

Monteverde is the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Hostels and sodas keep the basics down, but you will spend on reserve entry, wildlife guides and canopy tours.

Santa Teresa is pricier than most of Costa Rica. Its boutique hotels, villas and international cafés charge close to North American rates, and quad rental, surf lessons and the journey in add to the cost. Shared surf houses and the free beach help those on a budget.

In Monteverde, live music is occasional and low-key: local musicians in a restaurant some evenings, or now and then a small community concert. Santa Teresa's has more of a beach-party feel, with acoustic sets in the bars, drumming and fire dancing at sunset, and DJs at the weekly parties. Neither has a theatre or concert hall, so there is no performance worth planning a trip around.

Santa Teresa is the wellness destination. Yoga shalas in the forest above the beach, retreat centres, breathwork and massage are all easy to find, and many hotels have open decks and plunge pools. The quieter stays are up the hill, away from the dust of the main road.

Monteverde's version of rest is simpler: cool air, birdsong at dawn and a balcony over the trees, with only a few lodge treatments and yoga classes. Neither has hot springs, and for those you would drive to Arenal.