Quepos is known as a sport-fishing centre whose fortunes were boosted by Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, 6.4 km away. It is a service and entertainment centre to the hotels that line the hilly road between the town and the park.

Quepos is coddled by forested hills and nestles at the foot of a bay 3.2 km southwest of Hwy 34. in the 1930s, banana plantations were established and Quepos became a key shipping port. Today, Quepos’s fortunes rest squarely on tourism. Small hotels, hip restaurants, and nightclubs have proliferated as the result of a recent tourist boom.