Tamarindo, Costa Rica - A woman made a shocking animal discovery on the beach while she was on vacation in Costa Rica, posting viral footage of the encounter on TikTok.

Nathalie Ramsell spent the first few days of the new year in paradise.

The TikToker had made herself comfortable on the north-west coast of Costa Rica and was soaking up the sun on a beach.

However, the period of relaxation did not last too long, as Nathalie became aware of a nearby detail that would actually be a reason to flee – a crocodile!

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The young woman shared footage of the surreal moment on TikTok.

"POV: relaxing on the beach in Costa Rica and realising you have a crocodile 25 meters behind you," reads the video's onscreen text.

The predator can be seen crouching almost motionless by a river, which apparently flows into the sea.

In the clip, its teeth are being bared menacingly.

The animal is likely to be the pointed crocodile, which is native to Costa Rica and can grow up to four meters in size, per Newsweek.

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The good thing for tourists on the beach is that the reptiles are not usually very active and prefer to sunbathe all day.

They are also reportedly rather "shy" towards humans.

Nevertheless, the local travel agency advises visitors to keep a lookout for the predators on Tamarindo beach, as it cannot be denied that there are attacks on beach visitors every year which sometimes even end fatally.

It is not known whether Nathalie continued to bask in the sun despite the crocodile or whether she preferred to keep her distance.

However, the other beachgoers seemed quite relaxed about the reptile, which was only a few meters away!