Week 436 · Tamarindo · Playa Flamingo · Las Catalinas · Costa Rica
Tamarindo
It was about a 120-mile drive from Arenal to Tamarindo Beach — took about 4 hours with a short detour in the town of Liberia. Not much to see there, but if you are only going to Tamarindo Beach you can fly there directly and save several hours driving.
Good beach town, more on the younger crowd with a lot of cheap bars and restaurants. Since we aren't the younger crowd, we ate pretty well — the highlight being an Argentinian steakhouse, Patagonia Argentinian Grill. Our AirBnB was in a better location than advertised — once we found the path, about 2 minutes from the beach. And to top it off, beach clubs were free — just had to eat and drink to sit under a palm tree. Decent waves for body boarding — long ride and you don't crash on your head. We had a couple of relaxing days, sunny in the morning and rainy in the afternoon.
Tamarindo is a beach town on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica's Guanacaste province, approximately 290 kilometres from San José. It sits within the "Gold Coast" of Costa Rica — a dry tropical forest zone that gets significantly less rainfall than the Caribbean coast or central highlands, making it one of the sunniest destinations in the country. The consistent Pacific swells make it one of Central America's most popular surf destinations. Las Catalinas — the new urbanist planned community about 20 minutes north — was co-designed by American architect Andrés Duany, the same architect behind Kentlands in Maryland, explaining the distinctive walkable town-planning similarities. The community was designed without any cars in the residential areas.
One afternoon we drove north along the coast to Playa Flamingo — a peninsula with several resorts, including Margaritaville. We found a place that had just been refurbished to grab a snack and wait out a rain storm — Paradise Hotel. We were pretty much the only people on their covered deck. The waitress suggested we also visit Las Catalinas another 20 minutes north — we did and found it was an Italian version of the Kentlands on the beach — and with a little research found it had one of the same architects.
The waitress suggested we also visit Las Catalinas another 20 minutes north. We did — and found it was an Italian version of the Kentlands on the beach. With a little research found it had one of the same architects.
On our last day — a lot of administration: COVID test, get laundry without a ticket, and a 6-hour drive back to San José. As part of the 6-hour drive, we had a ferry ride — a nice break from the slow driving.
"Beach clubs were free — just had to eat and drink to sit under a palm tree. Sunny in the morning, rainy in the afternoon."