Playa Tamarindo

Introducing Playa Tamarindo

If there are any aging hippies in your family who traveled through Costa Rica back in the day, make a point of asking them about Tamarindo when you return home – you’ll no doubt be regaled with dreamy tales of watching sea turtles nest on an abandoned beach. And, of course, when they in turn ask you what it’s like now, consider the sanctity of their nostalgia and lie through your teeth.

Tamarindo has long been on the radar of jet-setting surfers. In the immortal classic Endless Summer II, Patrick and Wingnut stopped here to visit their buddy Robert August (who still leaves here), though in recent years Tamarindo is playing host to a different breed of traveler.

Today, the beach is full of blubbery North American and European holidaymakers who spend most of their time frying in the sun like beached whales. After their complexion darkens from a pasty white to a rosy shade of skin cancer, they spend a little time perusing the town’s eclectic mix of tourist shops, tourist restaurants, tourist bars and tourist cafés. And then it hits them – ‘This place is booming! Let’s buy some property here!’

In the span of only a few years, Tamarindo changed from a small beach town into a well-to-do (and oh so fashionable!) suburb of North American and European ex-pats. You can go boutique shopping in air-conditioned strip malls while sipping a cold mocha latte. Or why not slip in a quick Botox session before taking your dog to the groomer?

To be fair, plenty of people do enjoy them­selves in Tamarindo, and it’s a great place to meet tourists from every corner of, well, America. It’s easy to criticize Tamarindo, but it is what it is. If you came to Costa Rica to party all night long, sleep with strangers and surf some great (but crowded) waves, welcome to paradise. But if an overdeveloped beachfront full of gringo tourists and Dolce & Gabbana-clad ‘locals’ isn’t your thing, remember that Costa Rica is just a few kilometers away.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009