Tamarindo is where its at..... Been to both Jaco and Tamarindo, I will be going back to Tamarindo for the rest of my days....If you go to Jaco, Hermosa is really your only option....Jaco is kinda dirty, imagine ocean city, Md down by the boardwalk costa rican style. But there is stuff to do at night. The second time we stayed in Tamarindo, AWESOME PLACE.... U have so many different breaks to choose from and the town is much nicer than JAco. Grande isnt far, Lagnosta, Avellanas, and my personal favorite Negra.....All these breaks are within 30 minutes of Tamarindo....And The night life is great, we went during college spring break and there were so many people in town and every night a different bar would be the scene, so you would see everyone at one spot....And Witches isnt far, about an hour and a half...Ask for a guy named Chino, real cool Tico that will show you the way to some great spots.....The town is much cleaner and seems a lot less shady that JAco........Let me know if you want Chinos Info, I should be able to find it......... Pura Vida
ya, but the prostitutes are more expensive in tamorindo... - its a joke . jaco and tamorindo are two very different scenes. jaco is definitley more grungy.
Jaco is very dirty and full of drugs for sure. We saw people cooking it up on spoons right on the sidewalks last year. We were shooting pool and a guy we were with had his car broken into right on the streen infront of the pool place. Crackheads are plentiful.
hey, I had a few questions about Costa Rica too. Me and a friend were talking about taking a trip some time. What time of year would be the best time to go for the best surf? Also we are trying to spend as little money as possible so whats a reasonably priced place to stay? Any info helps, thanks. ________ Alto lapin
most everyone here agrees that Grande is a good place to be, but i suggest you plan by not planning. see what swell you are working with when you get there and plan accordingly. if you go in the off season accommodations can be plentiful. now if you are traveling with family this might not be an option. there are a lot of places to surf that noone has here has even mentioned. get you a good, updated road map and a good travel book (MOON travel books are a good choice) and just explore. if the surf flattens out head to the mountains and relax. there is alot of killer things to do and see that go beyond surfing although thats why we go. arenal or poas (volcanoes) are two of the most incredible sights you may see in you life other than perfect surf. if you plan on going dec. thru feb. you better plan ahead. this time of year can be hectic. i lot of the ticos go on vacation and are out of school. when are you planning to go? are you planning on renting a 4x4? you will need one to explore.
Bring a tent you can camp for like 5$ a night at some of the better places, not near Jaco or Tamarindo.
I stayed in Tamarindo for a week in March and hooked myself up with Witch's Rock Surf Camp. They took me to Playa Grande, Avellanas, Nosara, Witch's Rock, and Ollie's Point (mostly it was by van, but sometimes by boat). It's a decent place to set up as base camp especially if you wanted to have some sort of nightlife after a long day of surf and you get a chance to meet folks from all over the place if you're the social-type. But there are better places to surf than the breaks in Tamarindo since everyone and their mothers are taking lessons, so find a way to travel around. However, if you wanted to surf in Tamarindo, swim across the rivermouth and surf what the locals call Casita (look for the small shack) and be thankful for the opportunity to surf some of the most perfect waves.
Costa Tamarindo sucks. Its not Costa Rica anymore. Dont worry about your Spanish, you will not need it there.
dont come to costa rica and try to buy the damn place on one of those surf camps, thats not surf travel...thats spoon feeding. and dont go to tamarindo, its way over done. everyone on the east coast has been to tamarindo...the waves arent that great, and you'd have more fun in panama or el salvador. tamarindo is dirty and the big resorts dump sewage straight into estuaries. it kills the reef, and fecal coliform infections have increased dramatically. this all the while makes it more dangerous for you to go during the rainy season, which it is now. i definitely wouldnt advise swimming across that river during this time of year.
I went to tamarindo for a couple of days last year in may on a vacation with my GF. We stayed at Capitan Suizo which is south of town and right on the beach. There was a decent beach break right there and it was relatively uncrowded. We checked out the break at the rivermouth too and that was super-super crowded. the town was definitely kinda sketchy and the nightlife wasn't quite as active as i thought for a saturday night (we found out the next day we just didnt go to the right place)...
mid August i am going to be down there in August for a couple weeks. i have only stayed in Tamarindo once in the ten years i've been going down there and i only stayed there one night and moved north. kinda slow down there then so you shouldn't have troubles finding places to stay if you don't like the one you're at. i haven't nailed down anything yet. i might spend my time down near Panama, just depends on the swell. are you flying into Liberia or San Jose? you gonna have a car?
we dont have a car cause its our first time down there so we prob will stay in or around tamarindo. My gf is a beg. surfer so im not trying to take her into anything too big.
I would definitely recommend getting a car or at least setting up transportation. You will completely miss the Tamarindo experience if you don't go to the nearby breaks (Langosta, Avellanas, Grande, Negra). Some of these breaks, especially Langosta and Avellanas, are easily surfable for a beginner. Cabs are very expensive...
I would stay in Hermosa or Dominical. Both spots were a lot of fun. I think Hermosa is a bit more consistent but is a little smaller of an area. I never ran into any trouble at either spot with localism. Everyone seemed pretty chill. Hermosa was very consistent. We went over Thanksgiving and every day was chest+ and offshore winds. It was fun. If I went back, I'd just stay in Hermosa and walk out the back door to go surf. It was the most convenient stay and surf beach I saw. Didn't check out Tamarindo though.
