Located just inside of town, behind the Tamarindo Diria’s private Golf Range, the Tamarindo Airport has nearly hourly flights coming and going from two National airlines—Sansa Airlines and Nature Air. When Robert August filmed a segment about Tamarindo in his Endless Summer II movie, Tamarindo became internationally famous for its surfing. And for good reason: There are no less than five world-class surf breaks within driving distance of the center of town. These include: Playa Grande, Playa Avellanas, Playa Negra, Playa Langosta, and of course, Tamarindo itself.
And Tamarindo has been the location for other filming as well. E! Wild On Costa Rica and MTV Real World sent one of its casts down here to learn to surf in the Bay. Locals have recently filmed a movie called Fe De Agua for showing at international film festivals, and the popular soap opera Meine Wunderbare Familie—watched by millions every week—spent two weeks shooting scenes to air in Germany. The blue Pacific also offers itself to sports fishermen, sailors, scuba divers, and snorkelers, while Tamarindo affords tourists a wide variety of tour options including horse riding, estuary tours, ATV tours, canopy tours, and more. There are also two championship golf courses nearby, as well as tennis courts for the so-inclined. Tamarindo Beach is located next to Tamarindo National Wildlife Refuge and and Las Baulas National Park, which encompasses Playa Grande. That is where the Leatherback Turtles nest each year and daily tours are available in season to see our national treasures. In addition, because of the natural habitat of Tamarindo Beach, just a daily walk will allow you to see Howler Monkeys, Iguanas, Parrots, and various wild life at your every step.
Location
Tamarindo is located in Costa Rica’s North Pacific province of Guanacaste.
Getting here is possible through an array of options depending on your specific route of interest or the choice of your means of transportation.
- Just 50 minutes away by car is the Daniel Oduber International Airport, located just outside of Liberia. Delta, Continental, and American offer direct service with daily flights and there are also daily charters from Toronto, Montreal, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, Madrid, Milan, Helsinki, and others.
- From San Jose, Tamarindo Beach can also be reached via a 4-1/2 hour scenic drive. Or hop on one of Costa Ricaís national airlines for a 45-minute flight to our private airport here in town.
Night Life
There’s no better way to experience the Costa Rican culture than to visit one of the typical fiestas that take place in the evenings virtually every week in a town around Playa Tamarindo during the Gold Season between December through May. As a matter of fact, Guanacaste is famous for its spirit-filled typical fiestas with traditional bull riding (corrida de toros) and colorful horse parades (topes) with dancing as well. Merengue, Cumbia, and Salsa are the typical music played at these fiestas, and don’t forget to try the various foods like beef and potatoes (picadillo), fried chicken (pollo frito), chicharrones (fried pork), corn on the cob, (elote) and for desert, sugared donut sticks (churros). In town, Tamarindo is known countrywide for its nightlife beginning with a selection of restaurants that reflect its global population. Whether it’s Costa Rican, Italian, Sushi, French, Argentinan, Asian Fusion, seafood to gourmet and a scene, or some other style, there’s a budget and cuisine here for any savvy palate.
After dinner, hit a casino, or the dance floor at the popular upscale discotheque. If not, there’s always a crowd at our local bars, which offer special events every night. The Tamarindo Diria Beach & Golf Resort itself hosts fashion shows and concerts at their Amphitheater; check with the Tour Desk for scheduled activities. For a quiet, romantic evening, try a moonlight sail, available by appointment only. And there’s no better Tamarindo nightlife than one will find when taking a stroll down the beach basking in the gorgeous glow of the night sky, serenaded by the sounds of nature.
Playa Grande Beach
Located in Marino Las Baulas National Park, this pristine beach offers an both a view to nature and a surfer’s paradise. Playa Grande Travel is easy, just 25 minutes by car from Tamarindo. A Playa Grande vacation brings you to one of the most beautiful beaches in the country and to the home of the national treasure, the Leatherback Turtle. A must for Playa Grande travel during the nesting season October to May is to watch the Leatherbacks lay their eggs during a special tour. The park is open to the general public during the day, but at night it’s closed and people are escorted onto the beach to watch the turtles come up from the sea to lay their eggs. You will notice that no hotels face the beach and no lights are shining there either.
Surfers love to plan a Playa Grande vacation because the surf here is world renowned. The waves starts breaking best 3 hours before high tide and a couple hours after. All along the beach break, are close-to-shore, A-frame waves that tube in swell and are perfect when all else is small. While Playa Grande travel is a bit more desolate than Tamarindo, only small stores and few shops, most surfers will opt for this area because of these waves breaking best. For a Playa Grande vacation where you can see the turtles or surf, please check with the tour desk at Tamarindo Diria Beach & Golf Resort.
Avellanas Beach
It’s one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, therefore Avellanas travel will bring you to a modern Garden of Eden filled with nature and wildlife set down in an area south of Tamarindo and north of Playa Negra. This is one of the main reasons to plan an Avellanas vacation: to get peace and tranquility at the beach. Avellanas is a small community where ecology minded folks put up their businesses while maintaining that natural feeling. They have succeeded. Anyone planning Avellanas travel is thinking of the beach as the focal point. Perhaps you are a surfer.
The beach is perfect for that Avellanas vacation. From the parking lot at Lola’s—a wonderful al Fresco restaurant with yummy food—to the Rivermouth and Little Hawaii beyond, all levels of surfers have a variety of reef, sand and Rivermouth breaks to choose from. An Avellanas vacation might include a camping trip on the beach. Or an ATV tour. Or just loll away the day suntanning. Plan your Avellanas travel with the tour desk at the Tamarindo Diria Beach & Golf Resort.
