Tamarindo Tamarindo is like Cancun, Acapulco or any one of dozens of tropical destinations that started out as nothing more than a village on a pretty beach.
Details: Costa Rica
What you need to know if you want to go to Tamarindo.
By Chris Welsch, Star Tribune
January 16, 2009 at 11:14PM
Unlike Cancun or Acapulco, there's still a fight going on over its soul. Should Tamarindo, a town of about 2,000 people, become a major resort destination or try to retain its small-town charm? Rapid condo development has outpaced infrastructure, leading to wastewater contamination that affects Tamarindo's most important asset for tourism: its broad, beautiful beach. The Tamarindo News (tamarindonews.com) and the Beach Times (www.thebeachtimes.com) cover the continuing story; the letters to the editor in both papers feature the arguments of locals over what to do. The choices aren't easy.
For tourists, Tamarindo remains an appealing destination, especially for surfers and sun worshipers, turtle fans and bird watchers. You can help preserve the nature of the area by choosing small, locally owned hotels and bed-and-breakfasts and not staying at the big hotels (they're not as interesting or even necessarily as comfortable, as I found out in Tamarindo).
Ethical travel
To learn more about ethical tourism, download the United Nations' tips for responsible travelers at www.world-tourism.org/code_ethics/eng/responsible.htm and check out www.ethicaltraveler.org.
Where to stay
Were I to do it over, I'd stay at Cabinas Marielos (www. cabinasmarieloscr.com), a comfortable, affordable hotel with a shared kitchen and a beautiful garden; it's right across the street from the beach. Doubles are about $35 a night with air conditioning and $25 a night without it.
Tours
The chance to see leatherback turtles nesting is a rare one; a variety of companies offer tours, and the standard price is about $30. There is a boathouse office at the south shore of the Tamarindo Estuary (where the main, urban part of the beach ends; on the other side of the estuary Las Baulas National Park begins). Hotels all have booking desks for rain forest canopy tours, zip lines and other activities. Two-hour boat or kayak tours of the mangrove forest in the estuary will give you a shot at seeing an American crocodile as well as hundreds of tropical shorebirds.
