Even the hills overlooking the beach are dotted with small and medium-sized hotels, mostly upscale and built around five or six years ago when finding a room, any room, in Tamarindo during the high season was a case of taking what you could get, if you could get it. Tamarindo's meteoric rise to become a serious contender for the title of Costa Rica's most popular beach town is not hard to explain. And while the resort town's development has been rapid and, by the look of it, not stringently planned, somehow Tamarindo has managed to retain a lazy, low-key charm that is irresistible. So let's be methodical and the first step is obvious. The guys who drive in, roof racks bristling with boards, have already got that figured out.
Tamarindo is the epicenter of one of the world's great year-round warm water surfing coasts.
If there's nothing doing off Tamarindo, which is rare, then it's a simple matter to head south to Playa Langosta, a bit further south to Playa Avellana, north to the big beach breaks at Playa Grande and Playa Negra or hop a water taxi to the renowned tubes of Witches Rock at Playa Naranjo in Santa Rosa National Park. Iguana Surf also rents ocean kayaks, sailboards, jetskis, Hobie cats and snorkeling gear. For those who prefer to take their water sports without quite so much water but perhaps with a quart or two of beer, Tamarindo is the cradle of west coast sportfishing with blue-water fishing boats that ply Costa Rica's famed northern Pacific fishing grounds for marlin, sailfish, big tuna and other game fish. Grand Slams are common place, with three species of billfish caught and released on the same boat in one day. Wahoo, giant cubera, yellowfin up to 500 pounds and a vast array of other species also abound in the nearby waters.