Tamarindo is a small town located on the Northern Pacific coast of Costa Rica and is the third biggest district of Santa
Cruz. The main attractions here is surfing, tourism, and relaxing. Everything, except the service, runs slow and easy in Tamarindo. They have a saying in Tamarindo, Pura Vida, which means Pure Life, and they not only believe it, they live it. Forget the hustle and bustle of your everyday life, when you’re in Tamarindo, your there to relax, enjoy life, and recharge.While in Tamarindo we stayed at the Hotel Pasatiempo a wonderful Spa Bed and Breakfast hotel located within a five minute walk to the beach, in fact, everything from shopping to restaurants in Tamarindo is within walking distance. The staff was both friendly and very accommodating to all of our wants and needs. We felt comfortable and right at home from the moment we got there.
The hotel is surrounded by mango and palm trees and with those trees, comes a family of monkeys! They were quit a treat to watch as they were watching us and eating the mango’s from the mango trees. In fact, they even have a swing bridge that runs across the road to the trees on the other side to protect the monkey’s from what little vehicle traffic there is.The hotel has a full service bar and restaurant, the Monkey LaLa, where you can enjoy everything from a marvelous fresh seafood meal to a tropical cocktail…ask Geovani to make you a tropical drink called the Monkey LaLa, you’ll love it! There are two nights of live music, Monday and Saturday from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm, and the musicians will even invite you up on stage to jam with them. Hotel Pasatiempo is a fabulous place to stay & we plan on staying there again! (www.hotelpasatiempo.com)
There are so many activities to keep you busy while your in Tamarindo, everything from surfing to fishing, ATV to horseback riding, sunset cruise to ziplining, and more! We chose Deep Sea Fishing, ATV riding on Shell Beach, and Ziplining. Our friends had the trip set up by Steve and Liisa Quinn, owners of Go Fish Costa Rica, and they took care of everything. (www.GoFishCr.com)
The first two days we were there was spent fishing on the deep blue waters just off the coast of Tamarindo with the fine folks from Go Fish Costa Rica. We started our morning with breakfast on the beach while we waited for our boat to come in and take us out to sea. Out on the water we caught a Blue Marlin, a Sail Fish, and some Grouper. The fishing guides were very knowledgeable about the area, friendly and helpful. They prepared a nice lunch for us both days of fishing and plenty of snacks and beverages. When the last cast for the day was made, they took all the fish we caught and cleaned and filleted them for us! Now that’s the way to fish! The Guides bagged up all our fish and we took it to a couple of the restaurants in Tamarindo where they prepared the most wonderful, fresh Costa Rica style seafood meal we have ever eaten (most any of the restaurants will do this). We caught enough fish to eat out three of the five nights we were there, and at a different restaurant each time…Fabulous!
ATV on Shell Beach, Steve & Liisa can set this up for you, or you can have the staff at Hotel Pasatiempo set you up. On the day that you schedule your ride the guide will come to the hotel to pick you up and drive you to the village of Brasilito where you’ll hop on your ATV and take off on a beach riding, site seeing adventure. We had a two hour tour where we saw the little villages of Playa Mariquitos, we played on Shell Beach, and took a rest at Pirate Bay. It was a fantastic day to say the least. We had another fabulous lunch on the beach and watched the boats going by, all a part of our tour package. This was both a fun and exciting excursion, but very relaxing & enjoyable at the same time. My favorite adventure of the trip by far!
Ziplining in the Canopies, again this is something that Steve & Liisa can set up for you or you can ask the hotel staff to do it. This was the mother of all ziplines as far as I am concerned! There are 11 platforms and seven cables suspended between the trees. This canopy zipline is located on a private reserve not far from Tamarindo, in a tropical dry forest. There are animals of all sorts in this forest, Congo Monkeys, White Face Monkeys, things that crawl and slither and we were told there are Jaguars, Wild Boars and Deer. The ride from line to line is long, some longer than others, fast and exhilarating. The people who own the reserve are friendly and make sure you feel safe and secure while flying 300+ feet in the air suspended by nothing more than a cable! The tour guides that take you on the ride are full of fun and very acrobatic on the lines. It was a sight to see as they flew through the air turning flips and zipping upside down as they made their way to the next platform. This is definitely a must for those who are thrill seekers with a passion for unbridled adventure.
The week went by way too fast, before we knew it we were saying good-bye to Giovani & the Pasatiempo staff and Steve & Liisa. Steve had a shuttle van pick us up and take us to the airport where getting through Customs was a breeze! The people of Tamarindo were warm and friendly and very welcoming. The only bad thing about this trip, was leaving!
