When I posted that I was going to Costa Rica my friend Angella mentioned that she had her honeymoon in Tamarindo so I figured I'd check it out since it was close to the Marriott (20 minutes, $7). Despite missing the 2:00 shuttle I still made it with over an hour of daylight before sunset. It is a small surfer town with a great beach and great waves. It isn't big but it was a little bigger than I expected. My amigo Carlos, at the Marriott, told me some hotels and I was walking around town checking them out. The nicest place, according to him, was $135 but I didn't think I would get to take enough advantage of the place to pay that. I was looking for the $30 deals I paid in the other playas. After walking around, dragging my luggage, and sweating up a storm I decided to just go to a hostel that was only 50 meters from the beach. Although the room was technically a dormitory it is slow season so I was able to get a private room for only $15. I dropped my bags and headed straight for the beach. I didn't want to miss the sunset.
Tamarindo has a large, long, pretty beach. There were still surfers out and one area of the water was full of moored boats. I enjoyed the view, watched the sun go down, and checked out several of the beachfront bars. They were all pretty quiet and the bugs were starting to attack so I went walking around away from the beach. I spotted a big crowd at a bar and headed that way. The place was called Sharky's and it was a sports bar. The hockey game was on so I sat down and watched as the game went into overtime and the Blackhawks won. I was sitting next to a guy from Boston that had been in Tamarindo for 3 months and was hoping to stay and make money and surf. I really needed to figure that out too!
After the game I went back to the hostel and crashed. Again, I was up at the crack of dawn. I forced myself to lay there until 6:30 and then headed to the beach. It was pretty deserted except for about a dozen surfers and a few joggers. I walked around and watched the surfers for about an hour before I decided I needed to figure out where I was going next and how to get there. On my way back to the hostel I noticed a flyer on a telephone pole announcing it was International Surfers Day and activities were planned on the beach.
I got back to my room and was googling the bus schedules. Originally I was going to stay on the coast for another day and visit some friends of friends but I hadn't heard back from them and decided to just go straight to the volcano area. I was confused by the local schedule but saw the shuttles to Arenal ran at 8 & 2. As I started planning I realized I really needed more days. I thought about it a bit and decided to call American Airlines and see if I could change my flight. They were able to move my flightfrom Sunday to Tuesday. I went out and paid another $15 to the hostel, emailed the shuttle for an 8am pickup, and headed back to the beach. It just didn't seem right leaving a surfer beach on International Surfer's Day. For $8 I was able to secure a nice chair and umbrella for the day near the surfers. I spent the entire day just chillaxin there and enjoying the ocean. I took a short break to grab some lunch but pretty much stayed out there all day.
In Tamarindo there are people that walk up and down the beach trying to sell the tourist wood bowls, bird carved whistles, and jewelry. It gets a little obnoxious because the same people walk up and down the beach all day long asking over and over again. I did breakdown in the morning and bought a coconut from one guy and drank the coconut water. After lunch I was pleasantly surprised to find waiters on the beach from a nearby bar selling buckets of beer. Now they were talking my language. I enjoyed the rest of the afternoon although I didn't see any of the surfer day activities from the flyer. Later I learned there is another beach and that's where the festivities were although there was not a lack of surfers where I was.
After cleaning up I headed back to the beach to catch the sunset again and grab some dinner. I knew I would end up back at Sharky's for game 7 of the NBA finals but didn't want to eat there. I opted for a bar across the street with a 'best burgers in town' sign. I'd been trying to eat local food but was really craving beef. The only good thing about the burger was it was cheap. After eating what I could I walked across the street to cheer on the Spurs. I was able to grab a seat at the bar before the place became completed packed. Sitting between a new University of Maryland grad named Amish rooting for the Spurs and a guy from Miami, Trevor, rooting for the Heat, the night began. It was a great time despite the final outcome of the game. I talked a lot to the guys around me. Trevor's friend moved to Tamarindo 2 days before after purchasing a BBQ place, Longboards, 2 doors down. Too many people are figuring out how to live here. I really need to put my thinking cap on. I ended up leaving the bar and having an empanada at a 'food court' down the street before heading to bed at midnight.
I actually slept in until 7, although this was one day i wanted to get up early and walk the beach. Oh well. I packed my bags for the next adventure. Next stop Arenal La Frontara!
