Truth or Tourism Truth
International Living posted a video of living in Tamarindo recently. It made me laugh, especially in light of my activities today.
I just had to laugh after view this. While there are some true bits in here there's a lot of wishful thinking designed just for tourism.
The restaurants are pretty mediocre here. Very average Gringo food. You might as well be eating these same wings, burgers and whatever at your local Applebee's. Don't come to Tama expecting a great meal. I can only recommend three different places and only one of them is actually in this video. The restaurant/sports bar they mention by name has frozen foods reheated badly, and drug dealers lurking trying to sell you cocaine. It feels very unsafe after dark at that place.
I know, I know, I'm a very spoiled beeotch for growing up in New Orleans and living in the D.C. area and I'm judging the restaurants by those standards. You are better off with the street vendors food and the local Costa Rican sodas. Their food is fabulous!
The clothing shops. The quality sucks horribly. Want to buy a beach dress you're only going to be able to wear three times before it rips? This is your place.
The souvenir stands and stores. Haggle, always haggle. Do not wear expensive looking jewelry when out shopping or dining or the local Ticos will raise the price. I've seen it happen. Most of the stuff in those stores is actually made it China.
Those rocks people are walking around on top of? Always, and I mean always, wear aqua socks or aqua shoes on the rocks here. Sea urchins tend to lurk around the base of the rocks. I've just seen way too many tourists with pissed on feet screaming and crying in the clinic waiting room with sea urchin spines, which must be pulled laboriously by hand.
The estuary at the end of the beach. Please do not go in the water there. There are crocodiles on that end, and yearly they seem prone to take a bite out of a tourist.
Wear sun screen! You are closer to the equator here than in the U.S. of A. and can burn badly very quickly. I cannot count the times I see people arriving here, spending the entire first day on the beach and ending up lobster red for lack of sun screen. You can even buy it just as cheaply here as in the States.
That grocery store seen in the video is wonderful, and yes, you can buy a lot of imported foods there. But not everything. The prices are crazy high there too. Plus as a local you have to dodge the tourists there from December through May. Today alone I had to avoid running over a group of tourists who ran in front of my car in the parking lot without looking to take photos of the poorly done Asian knock off statues. Had to navigate around people in the store not buying but taking photos and squealing over finding boxes of Pop Tarts and Cheerios in Spanish.
So what should you do when you come here? Here's a few better suggestions.
Tamarindo Beach is okay, but it's like the Panama City Beach of the area. You are much better off trekking to many of the better lesser known bcaches like my personal favorite Playa Grande, a national park with a much bigger beach, copious wildlife and few people. There are literally ten beaches within ten minutes, or a quick taxi or bus ride. Playa Langosta you can walk to from Tama and it's completely different and beautiful. If you hike past Grande you can go to the most deserted beaches like La Ventanas, Cabo Velas, Nombre de Jesus and Bahia Los Piratas. Every beach here is different, Playa Conchal does not have sand but a million tiny seashells. You can literally visit a different beach every day and not get bored.
Eating out. Try local food, it's cheap and plentiful. Small Tico restaurants are everywhere. We love Punto Tranquilo and Alondra in Huacas for cheap filling meals.
Shop at the same places as the locals, Mega Super or Maxi Pali. The prices are more reasonable and the fruit and vegetable selection is unbelievable. On Wednesdays at Mega Super they have a special, buy 3 and get a 4th free.
Learn some small Spanish before you get here. Very few people speak English.
Ask locals, American locals who live here. They can steer you to places to visit, like the free waterfall near Bagaces, or the free hot springs near Arenal. Tour guides here charge way too much to take you to places, and will only steer you to the higher priced options. You don't really need to pay to see monkeys, iguanas and parrots here, they are everywhere.
If money is no object then a great option is to go on one of the afternoon sailing trips. Its about 80 bucks a head and it's wonderful. You'll see schools of dolphins, manta rays, whales, turtles all sorts of things.
You want to take a boat ride on the estuary? Don't pay some tour operator 30 or 40 bucks. Have your hotel book you a table at the Great Waltinis at the Bula Bula hotel. They will take you by boat from the Tamarindo boat launch and up the estuary for free.
The people here are wonderful and friendly, so don't be afraid to talk to them, buy things at the bakery or shop at the local stores.
There are lots of fun things to do that sometimes get overlooked, like yoga classes, wildlife sanctuaries, pottery classes and other opportunities. Tonight we're attending a fundraiser for the Surf Riders beach clean up project.
Do not exchange money at the airport money exchanges. It's a huge rip off. You can walk into any bank in Costa Rica with your passport and exchange dollars for colons at that day's rate.
But the most important thing you can do here is simply pack out all your trash, your Coke and beer bottles, your cigarette butts, your used sunscreen bottles and empty coconuts. Many of us here do beach cleanup once a month, or every single time we walk the beach.
Still need incentive to leave the tourist areas for the unknown. This is a recent photo I took on Playa Grande. Not a soul there except for the turtles laying eggs and the pelicans.
I just had to laugh after view this. While there are some true bits in here there's a lot of wishful thinking designed just for tourism.
The restaurants are pretty mediocre here. Very average Gringo food. You might as well be eating these same wings, burgers and whatever at your local Applebee's. Don't come to Tama expecting a great meal. I can only recommend three different places and only one of them is actually in this video. The restaurant/sports bar they mention by name has frozen foods reheated badly, and drug dealers lurking trying to sell you cocaine. It feels very unsafe after dark at that place.
I know, I know, I'm a very spoiled beeotch for growing up in New Orleans and living in the D.C. area and I'm judging the restaurants by those standards. You are better off with the street vendors food and the local Costa Rican sodas. Their food is fabulous!
The clothing shops. The quality sucks horribly. Want to buy a beach dress you're only going to be able to wear three times before it rips? This is your place.
The souvenir stands and stores. Haggle, always haggle. Do not wear expensive looking jewelry when out shopping or dining or the local Ticos will raise the price. I've seen it happen. Most of the stuff in those stores is actually made it China.
Those rocks people are walking around on top of? Always, and I mean always, wear aqua socks or aqua shoes on the rocks here. Sea urchins tend to lurk around the base of the rocks. I've just seen way too many tourists with pissed on feet screaming and crying in the clinic waiting room with sea urchin spines, which must be pulled laboriously by hand.
The estuary at the end of the beach. Please do not go in the water there. There are crocodiles on that end, and yearly they seem prone to take a bite out of a tourist.
Wear sun screen! You are closer to the equator here than in the U.S. of A. and can burn badly very quickly. I cannot count the times I see people arriving here, spending the entire first day on the beach and ending up lobster red for lack of sun screen. You can even buy it just as cheaply here as in the States.
That grocery store seen in the video is wonderful, and yes, you can buy a lot of imported foods there. But not everything. The prices are crazy high there too. Plus as a local you have to dodge the tourists there from December through May. Today alone I had to avoid running over a group of tourists who ran in front of my car in the parking lot without looking to take photos of the poorly done Asian knock off statues. Had to navigate around people in the store not buying but taking photos and squealing over finding boxes of Pop Tarts and Cheerios in Spanish.
So what should you do when you come here? Here's a few better suggestions.
Tamarindo Beach is okay, but it's like the Panama City Beach of the area. You are much better off trekking to many of the better lesser known bcaches like my personal favorite Playa Grande, a national park with a much bigger beach, copious wildlife and few people. There are literally ten beaches within ten minutes, or a quick taxi or bus ride. Playa Langosta you can walk to from Tama and it's completely different and beautiful. If you hike past Grande you can go to the most deserted beaches like La Ventanas, Cabo Velas, Nombre de Jesus and Bahia Los Piratas. Every beach here is different, Playa Conchal does not have sand but a million tiny seashells. You can literally visit a different beach every day and not get bored.
Eating out. Try local food, it's cheap and plentiful. Small Tico restaurants are everywhere. We love Punto Tranquilo and Alondra in Huacas for cheap filling meals.
Shop at the same places as the locals, Mega Super or Maxi Pali. The prices are more reasonable and the fruit and vegetable selection is unbelievable. On Wednesdays at Mega Super they have a special, buy 3 and get a 4th free.
Learn some small Spanish before you get here. Very few people speak English.
Ask locals, American locals who live here. They can steer you to places to visit, like the free waterfall near Bagaces, or the free hot springs near Arenal. Tour guides here charge way too much to take you to places, and will only steer you to the higher priced options. You don't really need to pay to see monkeys, iguanas and parrots here, they are everywhere.
If money is no object then a great option is to go on one of the afternoon sailing trips. Its about 80 bucks a head and it's wonderful. You'll see schools of dolphins, manta rays, whales, turtles all sorts of things.
You want to take a boat ride on the estuary? Don't pay some tour operator 30 or 40 bucks. Have your hotel book you a table at the Great Waltinis at the Bula Bula hotel. They will take you by boat from the Tamarindo boat launch and up the estuary for free.
The people here are wonderful and friendly, so don't be afraid to talk to them, buy things at the bakery or shop at the local stores.
There are lots of fun things to do that sometimes get overlooked, like yoga classes, wildlife sanctuaries, pottery classes and other opportunities. Tonight we're attending a fundraiser for the Surf Riders beach clean up project.
Do not exchange money at the airport money exchanges. It's a huge rip off. You can walk into any bank in Costa Rica with your passport and exchange dollars for colons at that day's rate.
But the most important thing you can do here is simply pack out all your trash, your Coke and beer bottles, your cigarette butts, your used sunscreen bottles and empty coconuts. Many of us here do beach cleanup once a month, or every single time we walk the beach.
Still need incentive to leave the tourist areas for the unknown. This is a recent photo I took on Playa Grande. Not a soul there except for the turtles laying eggs and the pelicans.
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