Tamarindo

      After church last Sunday (actually a week and a half ago now) we packed some food and drinks and headed north on the beach rd. It is amazing how many tiny little "towns" we hit on our drive. Some didn't seem to be much more than a few houses and others were tiny but had a soccer field, church, and school. (on a side note almost every town is built around a soccer field, church, and school. This also is the order of importance - so were told) After about two hours of two lane washboard gravel rd the kids hit there wall and wanted out of the hot and dusty car. We stopped and played on a beach for a bit. After everyone had a chance to relax and cool down we got back on the road and headed toward Tamarindo.
When finally arrived in Tamarindo it was like we were in a different country. The beach is lined with giant hotels and restaurants. The main street has tons of shopping. In fact in one section of twelve store fronts I counted four surf shops. I'm not sure how anyone makes any money but there seemed to be more surf shops than anything. The crowded beach had a very different feel than Samara. It honestly felt like I was in San Diego. I have heard others compare it to Florida. I quickly understood why people refer to it as "Tamagringo".
We spent a while on the beach and then walked down the main street as Genevieve was excited to look in all the shops. We eventually ended up in a restaurant and had a nice dinner just off the beach.
We enjoyed our four hour visit in Tamarindo but it's definitely not our kind of town. I'm certain it has a hapenin night life if that's what your looking for. If you live on the West coat you can save yourself a ton of airfare and just go to San Diego.

Tamarindo sunset