Tamarindo Live Cam

Tamarindo, a former fishing village that is turning into Guanascate's most developed tourist town. It now boasts a newly paved road and soon there will a road heading south out of Tamarindo to Pinilla where a 35 hectacre resort golf course and housing project is currently being developed. Both surfing and windsurfing are good in Tamarindo, and there’s a wildlife refuge and marine national park nearby, where leatherback turtles can be seen nesting during the summer months. However these turtles are protected by law and the only way to see them is on a tour with a specially certified guide. Tamarindo’s beach is large enough that non-surfers can still find quiet stretches. Parts of the beach have rip currents and barely submerged rocks, so be careful about swimming here. Also the estuaries to the north and south are very dangerous to cross at medium to high tide, so do not attempt to cross them. This beach has very good public access by bus, either local busses or the new tourist busses can be found here.

Tamarindo’s combination of attractions is well served with accommodations, restaurants, and equipment rentals, all of interest to non-surfers here to enjoy village beach life or the nearby refuges. The estuary to the north that separates Tamarindo from Playa Grande is very large and canoes can be rented to view the wildlife in the estuary. To the south is the more upscale beach of Playa Langosta. This beach has some very good Bed & Breakfast’s and is more rugged but very beautiful. Most of the higher end hotels and Bed & Breakfast’s are spread out along Playa Langosta or south Tamarindo.

Warning: Recent years have seen a growth in robberies against tourists.

The Guanacaste province is for the active soul, drawing visitors with its beaches and bird watching, horseback riding and mountain lake windsurfing. Forming the eastern border are a group of volcanoes that form the Cordillera de Guanacaste and Cordillera de Tilarán. Visitors can hike to their summits, where there are dense forests with jaguars and tapirs.

Most sites are off the Pan-American Highway (Hwy. 1), which is scenic in its own right, moving northwest through Guanacate and continuing almost to the Nicaraguan border. If traveling by bus, make sure to sit on the right hand side when traveling northbound, the views of the volcanoes are superb.

Cultural Activities

Costa Rican’s, or ticos as they call themselves, have a lot of pride for their nation. It is arguably one of the most stable Latin American countries. Costa Rica’s indigenous influence is virtually nonexistent as the indigenous population is less than 1%. When the Spaniards conquered the country they didn’t find great empires as in Mexico or South America. Because of this there is hardly no pre-Columbian artifacts as the surrounding countries have.

One of the only artifacts is the very mysterious Sphere. These Spheres were found at the beginning of the century and nobody really knows the purpose or how they were formed. The only thing known is that they are man made. Many replicas of these Spheres are littered the front lawns of some of the more expensive houses in San Jose. Most were found on a small island off of the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica called Isla del Caño. Today there are only a few left and most of these can be found in museums in San Jose, and a few on Isla del Caño.