Villas Cerca del Mar #9

01/11/2024

A glimpse into some of the Costa Rican Culture and Tamarindo!

29/10/2024

I always see questions about the different beach towns in Guanacaste, and because words mean different things to different people, I thought I'd take a trip along the cost with my drone and shoot some 360 degree spherical photos of the various popular towns so that people who have never been and are planning to go, might have a better idea of which place may given them the experience they are looking for. (If they do not show a small globe on the bottom right or as spherical photos, it may be your browser or device. For example iPhones using the Facebook app will show them 360 while iPads using the Facebook app will not. It may be similar with other browsers or Android devices. The pictures are spherical 360 though so keep trying till you find something that will display them as such).

These were mainly shot on the same day in Sept 26th 2024, and the weather was not the greatest because Hurricane Helene in the Gulf of Mexico off Cozumel Mexico (so the waves are stronger and more frequent, and the water is cloud from the surf and the rain wash) - but it was the only day I had to do such a trip.

The towns in this album include: Playa Grande, Brasilito, Playa Flamingo, Potrero, Playa del Coco, Playa Hermosa, Liberia, Langosta (Tamarindo), and Tamarindo proper, the later 2 are from different times (December and September of 2023) the then this Sept 2024 trip, but I had them so I added them for you).

I hope you find this educational and useful, I know I certainly did.

Happy Travels

29/10/2024

I know security isn't the something people love talking about, but I think it is worth talking about. This reel is from ADIT Playa Tamarindo which is a community non-profit for Tamarindo that is one of the ways in which the community works very hard to keep everyone safe and secure. We donate monthly to them. :)

29/10/2024

25/10/2024

28/09/2024

I see a lot of questions on using cash vs credit cards and how exchange rate works if you use a credit card.

The credit card company sets the exchange rate based on the current exchange rate for the day on the day of the transaction (it’s usually excellent and better than you can get at an exchange desk).

You may be charged a foreign transaction fee by the credit card company. This depends on the credit card company, not all cards charge this (and when they don’t it is usually advertised as a benefit). Such charges may be per transaction or it may be once per billing period for the card or they may be waved. It is entirely up to the Credit Card in use.

In Costa Rica you may be charged a 4% usage fee (the credit card companies charge this to the vendor - generally 3% in the USA, generally paid by the vendor in the USA. In Costa Rica vendors tend to pass it on to the customer rather than absorbing it - not all but some).

Finally you will be charged VAT (13%) on all credit card transactions. Using cash, this VAT may or may not show up depending on who you are dealing with (it is 100% supposed to be on cash transactions too, but people are people, and sometimes it does not).

I want to be clear, I’m not in any way saying you should use cash to avoid an extra 17% (13% VAT + 4% credit card fee) PLUS a foreign transaction fees if your card charges - just that it has been known to happen… an example might be if you are spending $300 on tours as cash price or $351 via credit card (13%+4%) plus foreign transaction fees if your card charges one. Certainly at a minimum using cash avoids the credit card fees that may be passed on for using a credit card (the 4% in addition to any backend fees like foreign transactions and such).

If you get cash, pull it from the ATM for the best exchange rate. Many ATM’s will give you a choice of US cash or CRC.

Also worth saying, there are a lot of places where only cash is an option. For example if you visit a beach like Brasilito, you will need cash to use the bathrooms. You certainly want to have access to enough cash that you are covered if the ATM's are out of money or offline or the credit card machines are down and so on.

15/09/2024

Happy Independence day CR!

09/09/2024

;-)

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/28g3mtKHvNMYG46b/

Send a message to learn more

04/09/2024

We get a lot of questions about shuttles from LIR to Tamarindo (and other places).

So I just wanted to do a quick post on the company I tend to use most often for myself.

https://tamarindoshuttle.com/transfers/shared-shuttles/

Happy Travels.

29/08/2024

Well done Tamarindo!

16/08/2024

13/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/dhHDVaKdzNzpjoFU/

Estamos súper emocionados de invitarlos a la apertura de la nueva y mejorada biblioteca para niños, Tamarindo Children's Community Library, en el DB Building en Playa Langosta (donde queda Bistro Langosta) de 10am a 2pm el Sábado 31 de Agosto ✨

Vamos a tener pintacaritas para los chiquitos, juegos divertidos dirigidos por nana Family Support y lectura de cuentos infantiles por The Bookstore of the Waves. Con el apoyo de ADIT Playa Tamarindo y de algunos de los negocios locales vamos a tener rifas con buenos premios 🌞

Vengan a ver la nueva biblioteca! Nuestros generosos patrocinadores Danny y Vanessa, dueños de Bistro Langosta, The SideBar at Bistro Langosta y The Sno Shack están construyendo un espacio super lindo para la biblioteca, con espacio para más libros que antes, luz natural, rampa para coches y un área verde en frente de la biblioteca para juegos para los chicos. Por favor apoyen este proyecto para nuestros pequeños lectores, nuestro objetivo es crear un espacio mágico para los niños de nuestra comunidad 🌈

22/07/2024

Congratulations to Tamarindo community and ADiT on another year of winning the Blue Flag Ecological Award!

For those that do not know, the The Blue Flag Ecology Program, locally known as el Programa Bandera Azul Ecológica, is a collaborative effort between multiple Costa Rican agencies, including the Costa Rican Tourism Institute and the Ministry of Environment, that recognizes participating entities for outstanding efforts in sustainability and conservation.

It is an award that must be re-earned every year, and it is a good measure of things like ecosystem health (40%), sea water quality (20%), environmentalism (20%), drinking water quality (10%), safety (5%), and administration (5%). Only beaches with a 90+% score succeed in acquiring a distinction and receiving the Blue Flag - and to keep it they are monitored on a monthly basis (if they ever slip below the criteria they will lose it).

Out of roughly 300 beaches that apply every year, only about 1/3 meet the rigorous standards for the award (this is not a quota, but rather a statement on how tough the standards are to meet in order to gain the award).

The Blue Flag represents a huge commitment to the environment and a significant, ongoing, community effort to earn and keep it. For visitors, it is an assurance of quality, commitment, and sustainability to the ecosystem and environment. It means the waters and the land will be clean, healthy, and sustainable and are among the best Costa Rica has to offer visitors.

(This award also applies to Playa Langosta - for those not familiar, the north part of Playa Langosta is shown in the first image, and Playa Tamarindo is shown in the second. Playa Langosta also extends a mile south and runs alone side the Los Baulas National Park. I also expect that Playa Grande will announce shortly as they also quality every year and are an excellent beach and community).

07/07/2024

Hurricanes and Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is on the Earth’s equator, and one overlooked benefit of being close to the Earth’s equator is that the Coriolis Effect is weak, this means for storms such as hurricanes, they are forced to turn north into increased Coriolis Effect to maintain themselves - mostly missing Costa Rica in the process - or dissipate in energy become weaker tropical storms.

Cumulative tracks of all retired Atlantic hurricanes (1953–2018)

(Costa Rica Is that little section toward the bottom of Central America that is consistently missed.

25/06/2024

This is one of the first photos I took of Las Baulas National Park near the San Francisco Estuary (those are the tributaries that feed into the estuary). I don't think I've posted it before - because without context I don't think it tells much of a story to the uninformed viewer. Never the less it is one of my favorites, and I thought I'd share it here because it is a view most people don't get to see.

Enjoy.

02/06/2024

Saw these and thought I'd share. Might be a fun way to announce a family trip to Costa Rica - just by one for everyone going, wrap them up, and get to get together for the opening!

If you miss Costa Rica, then this is the perfect design to express that. Features cute symbols of Costa Rica in a vintage style. Makes a funny gag gift for anyone who loves to travel and can’t wait to hop on a plane.

09/05/2024

Just FYI - the US CDC is updating the rules from bring dogs back form Costa Rica.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/08/health/cdc-dog-import-rules?cid=ios_app&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2FmJ9HVdpGf_hk7J_qLv90QzxwpP7lUACMB2soWMJYIMaXzTXdSVKwFjY_aem_AdQnCauXgRsPFDxv78V0RgzP9bF2UoIp4Vh0qZOYoGLMUl3t9hh6cHrsUYl6gSupOr5NmkHAh42MIswbFil1AVZg

The United States has new rules for how dogs are brought into the country, and they go into effect in August.