El Estero- Tamarindo

comment by ceholli, 2008-02-02 18:10:48

Tropicana
OK, Tamarindo is not a great surfing only destination. The waves are crowded and infested with agro locals and beginners with absolutely no idea how to surf. Exactly, what the surf 'schools' are teaching I have not an answer.

However, unlike a lot of Costa Rica there are food and hotel options. Albeit cheezey, some nightlife! We got stuck in Tamarindo for 4 days this year but we made the best of it. We swam across the rivermouth and surfed Playa Grande and stayed at the Tropicana.

The Tropicana was one of the 1st hotels in Tamarindo and we really enjoyed our stay there. The people who worked there along with owners were extremely helpful and approachable. The owners went more than the extra mile including fixing my shades. The rooms were clean, good size with great AC. The pool is huge with free Wi-Fi on the grounds.

Now, I don't dig the surf in Tamarindo but if I go back I will stay with Franco, his wife and the rest of the great crew at Tropicana.

comment by toady@hotmail.com, 2006-10-01 02:39:03

Water pollution
This spot is pretty much nothing more than a weak closed out backoff. The river mouth used to have a pretty decent wave there but that was years ago. The river mouth doesnt enter the ocean the same way and there is pure gutless dribble hear. And the water quality due to septic overflow and huge amounts of grading of the hillsides is disgusting. And all the constuction sites around here dump raw sewage into the rain run off and streets from the workers in their temporary housing. Diarea for sure, ear infections, throat, eyes the water is horrible. Walk down the beach to the north about as far as your legs will take you. The water seems a little cleaner..

comment by skipjack, 2006-08-07 21:16:15

4 laughs
If you are actually a decent surfer, a ripper ,then I would avoid this place unless you want to surf it on a lark for laughs. If you want to party your brains out this is the spot. Surfing wise this place is fickle throughout the seasons, I used to live here trust me. I have surfed all its little haunts on awesome days and bad days. The Truth is you are in for weak inconsistent surf most of the time. It is a total friggin' zoo out in the water, with the locals who for the most part surf well and don't like sharing with ignorant american surfers, the hordes of surfschools that take groups of 20+ to the beach with giant yellow and blue foam boards and bob around in the shore break and all the johnny come lately travelling surfers who mostly suck, drop in on everyone, flail about and then wipeout. If you really want your prized possession boards to get the shit dinged out of them this is the spot for you. If you are learning, fair enough it's a perfect spot then.