Tamarindo - Base Camp

Tamarindo Airport (or farmers field)
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Tamarindo is a great place to base yourself if you plan to surf in the North West of Costa Rica. It is a small town with good surf (beach breaks) walking distance to the north and the south. In addition, you can take a bus/boat to Witch's Rock. Lots of good places to eat and there are several internet cafes to stay in touch.

There are three different ways to get there.

In the water by 8:30

You can fly into San Jose and then take a 7 and 1/2 hour bus ride for around $5. Mike and Lad took this ride and said that it was a real adventure but unbelievably slow. Apparently the bus stops and picks up everybody on the road on the way their. They ended up standing for a couple of hours because some older women got on the bus so they gave up their seats. Don't take a lot of luggage if you are going to do this trip and allow the day for the trip.

Main Street
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You can take fly into San Jose and then take a Sensa plane or another domestic plane (Northern - I think) It costs $76 and takes 45 minutes. I took this plane and it was great. The plane is a single engine 12 seater. The ride is nice and the views are fantastic. Again don't take a lot of luggage. Definitely the best way to go as far as I'm concerned. The landing strip is a little farm field 5 minute drive from town.

The other way to go (which I actually booked but then changed) is to fly into the second international airport in Costa Rica -- Liberia International Airport. You can then catch a shuttle bus for around $15. From what I could gather from others it is about a 2 hour bus ride into Tamarindo from the airport.

Beach bar - Witch's Rock Cafe
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I caught a Sensa plane from San Jose at 6:30 in the morning and arrived in Tamarindo around 7:30. The flight was great and I got some great views of the country. Including some views of volcano cones and views of the beach breaks that I was going to be surfing at Playa Grande.

Once on the ground I grabbed a shuttle for $3 to town and found the hotel that Mike and Lad were staying at. They had already headed out for a surf but had told Thomas the hotel owner that I was going to be arriving. Thomas let me into their place and told me about three good surf shops that I could rent or buy a board from (Thomas is also a surfer which was a bonus) I quickly changed into my board shorts and went to the first shop that Thomas had recommended.

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High Tide Surf Shop is one of the nicest in Tamarindo. They had a wide variety of boards to choose from some of which were brand new. I ended up renting a 6'7" short board that was thin and narrow.

I took this little board (which would soon have a not so nice nick name) and ran down to the beach to find Mike and Lad. Thomas had seen Mike and Lad in the water several mornings and told me where to check. As I was walking down the beach towards Playa Grande I ran into Mike and Lad walking back from their surf session. They had gotten up at sunset and had already finished their two hour morning session.

Tamarindo Beach
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Since I had just got there we paddled out and caught a few waves. My thin/skinny board took a lot of energy to paddle but sure did have speed when you caught a wave -- not to mention how easy it was to duck dive it. We decided that we would go to Witch's Rock the next day if we could. I wasn't really used to my board but thought that things would be better on bigger waves.

That night we went to the Witch's Rock Cafe and booked our tickets to go to Witches Rock the next day. The boat holds 5-6 people. Gabe and Ruben at the counter. They were stoked that we had enough people to book the boat. Great guys - lived and breathed surfing with great attitudes.

Tamarindo Beach
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That night we had dinner at Witch's Rock Cafe. I honestly don't remember what I had but know that it was not remarkable. Since the bus left at 5:30 the next morning (to go to the boat) we called it an early night.