Last month, I spent a week exploring Costa Rica, with one of my favorite stops being in Tamarindo, a northern surfing beach that’s known for it’s amazing food, drinks and beaches. See my complete guide of what to do in Tamarindo Costa Rica below! After a few requests, I’m excited to share the second part of my guide to Costa Rica, focusing on Tamarindo, the last stop on our stay! Knowing that we only had a week to explore the country (and that we wanted to experience both the forests, jungles AND the beach), we decided to spend our trip in the Northern area of Costa Rica, and Tamarindo was the most popular beach in the region for surfing, delicious food, and day trips around the area. We had so much fun spending 3 full days in Tamarindo that I wanted to pull together a guide of what to do in Tamarindo Costa Rica. If you’re planning to making the trip, make sure to reach out if you have any questions not covered in the guide below!

What to do in Tamarindo Costa Rica

Where to Stay:

First things first, you probably need a place to stay! We stayed at Cala Luna that was a beautiful hotel a little outside the main downtown area. Tamarindo is usually pretty busy with both Costa Rican tourists and those visiting outside the country, so I’d recommend staying a little outside the downtown area if possible – especially if you’re the kind of person who likes to go to bed early (aka, me!)

Cala Luna was gorgeous and the perfect place for our stay – they have a private beachfront, nice little cottages you can stay in, and a pool in case you don’t want to be on the beach all day. They also have a nice restaurant, a delicious Costa Rican breakfast spread every morning that comes with your stay and there are tons of activities you can do through the hotel – including surf lessons, a tour and dinner at their organic farm, boating trips, horseback riding and more. It was the perfect place to find a balance of relaxing and activities, and the staff was amazingly helpful and kind. We found a deal on cyber Monday which made it more affordable for us, but even without a discount I’d love to go back one day.   (Above a few photos of the private beach at Cala Luna! The beaches further away from the main surfing beach are a little rocky, so definitely bring shoes you can walk in. We didn’t mind sitting on the sand during the day, and it’s fun to explore the tide pools during low tide created by the rocks!)

We also stumbled across Ocho Artisan Bungalows after we ended up finding ourselves here at the bar. We loved the staff there and the hotel has a beautiful boho-chic vibe and really nice rooms by the beachfront. I’d definitely consider staying here if we ever went back to Tamarindo again too!

Where to Eat & Drink: 

A guide of what to do in Tamarindo Costa Rica wouldn’t be complete without talking about the food! The food in Tamarindo is really incredible, so it’s hard to narrow down my list of my favorites. From our short trip for just a few days, here are our favorite places (and a few we missed out on that we wanted to try!)  For a laid back lunch, we loved Green Papaya for tacos and healthy bowls. We had their famous Mahi-Mahi tacos (see them above!) and margaritas after a productive morning of surfing. They also have super cute swings on their outside patio if you want to spend some time hanging out for the afternoon.

Falafel Bar was another great lunch spot for Mediterranean dishes and amazing falafel. It’s affordable, delicious and super tasty – and it was honestly one of the best Mediterranean meals I’ve had in a long time. We also heard amazing things about Cafe Tico (we ran out of time to go there for lunch!) for breakfast and Shrimp Hole for a quick but tasty seafood spot! Pico Bistro was another spot we discovered on our last day that we wished we could have eaten at too – the ambiance was gorgeous (it’s airy and right on the beach!) and the food looked absolutely amazing and super healthy.

For Dinner, we went to a few places we loved too. We spent our first night at Dragonfly Bar and Grill for some delicious Asian fusion dishes – including an amazing Fiery Thai Beef with Noodles dish (it wasn’t too spicy at all!) and yellow curry with shrimp. We were starving since we had just driven from the mountains for a few hours, and the food was spot on delicious. Their cocktails and wine selection are also impressive!

Probably our favorite meal was at Seasons by Shlomy that was a gourmet Mediterranean restaurant. They have delicious staples on the menu, but also a large selection of specials that rotate daily. Most of the dishes we had were specials, but we did order the cauliflower starter on the menu (it was fantastic!) and red snapper that was also really delicious too. If we had stayed another night, I would have definitely wanted to go back to Seasons for another meal!  There’s a ton of other cute spots we stopped at during the day, including Nordico Coffee (how cute are those blue and white tiles?!) for a morning or afternoon espresso, Buon Appetito for gelato or Volcano Brewing Co for an impressive selection of draft beers. All are good options for an afternoon pick-me-up to satisfy whatever you’re looking for. 

What to Do:

When you visit Tamarindo, you have to try surfing for the first time (or, if you’re a surfer already, spend most of the days on the beach!). I had never surfed before and took a lesson with a few guys from Tamarindo Surf Academy through our hotel, and had an absolute blast. I was a little freaked out about trying surfing for the first time, but they were so patient and went out in the water with you to give you tips on when to get up, how to improve your form, and when to dive into a big wave when it’s coming for you. Tom loved it so much, he went back the next morning with the same guys and did it again! A 2 hour lesson was $50 through our hotel and totally worth it – I wouldn’t recommend it enough if you’ve ever wanted to give surfing a go!Definitely spend at least an afternoon downtown at the cute local shops and enjoying some time at the main beach to watch more experienced surfers take on the waves. You can also check out a few other close by beaches, including Playa Langosta which is right next to Tamarindo (and where our hotel was) and Playa Conchal that has more white sand beaches and filled with lots of shells.

While we didn’t have time to do too much more exploring, there’s a lot of fishing, boating, kayaking and more around Tamardino – all included in this helpful round up of the top 11 things to do from a local Costa Rican travel blog. I’d definitely love to go back sometime soon – especially when it’s winter in the midwest!     Hopefully you found this little guide on what to do in Tamarindo Costa Rica helpful! I had a blast in Costa Rica and can’t recommend it enough if you’re considering it for a travel destination in the near future! As always, feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions – always happy to help plan your trip! xx