I’ve been going to Tamarindo every year for over 30 years.
I was looking to retire there - at least do the snowbird thing - it’s no longer a feasible or attractive option for me.
Rents have high skyrocketed. A month to month rental is $1000 for a studio and $1500 for a 1 bedroom - that’s if you wanna be in town.
Hotels have really jacked up prices too. A decent hotel in high season is $120 to $300 per night.
Even at those prices, it’ll be worth it to most people: the beach, the surf, the sun, the cute shops and a few great restaurants.
It’s still charming, still Tamarindo, but there’s heavy traffic on the main road to town every day from early afternoon through the evening.
With such large crowds there’ll always be hustlers and predators…I’ve never been approached by so many drug dealers in all my travels, and some of the related violence is literally unspeakable- I mean nobody talks about it. It’s unnerving. But this is the shrinking and hard world we live in.
A highlight for most visitors to Tamarindo is getting out of Tamarindo for a day and visiting Lola’s Restaurant in Avellana.
The edge of the ever expanding little city has always been my sweet spot.
Safe travels and be a travel diplomat.