So it was around the middle of July this year when a friend asked me if I’d be interested in joining him on a surf camp in Costa Rica. I asked when, and he said it was gonna be on the first week of August. I told him ticket prices would be crazy expensive already– I know because I considered going to Costa Rica last year. The cheapest round trip ticket was 700 USD, and that was 6 weeks prior to the dates I was looking at! Still, I checked ticket prices out of curiosity… What do you know, the cheapest roundtrip ticket only costs 300 USD… Avianca was having a sale. I immediately called my friend and told him I was down lol. See, when it comes to trips I’m real easy… as long as I could afford it haha.

So we’ll be on different airlines, I’ll be arriving a few hours earlier. Since I’ll be arriving late at night in San Jose, the plan was to spend the night there then just meet up with him the next day in Tamarindo, where the surfing camp was.

If I only arrived earlier (like before 11 PM), taking a public bus to San Jose would have been easy. The bus stop is just opposite the main terminal exit. Buses to San Jose stop here every 30 minutes or so, just make sure you hop on a bus that says “San Jose“. A single journey ticket only costs 665 Colones (a little over 1 USD). Although the airport is referred to as San Jose Airport, it’s actually located in Alajuela. San Jose is about 30 minutes away— even longer if there’s heavy traffic.

Now since I got out of the airport at 11 PM, I had no choice but to take a cab. Ubers are actually available in San Jose. it’s very cheap too that’s why I kept taking Ubers in the city. However, like in Colombia, Ubers are not exactly legal. They won’t pick you up at the airport arrivals area since the cab drivers waiting there are going to rat them out (going to the airport is not a problem though). A workaround would be to head to the departures area, or walk a short distance outside and book an Uber from there. I tried this, but I couldn’t find a driver available. I guess there are less Uber drivers around the airport late at night? Long story short, I had no choice but to take a cab. And they were all asking for 18,000 Colones (about 35 USD) to get to the hostel in San Jose. Take note there’s a mark up late at night. Apparently the usual rate is 16,000 Colones (about 30 USD). Sure, it’s not that expensive. But considering the fact that an Uber only costs about 9,000-10,000 Colones (about 20 USD), I kept wishing an Uber would suddenly become available haha.

I stayed at Costa Rica Backpackers. Aside from a couple of anti-vaxxers I encountered, it was a pleasant stay. The location is great. It’s in a quiet neighborhood. There are convenience stores nearby as well as cheap places to eat, though I see no need to eat elsewhere since the onsite restaurant serves good food, and it’s cheap too. It’s also about a 15 minute walk to Barrio Escalante, said to be San Jose’s trendiest neighborhood. Here you’ll find a couple of nice restaurants and bars.

Is it worth spending more than one night in San Jose? I’ve met travelers who were from there, are they told me to just skip it. I wish I listened. lol. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty nice city. There’s just not much to see in terms of “attractions”.

Good thing it’s easy to get to Tamarindo from San Jose. The Transporte Inteligente de Guanacaste (TIG) bus company has direct buses to Tamarindo and they have their own bus terminal. It was a short Uber ride from the hostel. A single journey ticket only costs 7090 Colones (about 13.50 USD). They said the journey takes 6 hours, but it actually took 8. These are new airconditioned buses though, so at least the ride was comfy.

If your main destination is Tamarindo, it’s actually easier to fly to Liberia Airport instead of San Jose since Liberia is only less than two hours away. However, when I was searching for flights, flights to Liberia were at least 700 USD. So scrap that. lol.

I arrived at Tamarindo at past 6 PM. From the bus stop, it was a short walk to Witch’s Rock Surf Camp. Enrolling in a surfing course isn’t cheap here, but if the price isn’t a concern, I guarantee you’ll learn to surf here. If you already know how to surf, they offer intermediate and advance courses that would make you a better surfer. 7 days is the recommended duration for one course, but you can avail of a shorter course upon request.

So anyway, about Tamarindo… some locals cynically call this place “Tamagringo“… because so many gringos (i.e. foreigners) go here. Practically all establishments cater to foreigners/ tourists. The say that like it’s a bad thing. But is that really a bad thing? Everything a tourist could ever need is readily accessible. There are lots of bars, restaurants, convenience stores, shops, drugstores, ATMs.. you name it. You won’t have a hard time looking for stuff in Tamarindo. Establishments accept credit cards, most of them accept US Dollars… In a way, you’d feel like you’re in the States even though you’re in a Central American country. The only downside I see is the cost. Costa Rica in general is not a cheap country to visit, especially when you compare it with neighboring countries. In Tamarindo, this is even more glaring. Everything is obviously much more expensive. In one restaurant for instance, a burger costs the same as a burger in downtown LA. In Tamarindo, you’ll get the convenience of being in a developed country, as well as the cost of being in one.

In spite of how expensive it is, I had a great time in Tamarindo. The surf was great, the beach was a nice place to chill, there were many good restaurants serving delicious food, and the nightlife… man it was amazing, especially on weekends. On Friday nights they have this pub crawl, and I highly recommend joining if you want to meet people. It was an absolute blast! There were some shady people on the streets discreetly selling drugs, but that’s pretty much expected in any place known for partying. We never felt like we were in any danger, and they left us alone when we said no, so it’s all good.

If you ever hear people dissing Tamarindo, ask them why. Chances are they’ll say it’s because it’s overrun by gringos, or because it’s expensive. Different people have different preferences, so I’d respect their opinions. If those are dealbreakers for them, then so be it. Personally, seeing so many foreigners isn’t a bad thing to me. And it’s not like you won’t get to interact with locals in Tamarindo, you’ll still encounter a lot of them. As for how expensive it is.. well yeah if I were on a tight budget I wouldn’t have visited Tamarindo. But I wasn’t traveling on a very tight budget back then, so I was able to experience what this place had to offer. If you want to have fun and money isn’t much of a concern, then I’d highly recommend visiting Tamarindo.

Pura Vida 🙂