The next beach complex is just a few kilometers south as the crow flies. But since there is no connecting road, unless you can fly like a crow, you must return to the paved road and make a wide loop on paved and dirt roads—a 65- or 70- kilometer drive. This array of beaches starts with Playa Pan de Azucar and continues south to Playa Tamarindo, including the beaches of La Penca, Potrero, Flamingo, Brasilito, Conchal, Playa Grande, Tamarindo and Langosta, in that order.
By far, the prettiest is Playa Flamingo. A wide, curving beach of white sand, with startling blue waves turning to white- capped rollers before crashing loudly against the shore, creates one of the prettiest scenes imaginable. Hotels here cater to affluent tourists who can afford to fly in from San Jose and spend $150 a day for rooms. Ordinary budget tourists will find few (if any) reasonably priced rooms. Ongoing building activity As you might imagine, North Americans have taken over this beach, and have built some very nice homes. Some private homes offer rooms for rent, and probably do well, for there were ab­solutely no vacancies in town when I visited here last. Most of the non-developed beachfront is also owned by foreigners. However, local authorities have done well in keeping the first 50 meters open, with unlimited public access.

The beach adjacent to Flamingo is Brasilito. At this time, it is an inexpensive place for Ticos to come and enjoy themselves. It's also a place to look for an inexpensive cabins or a room, although very few foreigners seem to do so. The beach isn't bad at all; I'm surprised there isn't more commercial development. The next village is at Playa Conchal. The Spanish word Conchal refers to the shells on the beach. In fact, the entire beach is composed of tiny, water-worn shells instead of sand.

back to previous page - back to main information page