Tamarindo Beach begins where Playa Grande ends, a pictures que estuary separating the two. Tamarindo is where many turtle-watchers find hotelsLaunches begin ferrying passengers across the estuary about midnight. Tourists tiptoe quietly along the beach and pause to observe the huge turtles as they awkwardly pull themselves up on the beach to bury their eggs six feet deep in the sand. This is an unforgettable sight; some of these turtles are more than 12 feet long and weigh up to 1,500 pounds! The one I watched laying eggs must have been a pygmy; she was barely eight feet across. Our guide claimed that during the peak of the season as many as 350 turtles can be on the beach in a single night.

The village of Tamarindo is a perfect example of foreign development. Almost every business: restaurants, hotels, boutiques, bars and so forth appear to be owned by Canadians, Americans, Italians, or Swiss. The influx of foreign money and the resulting buying frenzy has pushed the price of most properties into the range of the ridiculous. According to local Ticos, the asking price for a lot (not a hectare, but a lot) can cost $250,000! There seems to be no end to the buying and selling, constantly jacking up prices.
The emphasis here in Tamarindo is strictly on foreign tourism. I find this a little disturbing; native Costa Ricans are being left out of the picture. Few Tico families can afford to pay $60 a night and up that hotels demand, and the price of real estate makes property ownership impossible. Several local people expressed a concern over this trend, saying, "We keep selling our land and moving farther back into the hills. We end up working for foreigners on land we once owned. Before long, we won't be able to afford to live in our own village any more!"
Several real estate developments are either underway or com?pleted in this area, plus some private houses for sale. Personally, I wouldn't be interested in owning a house here fora number of reasons. But you need to visit, see for yourself and make your own decisions. My guess is that property has more appreciation left.

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