For many days now Jocelyn has wanted a day trip to Marbella Beach.  Playa Frijolar, to be more precise, named for the gravelly beach that looks like a pile of beans in some spots.  An apt name.

I've been reluctant because I've spent a lot of time on the road recently and didn't particularly want to be in the car on a Sunday unless we were going somewhere new and thrilling, or particularly difficult to reach which involves a reasonably high chance of getting stuck.

Regardless, her feminine wiles overcame my masculine stubborn-ness and so to Marbella we went!

The key to the story is the simplicity.  We drove south for a while (40 minutes or so).  Stopped to snap some photos of my favorite windmill (which I never photograph despite tremendous being tremendously photogenic).  Then proceeded to a beautiful beach with very few other people.  We bathed.  We snacked.  We enjoyed a cold beer.  We strolled.  We read.  We harvested some driftwood.

The breeze was onshore and cooling, the water crystalline.  

We drove home mellow and sunkissed, stopping for another photo or two.

Turns out that Jocelyn was right, it was a great way to spend a Sunday.

Better-than-typical gravel road, Guanacaste	Beach, Wife, Dog. Happines	Goats!! We always yell "Goats!" when we see them, for some reason.	The roads are already dry and dusty, I predict a dry summer.

Labels: beach, Costa Rica, day trip, dog, photo, weather

We awoke early on the first of January... about 5:30, but after listening to fireworks, barking dogs, drunken revelry, and various other noises, 5:30 seemed very early.

We grabbed coffee, dog, and the camera and headed to Langosta Beach to welcome the first sunrise of 2010. We were lucky enough to watch the full moon disappear into the Pacific at about the same time, it was beautiful.

Steve caught what was almost certainly the first wave of the year in Langosta (and Sapo, too). Unless someone was full-moon surfing, that is. Which would have been a pretty cool idea, but probably not such a safe thing to do in Langy. The surf was decent and Steve enjoyed it. While he was doing that, Bb and the dog were doing yoga (and doga?) and playing with sticks and plastic bottles on a nearly-empty beach. It was an idyllic way to start the year.

After a nap, Bb had to do some jewelry work while Steve went next door to enjoy a rum and gingerale with the neighbors. Ginger beer would have been even better, but you gotta do what you can with what you've got, sometimes. It was a hot day- over 100 in the sun, but sitting in a breezy (windy!) patio in the shade talking with friends was just about perfect.

We finished off the day with a bbq and a few more glasses of cheer, then came home to sleep soundly, looking forward to the weekend (also, a great way to start a new year!).

Labels: 4wd, 4x4, beach, Costa Rica, dog, photo, tamarindo, weather

Caly and I stopped off at the beach for a (partly)business meeting at sunset. Gotta love doing business with a rum and coke, beautiful sunset, on the beach. It gets worse than this.

The sunset was lovely, but not particularly notable for Tamarindo. What was notable was the crowd. Late February isn't usually a top tourist season, but the beach was on the verge of too-crowded last night. I was pleasantly surprised. Sorta. I've got a love-hate relationship with tourists. On the one hand, they are the life-blood of Tamarindo's economy and therefore a good thing to have around. On the other hand, tourists everywhere tend to be annoying. Loud, confused, they drive like morons, and frequently overlook the fact that everyone else is not necessarily on vacation. I lump myself into this description when I'm in some new and fascinating location- it isn't that the people are bad, it is just that tourism seems to incapacitate some vital part of our brains, rendering normal folks into completely different people.

All things considered, the economic benefits outweigh the inconveniences.

Labels: beach, photo, sunset, tamarindo

The first week of 2009 has been busy. We were lucky enough to have some friends (Katie and Brad from Atlanta) in town, and spent NYE camping at Playa Avellanas, which is wonderful in its own way. The camping trip included some bonfire time, some surfing, lots of reading/lounging, the occasional adult beverage, and building a big ole sand castle on the 2nd. Fun times. There are sandcastle pictures on my facebook page (yes, I joined facebook, I'm not so sure about it yet, but I'm there under Steve Broyles).

Installed a new center console into the Cruiser. That's a custom paint job, by your's truly. Let's just hope it lasts a little while (the paint, not the console, which should last a good long time). now we can take the camera on trips and have some security, which means... more photos! Yay.


We made delicious Thai food. Yummy. Including fresh lemongrass from our very own garden. I love cooking with stuff we've grown. We grew (and ate!) a delicious tomato as well, not with this meal, but all by itself. Didn't even take time to photograph it, just gobbled it right up. Yum!


Pulled, cleaned, rebuilt, repacked, and replaced the knuckles on the Cruiser. This is the mother of messy jobs. You can see the sort of goo that has to be removed in order to proceed. Yuck. I made a few mistakes along the way, including an embarrassing moment of putting the wrong axle shaft into the wrong side of the housing. Rookie move. But I'm feeling great now that the job is finally complete!


The Cruiser's inaugural voyage after finally getting re-assembled was a trip to Playa Conchal. A spectacular local beach that we really enjoy. Hot day, very crowded, but we had our own little slice of sand and enjoyed it.


We also did a day trip to another beach, but had no camera, and we made some food, but didn't photograph it. Enjoyed a very nice bottle of wine- Erath Pinot Noir (thanks to Brad and Katie) and mostly just enjoyed... the week.

**Still trying to sell my 88 diesel Landcruiser, by the way. I'd even consider driving it up to the USA to sell it there, if you pay for the $1,000 or so of fuel that it'll take to make the trip. GREAT truck, motor is in wonderful shape, driver's door got a little dented by an unknown assailant. Please buy my truck, I hate having a car for sale.

Labels: 4wd, beach, Costa Rica, day trip, landcruiser, photo, tamarindo, visitor

Well, since Steve is blogging so much, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon. Actually, it just occurred to me that he was brilliant (this has occurred to me before, but not in accordance with this particular action) to post his six-day-tour reply. We get lots and lots of emails asking us for information, and we both often offer it up before people even ask. But low and behold, there is now the mighty blog, where we can put it online for everyone who cares (and doesn't) to see! (And really, for us to reference when we get asked again.)

Here's what I said about day-trips from Tamarindo, slightly modified to make more sense for the general public. These are specifically places that are all under an hour from Tam., making it an easy and enjoyable trip, while leaving you suitcases at your hotel.

1. Avellanas - about 20 minutes south of Tamarindo, there's a great restaurant called Lola's. Eat there, sit there, drink there.

2. Playa Grande - about 20 minutes north of Tamarindo. You can drive there, but you can also just cross Tamarindo's northern estuary - this is most easily done during low tide if you're on foot. If you're with board, it's a just a short paddle depending on tide.

3. Playa Langosta - The surfing is good by the rivermouth and just to the north and south of it. The beach is good at low tide for laying out, but surfing is better at mid-high tide. Low tide also opens up a very large, shallow, estuary where the water is often crystal clear and warmer. Especially beautiful early in the morning when it is empty. So, um, don't go there early in the morning or it won't be empty for us. Just kidding. Mostly.

4. Playa Negra - for advanced surfers only, but beautiful and a different looking beach than the others. Darker sand, more rocks, but you can lay out. It's just south of Avellanas.

5. Playa Junquillal - about 45 minutes south of Tamarindo. Decent surf, cute little town, couple of beach bars on the sand. Good laying out. Just a nice place to visit that's different from Tam.

6. Playa Conchal - Beautiful white sand beach, totally different from the other beaches mentioned above. Decent snorkeling, great swimming, laying out, picnicing, etc. Better to go during the weekdays, the place is PACKED on the weekends with locals and tourists alike.

7. Marbella - Further away than the rest, just over an hour on sometimes-dicey roads. But frequently deserted and very pretty. The "sand" here is pea-gravel on one beach and dark, sort of dirty, sand on the other beach.

8. Playa Hermosa - We would argue that the name is a bit of a misnomer. Playa Hermosa is about an hour's drive north from here, by Playa Coco. It isn't particularly beautiful with very organic-rich sand and water that tends to be tepid and greenish. The immobility of the water means no waves at all, which can be good for kids or anyone who is not confident in their water skills. There are some nice places to eat/drink there. Coco is a good spot to take off for Witch's Rock or to go diving.

Labels: beach, day trip, tamarindo

Since we surf, scuba, sail, swim, play with our dog in the ocean, visit the beach at least three times/week and generally spend a LOT of time in, on, or under the water, we tend to consider the ocean pretty darn important. In case you weren't aware, there are some problems out there with the way some people are treating the ocean. Fortunately, there are also some people out there who spend time trying to help improve the situation. Oceana is one of those groups. The website has some good info, take a look.

Labels: beach

Our intrepid web developer just put together some code that generates a tide chart for our area. You can check it out here if you like. Or you can refer to the sidebar on the left of your screen where we've included a link.

The chart hasn't meant much to us recently as we've spent most of our time the last few days avoiding Easter crowds by sitting at home by the pool, reading and chatting. Nice mini-vacation that, alas, seems to have come to an end. Oh well. At least the crowds are also thinning out at the beaches so we can get back into the water for some surfing.

Labels: beach

Finished off the day yesterday with a long walk down a nearly-deserted beach (we saw only one other person) as a huge fiery sun dripped into the ocean. The one person we did see is Luis, a turtle volunteer. He was shooing vultures away as some baby hawksbill turtles struggled towards the surf.
Times like this, watching baby turtles on a deserted beach with tropical breezes blowing... well... sure is nice living here.
Caly loved it too, of course, as she found one of the biggest sticks yet (about 4" diameter, 4 feet long) and carried it with her the whole way.

OH! And mangos are in season. Steve loves no food more. So life is pretty darn good right now.

Labels: beach, food

Just because we didn't write about it for a week or so, doesn't mean it wasn't fun. Right?
We had a great sunset beer and pizza with our close pal Christi. Then we headed to a great little party with new friends and soon-to-be neighbor Joseph, who is about to open a restaurant down the street from us. It'll be nice to have TWO places within walking distance where we can buy dinner. Even more exciting is that we may even have a place to get morning coffee!! Not that we can't pour boiling water over grounds ourselves, but there is something about buying a coffee drink on a lazy morning that is hard to beat at home.
Speaking of lazy, we stopped on the way back from Avellanas and shoo'ed some piglets out of the road. Not very lazy, piglets. They were pretty darn active- jumping around and making all manner of crazy little sounds. Calypso was entranced but we opted out of letting her chase them- who knows what a mother pig would do to a puppy?

Steve surfed some, but the waves were small, mushy, and inconsistent. Other than that it was a good time. Bb even came one morning to shoot pictures but the sets were so unimpressive that she didn't bother to swim out and thus we had mediocre pics of mediocre surf. We'll share one anyway, just so that we can honestly say we've included at least one picture of surfing.

The highpoint of Steve's rather long professional week was a horseback tour of a spectacular finca north of here. If you've got $6 million and the desire to own nearly 1500 acres of land abutting the beach, with views of Witch's Rock, drop me a line and I'll set you right up.

Labels: beach, food, sunset, surf

Fortunately for us, the dog is getting big enough to start actually asking to do fun things- like take a walk to the beach at sunset. Ok, she wasn't quite that articulate, but she did want to get out of the house, and it was near sunset, and we extrapolated from there...
...and headed down to watch what turned out to be a truly beautiful sunset. The rain we've been getting makes mud and some mildew, it's true, but the clouds make for technicolor evening presentations that shame all of the fancy shmancy stuff that the big studios put out.
It is like having our very own ultrabigscreen theater, just 200 yards away. Lovely.

Labels: beach, photo, sunset