by: Mark Venegas, Real Estate Consultant
When I first visited Tamarindo on a camping trip in the mid-70s I felt an attraction to constantly want to return and did so with multiple visits. I can’t really put my finger on exactly what it is; the surf, the beach, the fishing, the people or maybe the remoteness (back then). Whatever it is I was hooked, so much so that I returned to stay in the early ‘80s, bought some land, built a business, a home, and have been here since, loving it.
Meanwhile, a lot has changed: we’ve gone from having to wait in line to make a phone call on the only phone in town and needing to drive to Santa Cruz for supplies to now having high speed internet and the Automercado, to mention a few. The landscape has also changed a lot with condos, hotels, markets, banks, you name it — Tamarindo now has just about every amenity you can think of, pretty much eliminating any need to go to Santa Cruz or San José for anything. Although I no longer can go out and surf by myself, the area now offers everything needed to raise our kids without having to migrate back to San José to find schools.
Tamarindo will never be that small remote fishing town I first came to anymore, but it has grown into a thriving culturally diverse beach town where you can meet people from all over the world. It continues to attract thousands of tourists every year where many end up hooked, falling in love with one, or all, of its enchanting attractions. Of course, at times one thinks of possibly relocating, but this is, and has been, our home and the allure, magnet, draw (or whatever you prefer to call it) that Tamarindo had on me is still strong. My son’s and daughter’s field trips at school have included visits to National Parks, snorkeling, sail boating (sighting pods of dolphins!), and going to see the different species of sea turtles lay their eggs! Where else can they do this? To quote one of my favorite Rolling Stone songs, “Wild, wild horses, couldn’t drag me away.”