Playa Grande

Playa Grande Review

Down the (long, paved) road from Tamarindo, but only five minutes by boat across a tidal estuary, lies beautiful, pristine Playa Grande, by day one of the best surfing beaches in the country and, by night, one of the world's most important nesting beaches for the giant leatherback sea turtle. The beach has thus far escaped the overdevelopment of nearby Tamarindo, and is consequently lined with thick vegetation instead of hotels and strip malls. In addition to being a paradise for surfers and sunbathers, the forest that line this long Blue Flag beach holds howler monkeys, an array of birds, and the mangrove estuary on the north end of the beach has crocodiles. The only problem with Playa Grande is the abundance of mosquitoes during the rainy months, especially near the estuary, so bring plenty of repellent. Its shores and waters here are protected within Las Baulas Marine National Park. Admission is free during daylight hours but off-limits at night during the turtle-nesting season (October 20 to February 20), when hundreds of tourists come on guided turtle tours, hoping to catch sight of a leatherback turtle building a nest and depositing eggs. The beach's protected status is in part because a surfer who arrived here more than 30 years ago was so upset by the widespread turtle-egg poaching that he adopted a conservationist's agenda. Louis Wilson, owner of Las Tortugas Hotel, spearheaded a campaign to protect the nesting baulas (leatherback turtles) that eventually resulted in the creation of Las Baulas Marine National Park.