We will be at Playa Flamingo for a week Aug. 1. Is there anything to do besides the beach?

There's all kinds of stuff. You just need to do a little reading. Rincon de la Vieja Volcano is popular and there are lots of activities up there - hikes, canopy tours, rappelling, horseback riding, mountain biking, rafting, river tubing, mud baths, etc.

Linda137 is right on. Go to JandCTours.com for transportation and a guide on that tour. Go to www.visittamarindo.com (their chamber of commerce site) There are pick-ups for the tours for all the little towns in that area. Pura Vida

Sunset cruise on the Leaping Lizard catamaran--snorkeling, great crew, good food and beverage. Sunset can't be beat.

Also, the Tampezi(SP?) river tour was amazing ---lots of birds, crocs and monkeys to feed.

thanks for all the info. I will definitely try all. Has anyone been to Rincon de la Vieja for hiking and animal viewing? Is it worth the ride from Playa Flamingo?

We didn't go to the National Park Rincon de le Vieja, but we did go to Buena Vista Lodge which is very close to the park. The drive from Flamingo to the turn-off to the park or the lodge is very nice, good roads and all. After you turn off the main road it is about 17kms to the park or the lodge. Those roads are hilly, narrow and curvy. Not impossible because we did them, but not great by any stretch of the imagination.

Rincon de le Vieja is awesome we could see it from where we stayed. It isn't as touristy as some of the places seem to be. Walking up to the volcano is a crap shoot though. You can get almost there and be turned away due to weather conditions.