Hi- We're planning our first trip to CR and looking for good beaches for the last few days of our trip. We like good swimming and snorkeling, also something close to a town for restaurants, and not impossible to get to. Considering Ocotal and Tamarindo, but also maybe Drake and MA. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Cahuita and Puerto Viejo are worth consideration

I'm not sure about Ocotal, maybe someone else can help you there, but Tamarindo is not really a 'swimming' beach. Great for surfers, not great for swimmers. Manuel Antonio has good swimming beaches and is much eaiser to get to than Drake Bay. Other great swimming beaches will be around Samara, a nice pretty little town south of Tamarindo. There really isn't any great snorkeling around Costa Rica.

You might also consider the Montezuma/Mal Pais/Santa Tersa area. In addition, Manzanillo, south of Puerto Viejo on the carribean coast.

While I loved Mal Pais / Santa Teresa, but these are not good swimming beaches.

Playa ocotal is beautiful, we live there off and on. its great fo swimming, the snorkeling is very good for cr, there is a big reef on the right side of the beach with many fish. ocotal is very private, safe and residential. you have to go five minutes to playa del coco, a fishing town for resturants,etc they have a new big super now. playa hermosa is nice also, its north of palay del coco. playa flamingo and brsilito are much perttier but less accessible. tmaarindo is for the youth, its kinda hippy, kinda funky, if you go there stay in playa langosta, its nicer. we stayed at the diria in tamarindo for a few days so the kids could go surfing. they loved it. samara is aewsome, its to the south, the nicoya peninsula has the best beaches. drake is too far, ma has too many tourists. have fun