stotz

Our kids want a "cool" beach for part of our CR trip and we've been told Tamarindo is dirty & drug-riddled, by one group of friends and fun and quirky by another. The group that didn't like it said we should stay outside of Tamarindo in another beach area called Playa Grande, but I don't want my 4 college kids driving around at night either. What's a mother to do? We're in and out of Liberia Airport btw.

guanacaste

stay in tamarindo- capt suzio is best with nice part of the beach right in front of beach.
there's a drug scene in tamarindo, but it's not really about personal safety issues, apart from 'sensible' precautions.
but if u don't want to buy drugs you don't have to and almost all the bars restaurants are in a relatively small area with police and plenty of other tourists.
the crime tends to be break ins- cars, houses, holiday villas, all the hotels in tamarindo have dogs and security and for the vast majority of visitors,personal security is not an issue
another option is to rent an 'apartment, 2 floors at vilas macondo, its got pool, nice staff, hammocks, cable tv and is quiet but 5 mins walk to main street & the loop wheanyof the bars /restaurants are located.
my reccs are breakfast at noguis on the beach,lunch at La Laguna del Cocodrilo Bistro , dinner pachanga or dragonfly- or capt suzio!




http://costa.rica.typepad.com/tamarindo/home/index.html

trixiew

I much prefer Playa Grande because it is quieter. You can easily visit Tamarindo. But, teenage boys who don't surf may become bored in Playa Grande. I always stay at Casa Cook in Tamarindo, which is near Capt Suizo. I am a single woman and I have never been bothered or nervous there.

sapphiretoes

maybe try playa brasilito. it's about 20 minutes north of playa tamarindo. south of playa brasilito is playa conchal (you could walk there easy) which is one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. We stayed a night at the Hotel Brasilito, which is nice, basically just a room with beds, not really any amenities, but the beaches around there are so great it doesn't matter anyway. If you do go to Brasilito be sure to have dinner at Geckos. The food is amazing, especially the nightly specials.