Our family (2 adults and 14 yr. old boy) is renting a home near Playa Grande in late march for a week. Looking for restaurant, golf and daytrip suggestions/recommendations for that region. We have a rental vehicle already. Thanks in advance for your input.

Get ready for a wonderful trip! We stayed at Flamingo Beach 2 years ago and had a great time. My memory is bad on the details but we went to the Rincon de la Vieja (?)volcano and did a canopy tour there. We also spent time at the hot springs and mud bath which was hilarious. We took a boat trip on a river where we saw so many beautiful birds, storks, pink spoonbills, etc., that it was unbelievable. We also saw many monkeys on that trip. We did the evening tour of the beach at Tamarindo to see the leatherback turtles nesting which was amazing. We did a snorkeling and sailing trip from the Flamingo marina which was very nice. Everything was quite easy to arrange right at our hotel and, although the driving distances were sometimes over an hour, we were often the only ones on the tour. You will need the rental vehicle and get ready for the roads which are often dirt and very rocky. It is, however, very easy to drive around. We golfed at the Melia Conchal which was a beautiful course. I think it may be the only one closeby. The dining room at the Sugar Beach hotel is very beautiful; a wonderful place to watch the sunset. The food was also good. I can't recall any other restaurant names.

There is a wonderful little restaurant on the beach in Brasilito. . .great atmosphere and service. . .Camaron Dorado (Golden Shrimp). Give it a try!You definitely will love this area. For sure try to golf at the Paradisus (used to be Melia) resort at Playa Conchal. Lovely course. Also, I think there is a smaller couse nearby. . .Hacienda Pinella or something like that? Something in the Tamarindo area I think. Conchal is about a 20 minute drive from there.

nankar and shillmac, thanks for your input. Any thoughts on rafting and/or snorkeling in this area? Needless to say, we are very excited about our visit. Any ideas what greens fees are at Conchal?

You can take a snorkeling tour out of Flamingo which is about 30mins from Conchal. The Catalina/Bat Islands are a good place to go.

I don't know about green fees. . .they probably won't be inexpensive. E-mail the hotel. They should be able to tell you.

There is actually decent snorkelling right off the beach at Playa Conchal - near the rocks on the right hand side. We saw an octopus there last year.

Definitely venture into Tamarindo for dinner, there are several good restaurants there: we liked The Lazy Wave and Bruno's last year.

A day trip to Rincon de la Vieja is a good recommendation. There are several companies that do them from that location, some include horse back riding, some include a canopy tour and/or volcanic hot springs and mud treatments.

I believe there is another golf course right near Playa Grande but I can't remember its name. If I remember correctly, I heard it was less expensive than the one at Paradisus Playa Conchal.