Tamarindo and Northern Nicoya
Playas del Coco

Rancho Armadillo

Playa Ocotal

Hotel Villa Casa Blanca

Playa Grande

Hotel Las Tortugas
Bula Bula

Tamarindo

Luna Llena

Playa Langosta

Villa Alegre
Sueño del Mar


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Tamarindo and Northern Nicoya

Talk to any two ex-pats in Costa Rica and chances are good that at least one of them started out in Tamarindo, just a speck of a beach town on the northwest elbow of the Nicoya Peninsula, so small it's hard to find on many highway maps. This is where the great ex-pat migration started back in the 1970s, and it's still the first place many tourists hear about and the first place they head for. It was our first stop on our first exploratory driving trip. It was March, blazing hot, and crowds of energetic young people on Spring Break caroused in the bars and played in the surf. We took one look around and got out of there. We like Tamarindo and environs better in the fall and early winter - late rainy season in Costa Rica - when it's cooler and there are no crowds.

They call the area from Tamarindo to up around the Gulf of Papagayo the "Gold Coast", and you'll see why as you drive in through the forest of billboards for real-estate companies, condo developments, and swanky golf-course gated communities. The state of Guanacaste has embraced Pacific-coast tourism and the second-home business with entrepreneurial zeal, and sometimes it seems like everything in sight is for sale. The international airport at Liberia delivers vacationers and house-hunters right to the front doors of the developers. Old-timers moan about it, but all the development must be good for somebody's business. High-end shops and new restaurants are everywhere. Judging from the number of people we've run into who've moved from Tamarindo, though, we expect the turnover must be pretty high.

There are some monster resorts on the Gold Coast and some places where the condos are so thick you can barely see the water. Playa Hermosa (the northernmost one of that name, up above Playas del Coco) is such a place. We recommend avoiding these areas unless you're researching impacts of rampant overdevelopment or want to feel like you're in Miami. But there are also spots like Ocotal where the development blends in better and the scene on the beach could be from 1970. Playa Grande still has a funky, surf-camp feel even with its se vende (for sale) signs and second homes. South of Playa Langosta, Tamarindo's hyper-upscale southern suburb, there are still uninhabited beaches with basically no roads. But development is coming; you can feel it in the air and see it on every roadside. If you're looking for someplace truly isolated, head farther south.

We have to admit, though, that we find the combination of style and seediness, the multi-million dollar walled mansions on the muddy, pitted dirt roads, the fast-buck speculators hanging out with the old hippies and the spring-break crowd, to be intriguing and even charming in an offbeat way. Tamarindo is a microcosm of the unfolding collision between the overcharged techno-culture of the First World and the attitudes, very-alive environment, and climate of the tropics. It will be sad, though, if it spreads to all of Nicoya. Around Tamarindo it's already happened. It's not for everybody, but it can be fun.

Update (February, 2008): The road from Liberia Airport to Tamarindo is paved! Instead of bouncing through the roadside ditch like we had to do the first time we came here, you can zip along on lovely, 2-lane blacktop. Central Tamarindo is still a mess, but we're imagining at least that once they finish digging up the main streets they might actually pave them too.

Readers of the Tico Times and some of the travel blogs will have heard about the sewage into the ocean scandals at Tamarindo and more recently the huge government-supported resorts at Papagayo. Tamarindo seemed pretty clean when we visited in early February. Health authorities have closed down the Allegro Papgayo Hotel, and are investigating the swanky Grand Papagayo next door. Thanks to the Tico Times for investigating and breaking this story!

Rancho Armadillo ($$$)

Playa del Coco
Keywords: Birding, Wildlife, Kid-friendly

Photo © Rancho Armadillo

Contact Information:
506-2670-0108 (voice); 506-2670-0441 (fax)

Essentials:
5 Rooms, Two 2-BR Suites
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Guest-accessible kitchen (dinners on request), Bar
Room Amenities: TV, AC, Ceiling fan, Refrigerator, Coffee maker, Free WiFi and Skype

How to get here:
From Liberia, follow Highway 21 west and then CR 151 toward Playas del Coco. Turn south (left) off of CR 151 immediately before the start of the boulevard. This dirt road ends at Rancho Armadillo.

For a welcome alternative to the well-polished all-inclusive resorts and endless upscale condo projects of northern Guanacaste, head to Rancho Armadillo up the mountain just outside Playas del Coco. The cabins of Rancho Armadillo have a nautical feel, although they're much more spacious than a boat would be. The wood paneling, heavy doors and stained-glass porthole windows of the original rooms were created by the captain of a private yacht sailing from L.A. to Houston. Somehow, he stumbled upon Rancho Armadillo, fell in love with the property, and called the yacht's owner to tell him he needed to send a new captain. Rick, the current owner, has added gardens, hidden sculptures, tiled pathways and several additional rooms.

Rancho Armadillo now offers five rooms and two suites in three buildings that climb up the steep hill. All the rooms are spacious and well equipped, not luxurious but very comfortable. Our favorites are the "Shark," which is the honeymoon suite (don't ask!), and the "Cacique" high up at the top of the property, just above the pool.

The property covers 25 acres, so there's a lot of wild land in addition to the lawns and gardens. Rick has tallied 76 species of birds over the years, as well as miniature grey foxes, coyotes, coatis, and the tiny Costa Rican white-tailed deer. We watched a family of howler monkeys for a while then wandered down the lawn to visit a Laughing Falcon that nests in the same spot every year. Rick warned Alison just before she stepped on a fast-moving snake - contiguous red and yellow screamed CORAL snake to our North American eyes, but it turned out to be more ambiguous down here where false corals mimic their venomous cousins.

The big breakfast palapa has a serious, professional-quality kitchen that Rick opens to guests, and the view from the tables and the bar is great. Rick is a former chef and, if you ask, he will cook what you catch in the ocean or provide from other sources. The swimming pool and library are next door at the top of the property or you can follow the stepping stones with their colorful tile mosaics of local birds and flowers through the sculpture gardens. Rick keeps adding more attractions; a combined orchideum and hummingbird garden was in progress when we were there. The air is clear, there's no traffic, and the view down to the beach is fabulous. Best of all, this is the real Costa Rica, not an import from somewhere else - a refreshing change on this too-developed part of the coast.

Hotel Villa Casa Blanca ($$)

Playa Ocotal
Keyword: Wildlife

Photo © Hotel Villa Casa Blanca

Contact Information:
506-2670-0518 (voice); 506-2670-0448 (fax)
vcblanca@racsa.co.cr
www.hotelvillacasablanca.com

Essentials:
12 Rooms
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Bar, Restaurants nearby
Room Amenities: AC, Ceiling fan, Refrigerator, In-room safe, Free WiFi; Suites have bathtubs

How to get here:
From Liberia, follow Highway 21 west and then CR 151 toward Playas del Coco. Turn left off CR 151 in downtown Playas del Coco and follow signs to Playa Ocotal. This road winds through several turns for three km. The road forks immediately before you reach Ocotal beach; follow the left fork through the gate and tell the guard you are going to Villa Casa Blanca. The hotel is straight up the hill.

At the top of the stairs by the big beer cooler a dark scurrying motion and then a long bushy black tail caught my eye. We were relaxing on Hotel Villa Casa Blanca's upstairs porch just after sunset. At first I thought it was a black squirrel, but then he strolled right past us . . . a little zorillo, a skunk, probably the small black hooded skunk common in Guanacaste. Our host Juan Manuel explained that the little fellow made his rounds every night with hardly a whiff of skunkly olor. After the squawking parrots, absurdly-crested magpie jays, black and green iguanas, playful squirrels, and howler monkeys we had already seen and heard, we could hardly be surprised at a family of skunks.

Hotel Villa Casa Blanca (could they think of any more nouns to put in their name?) feels like a small rural hotel in some little European town a century ago. Twin sweeping stairways, four-poster beds, ornate mirrors, layers of drapery from sheer curtains to fancy valences on the heavy-framed windows, even a classic green awning all around the roof of the ample upstairs porch add to its old-fashioned charm. It's cozy, like grandma's house. But it has iguanas and a swim-up bar. My grandma sure didn't have these. As a bonus, it looks right down the hill to Playa Ocotal.

Tiny, secluded Playa Ocotal is only three km from bustling Playas del Coco, but it feels like your own private beach. Sure, there are some fancy houses up in the hills and some construction here and there, but down at Father Rooster's, with an Imperial beer and one of their huge one-lb (that's right, one pound) hamberguesas for a snack, you'd think you were in a 60s surfer movie in one of the lazy, downtime scenes on the little side beach away from the waves. Boats for fishing and diving and ridiculous pontoon party boats bob offshore. Palms sway. Iguanas poke around, looking for whatever iguanas look for. Nothing is happening here; some say that's heaven.

The best rooms for couples at Villa Casa Blanca are #11 and #14 (the Honeymoon suite), both upstairs with big beds, bathtubs, and great views of the playa. We had #10, which also has a nice view; #1 and #2 connect to form a family suite. Coffee was ready at 6 a.m. in time for a nice walk before the tipico breakfast served from 7:30 - 9:30. The staff was lovely, the rooms were spotless and the price was definitely right.

Hotel Las Tortugas ($$)

Playa Grande
Keywords: Oceanfront, Surfing, Wildlife

Photo © Hotel Las Tortugas

Contact Information:
506-2653-0423 (voice); 506-2653-0458 (fax)

Essentials:
10 Rooms, Dormitory facilities, Rental houses
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool, Hot tub
Breakfast included, Restaurant, Bar
Room Amenities: TV, AC, Ceiling fan

How to get here:
From Liberia, follow Highway 21 west and south, then CR 155 toward Tamarindo. In Huacas, turn off Highway 155 and follow signs to Playa Grande and Brasilito. Just out of town there is a Y-junction; take the left (southern) branch toward Matapalo and Playa Grande. In the town of Matapalo, the road to Playa Grande turns sharply left. Once in the "town" of Playa Grande, bear right at the Y-junction, following signs to Las Tortugas or the MINAE turtle museum.

Walking up the front stairs here is walking back in time. Well-tanned guys with tattoos, wet shorts, and no shirts hang around, smoking and drinking beer, reggae tumbles out of the stereo, Brittany at the front desk is a volunteer here to teach English and study the turtles. The tide table and the surf report are posted by the open front door; a blackboard says there's fresh-caught tuna for lunch. No one is moving fast except Brittany who is organizing a spare room for a couple of backpackers who just turned up. Las Tortugas is full - it almost always is.

We sat down for lunch, ordered our drinks and the owner, Louis, appeared, dripping wet, surfboard in hand. He's been here forever, first to surf, then as a conservationist and leader of the campaign to protect Playa Grande as a nesting beach of the leatherback turtle (la baula in Costa Rica). Las Baulas National Park, created in 1990, is the result of that effort. Hotel Las Tortugas was originally conceived as a scientific station to observe the night-nesting, light-sensitive giant turtles which can weigh up to a ton. Most of the rooms started out as group quarters for scientists and students; windows and other sources of night-time illumination are below tree level or face away from the beach. The hotel still serves as a nature and information center for the park, although tours for the public are now managed and led from the MINAE (Costa Rican Environment Ministry) park office just up the street. But the crowd here, even at the start of turtle-nesting season, is mainly after the surf. Playa Grande is three and a half miles of west-facing, light-sand beach with what Louis calls the most consistent beach break on the Costa Rican Pacific. The same people turn up year after year, often with their families. Louis actually asks us how we heard of Las Tortugas, explaining that they don't advertise and rely mainly on returning guests and personal referrals.

Las Tortugas has ten rooms in the pyramid-like main building. Three of them are downstairs, multi-bedroom suites originally designed for nocturnal turtle-watchers. Although necessarily quite dark so as not to disturb the turtles with ambient light at night, the rooms are well-equipped and decorated with hand-laid tile and shell mosaics. On the other side of the pool are dorms with room for up to 30 students or others who don't mind group living and plan to spend most of their time outside. If you want a view, reserve the "lighthouse room" at the top of the main building over the bar or ask Louis about his apartments. They're just up the hill, inexpensive, and spacious. We liked apartment #7 in the Lighthouse Building, the top two floors of a round tower with all-around windows and Louis' signature round bed (he has to make the sheets). The even-bigger apartment #4 is in the octagonal Octopus Building. There's a funky feeling to all of Louis' rooms - but the kind of good funky that's reminiscent of ‘70s surfer movies.

Bula Bula ($$)

Playa Grande
Keywords: Wildlife, Happening Place

Photo © Alison Tinsley

Contact Information:
877-658-2880 (U.S.); 506-2653-0975 (voice); 506-2653-0978 (fax)

Essentials:
10 Rooms
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Restaurant, Bar
Room Amenities: TV, AC, Ceiling fan, Refrigerator, Coffee maker

How to get here:
From Liberia, follow Highway 21 west and south, then CR 155 toward Tamarindo. In Huacas, turn off Highway 155 and follow signs to Playa Grande and Brasilito. Just out of town there is a Y-junction; take the left (southern) branch toward Matapalo and Playa Grande. In the town of Matapalo, the road to Playa Grande turns sharply left. Once in the "town" of Playa Grande, bear to the left at the Y-junction, following signs to Bula-Bula and The Great Waltini restaurant. Or, call to get a boat pick-up in Tamarindo - it's a ten-minute ride.

Once upon a time there were two guys from California, successful as entrepreneurs but increasingly eager to just get away from it all. One night they were up late with their friends and everyone had a story about Costa Rica. So they did what any pair of young Californians would do - they found a realtor and arranged to see property all along the Pacific coast. Why think small - maybe they'd buy a hotel with a restaurant so Wally could cook and a funky-chic bar where Todd could hold court and tell stories. They prowled up and down the coast, scoping out competitors and thinking about marketing. Then they hit Playa Grande and fell in love: it was the middle of nowhere, but just an hour from the new airport! Bula Bula!

Bula Bula (Wally'n'Toddian for "Happy Happy") is the cool Tamarindo hotel that isn't in Tamarindo. The easiest way to get here is by boat - it's just ten minutes from Tamarindo across the estuary. Which means, of course, that you can also get back to Tamarindo in no time flat. It just feels isolated out here in Playa Grande - no street lights, no traffic, no late-night racket from the bars next door. Just your own little laid-back tropical getaway, a handful of fellow guests out here braving the wilderness, and the local residents who turn up for Wally's cooking and Todd's famous martinis. The TV over the bar is showing James Bond with the sound off, Bert the resident parrot is greeting everyone who passes, and someone's just handed you a massive dose of Ketel One. Paradise!

The Bula Bula has ten rooms with all the comforts of home - air conditioners, coffee makers, refrigerators, cable TVs. They're painted bright colors and out on the porch are rocking chairs straight from the Raj. You're a five-minute walk from the flat Playa Blanca beach with its big breakers in the daytime and turtles at night. And you're right on the bank of the Tamarindo Estuary, 1,200 acres of protected saltwater marshland full of crocodiles, coatimundis, and howler monkeys. Rent a canoe over at the Hotel Las Tortugas, or ask Todd to set up a tour. Bula Bula can arrange tours for almost any interest - ocean fishing or diving, ATV or horseback riding, even golf or tennis (Where are you? Some swamp in Costa Rica?).

In the evening pull up a chair for blackened fish or a steak, then just hang out at the bar. You're bound to meet some interesting folks and you'll probably hear some tall tales. Once the sun sets you and your compadres are in the only circle of light around. The surf crashes, howlers swing in the trees, and those big crocs prowl around just outside. This is the tropics - just like in the movies.

Luna Llena ($$)

Tamarindo
Keywords: Downtown, Kid-friendly

Photo © Alison Tinsley

Contact Information:
506-2653-0082 (voice); 506-2653-0120 (fax)
lunalle@racsa.co.cr
www.hotellunallena.com

Essentials:
7 Rooms, 7 Cabins with full kitchens
English, Spanish, Italian
All major credit cards accepted
Off-street parking
Swimming pool, Swim-up bar
Breakfast included, Restaurant under construction
Room Amenities: TV, AC, Ceiling fan

How to get here:
The highway to Tamarindo (CR 155) turns into Tamarindo's main street. In town, follow the left branch at the Y-junction just past the Hotel Diria. Take the second right after this Y-junction, following signs to Playa Langosta or the Barceló resort; there is a strip mall on the corner. Turn left onto Calle Real just after the Iguana Surf Shop. Luna Llena is about a block down on the right.

Just ask for the "yellow hotel" in Tamarindo and you'll probably get directions to Luna Llena, Pino and Simona's delightfully playful version of Oz. Most hotels have rooms and some have cabins, but at Luna Llena your "bungalow" is a little round tower with a spiral stairway climbing up to a round master bedroom with a 360-degree view. Everything is brightly painted with a full palette of colors and every kind of fanciful design - dancing fish, birds, flowers, clouds - an old-fashioned children's coloring book on every wall. The colors look so fresh that we suspect Simona races in and repaints everything whenever someone checks out.

Luna Llena also has regular rooms, but the tower-bungalows are the place to be. Each has a kitchen and your hosts are Italians so they are nice kitchens with the appliances and tools you'll need to actually cook real meals. There are comfy sitting areas and beds downstairs for the kids. Luna Llena is a very kid-friendly place; the whole property is walled, the towers are set protectively around the perimeter, and the enclosed gardens and pool are meant to be played in. There are resident cats and dogs. So move in and just hang out for awhile. Let the kids run around; you can cool off in the pool and tank up at the swim-up bar.

You're not on the beach at Luna Llena, but you're only about three blocks away. This is the part of inland Tamarindo that we call "Little Italy" because so many of the hotels are owned and managed by Italians. There's some development going on here, but it's not as manic as down on the main strip and you don't have to contend with all-night traffic or beach parties. On slow days when the folks who live here are relaxing, doing some clean-up, repainting, or just hanging around, you can almost feel the old Tamarindo before the boom when this was a sleepy beach town that attracted surfers and assorted alternative types - mainly from the U.S., France, and Italy - to an existence far removed from the "real world" and the various hassles of their native countries. Luna Llena is a masterpiece of that old spirit . . . a fairy tale, a place from a parallel universe, a more whimsical, gentler version of the world.

A bonus of staying back here away from the main street action is that two of Tamarindo's best restaurants are around the corner. Everyone talks about Pachanga, but we've never managed to find it open (it closes on Tuesdays, and we must have a jinx). We can vouch for Dragonfly with its fusion of Costa Rican and Pacific Rim. Luna Llena will soon be opening their own restaurant, so we're eager to see how they'll join in the mix. Real Italian, we hope.

Update (February, 2008): The restaurant's open now, and it is Italian, but we haven't tried it yet. Why not take a chance?

Villa Alegre ($$$)

Playa Langosta
Kewords: Oceanfront, Kid-friendly

Photo © Villa Alegre

Contact Information:
506-2653-0270 (voice); 506-2653-0287 (fax)

Essentials:
4 Rooms, 1 Casita, Two 2-BR Villas
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
Secure parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Restaurants nearby
Room Amenities: AC, Free WiFi, Villas have full kitchens with coffee makers and private outdoor space.

How to get here:
The highway to Tamarindo (CR 155) turns into Tamarindo's main street. In town, follow the left branch at the Y-junction just past the Hotel Diria. Take the second right after this Y-junction, following signs to Playa Langosta or the Barceló resort; there is a strip mall on the corner. Follow this dirt road past Capitan Suizo then go right at the Y-junction. Continue past Cala Luna; Villa Alegre is on your right.

Barry, our genial host, greeted us upon our arrival at Villa Alegre and welcomed us as though to his own home - which it is. The big living room is comfortable and informal with picture windows, a wall of books, and a fridge full of beer and soft drinks. Step outside onto the deep verandah and you are greeted by a sparkling pool, an open, conical-roofed palapa with an outdoor kitchen, and the green of the coastal Guanacaste jungle. This house is designed to be shared and Barry and Suzye Lawson welcome you like family.

A short walk downhill past the pool brings you to a different world - empty, west-facing Playa Langosto with its soft, water-soaked sand and hard black rock. High tide here comes right up to the gnarled, wind-twisted trees. You can walk from Villa Alegre to central Tamarindo if the tide is out. Aside from weekend crowds at the Barceló Resort at its southern end, the beach here is quiet except for the surf.

Villa Alegre offers four main-house rooms, a casita (the only room with a full ocean view), and two villas each named for a country and decorated with folk art and souvenirs of Barry and Suzye's travels. The main-house rooms face away from the public spaces providing privacy and quiet. Our favorite room is Mexico with its huge outdoor bathroom. If you want a private patio opt for El Caribe. Japan and Russia, the villas, are beautifully decorated with full kitchens, big master bedrooms, private patios, and either jungle (Japan) or jungle and ocean (Russia) views. The USA room in the main house and the Russia villa are handicapped accessible.

Villa Alegre is equipped for families, and even small children are welcome. There's a shuffleboard court, a horseshoe pit, and a list of tours and activities the Lawsons can organize for you.

Barry cooks an impressive breakfast and promises a different breakfast every day. Everyone eats together at 8:30, so if you want something light before your early-morning walk, purchase it in town the night before. The villas have their own coffee makers, but the rooms do not. Barry graciously prepared the coffee maker for us the night before so we could fuel ourselves for our 5:30 a.m. beach walk. Tamarindo is full of restaurants for lunch and dinner; three are within an easy walk of Villa Alegre. We particularly like the restaurant at Cala Luna for lunch.

Sueño del Mar ($$$-$$$$)

Playa Langosta
Keywords: Oceanfront, Honeymoons, Adults Only

Photo © Sueño del Mar

Contact Information:
506-2653-0284 (voice); 506-2653-0558 (fax)

Essentials:
3 Rooms, Honeymoon suite, 2 Casitas
English, Spanish
All major credit cards accepted
On-street parking
Swimming pool
Breakfast included, Restaurants nearby
Room Amenities: AC, Ceiling fan, In-room safe, Casitas have full kitchens with coffee makers

How to get here:
The highway to Tamarindo (CR 155) turns into Tamarindo's main street. In town, follow the left branch at the Y-junction just past the Hotel Diria. Take the second right after this Y-junction, following signs to Playa Langosta or the Barceló resort; there is a strip mall on the corner. Follow this dirt road past Capitan Suizo then go right at the Y-junction. Continue past Cala Luna then turn right. Sueño del Mar will be on your left.

Had a honeymoon lately? We figured we were due for one so we checked into the Honeymoon Suite at lovely Sueño del Mar. It's just the spot for a romantic interlude by the sea. The suite is big enough to live in and comes with an elevated king bed, rocking chairs, a two-person hammock, sarongs to wear however you like and complementary champagne. A wall of windows looks down onto the ocean and two more look into the treetops on either side. Décor is tropical bungalow with a bit of the Kasbah for romance. There's a private outdoor shower (for two, of course) and private stairs down to the beach. And you're right over the kitchen, so you can smell breakfast cooking as you relax, sip your coffee, and soak in that early-morning ocean view.

Sueño del Mar is small and intimate and Tui, the innkeeper, gets our vote for most welcoming, what-can-I-do-to-make-your-day-perfect hostess in Costa Rica. Besides the splendid honeymoon suite, there are two split-level two-bedroom casitas with kitchenettes and three nicely-appointed rooms with queen beds. The real star here, though, is the public space - a beautiful enclosed sitting area by the big open kitchen, the open-air breakfast area with tables and bancos, and the gardens and pool. And then of course there's the beach! Sueño del Mar is one of the few beachside places where the transition from hotel to beach is truly flawless. The only indication of a boundary is a little shell-encrusted foot-washing pool built into the pathway. Hammocks are tucked into the gnarled beachside trees, chaises and Adirondack chairs are perfectly placed for watching the surf, and the weathered black rocks poking out into the waves are full of holes and channels that convert every 12 hours, like magic, to tide-pools filled with creatures.

Breakfast here is a treat. You start with warm, very sweet cornbread (that's what smelled so tempting earlier). Then comes fresh-squeezed fruit juice, a variety of fresh fruit, and finally omelets (made with mushrooms our morning) with homemade toast. By 8 a.m. everyone's up; the breakfast area is perfectly designed for meeting your neighbors, comparing travel notes, and planning your day. Sueño del Mar doesn't serve dinner, but Taboo - maybe the best restaurant in the whole Tamarindo area - is just two blocks down the road to the south. Nicholas the owner/chef hails from Paris, and his attention to detail shows it. If it's anywhere near the high season, you'll want to make a reservation; just ask Tui to call when you check in.

If by some tragedy Sueño del Mar is fully occupied when you call, Tui can set you up in a nearby apartment or house - just ask. But first try for that honeymoon suite. We're scheduling regular honeymoons from here on out.

Update (February, 2008): Tui, Ashton, and Kris are at it again: they've installed a fabulous four-poster bed with thatched roof and curtains, right on the beach! Can you think of anything more romantic? No wonder they have their hands full with tropical-paradise weddings.

Nicholas has turned Taboo over to a friend, but we hear it's still the best place around. We've always liked Cala Luna, right across the street from Sueño del Mar, but don't make the mistake of ordering one of their "vegetarian plates" - stick to the fresh tuna or Mahi.