Pizzeria La Baula

This place has me so Pavlovian-conditioned that just saying Pizzaria La Buala makes my mouth water. Pizzeria La Baula is a home run: Amazing pizzas with high quality ingredients and a comfortable, casual, attractive place to hang out.

If you’re craving anything other than pizza or salads, you’re out of luck here. They do make some awesome fruit smoothies that are a pretty good deal. The pizzas range from standards like Hawaiian and four cheese, to prosciutto, arugula, and parmesan, and other wonderful toppings. The crust is thin and crispy.

Every time we ate at La Baula (which means leatherback turtle in Spanish), the owners were right there, asking if our meals were good, and chatting with everyone in the restaurant. It made for a nice vibe.

This place is located down a little dirt side road off Calle Real (good luck finding a street sign in Tamarindo). The road looks a little dodgy on first inspection if you’re making our first foray after dark. We braved it, and found the welcoming smells and lights of Pizzeria La Baula about a three minute walk down the road. The entire restaurant is open air, and furnished in tables and chairs made of local wood. There’s a cute little playground (swings and a slide) on site to amuse the kids (though the slide’s a bit high for the smaller tykes).

Cost. Pizzas run around $10 USD, and smoothies run around $3. One pizza’s probably too small for a couple, but two pizzas fed Chuck, me, and our two little ones with no problems (though we’re not big eaters). La Buala is a great choice for someone eating out on a budget in Tamarindo.

Le Petit Cafe

The owner of Le Petit Cafe, Allison, is a friendly and laid back Canadian. I’d give two thumbs up simply based on her attitude and how welcome she made us feel. We must have eaten here a dozen times over the course of a month, often just to grab a bubble tea and a sweet to escape the heat of the afternoon.

The good. Cute, clean as a whistle, and (thank God!) fully air conditioned. They do have a nice outside patio for evenings or those tough enough to brave the heat.

Favorites. You’ll score a win with pretty much any of the sweets. The brownies are especially yummy. Sandwiches are small, but good. Charles loved the avacado melt, stuffed with avocado, bacon, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and pesto.

Their coffee is top-notch; you can get a pretty mean espresso or latte here. Strangely enough, good coffee can be hard to come by in Costa Rica – most of the good stuff seems to be exported. Most local restaurants serve the ever-popular lower quality grounds pre-blended with sugar, but the coffee at Le Petit Cafe was top notch.

The bad. Portions (especially sandwiches) are quite small compared to typical Western portions. That said, they tasted pretty darn good, but someone especially hungry or a larger guy will need to order something extra.

Cost: If this is the first place you walk into in Tamarindo, you’ll think the prices are a bit expensive. That said, restaurants in Tamarindo are pretty expensive, and Le Petit Cafe is one of the most inexpensive in town. Sandwiches run around $6 USD, sweets range from $2 to $4 USD, and coffee’s around $2-5, depending on your poison. A huge breakfast burrito is $4.

Nogui’s Sunset Cafe

Location, location, location. Nogui’s Sunset Cafe is smack in the middle of gorgeous Playa Tamarindo, with a front row view of Playa Grande, surfers hitting the waves and the gorgeous waters of the Pacific.

We stopped at Nogui’s Sunset Cafe for mid-afternoon snacks, so I can’t say much about their suppers. Our fries and guacamole were fresh and tasty, and the portions were big. They’ve got an enormous menu, with some darn strange smoothie combinations for the adventurous. Our food did take a good while to come (about half an hour, which is an eternity when you have a two year old with you), but that’s pretty typical for a beach restaurant in Costa Rica.

Nogui’s is famous for their pies (especially cream pies). To my undying regret, we didn’t get to try one, but the folks at the next table were raving about their coconut cream pie.

Cost. A little cheaper than typical for Tamarindo. Our appitizers were about $7 USD a plate. Though we never made it, Nogui’s had a 2 for 1 happy hour from 5-7. If you choose carefully from the menu, you can get a meal on a budget here.

 Taco Stop

Taco Stop is a funky little hole in the wall, with cheap prices and tasty food. It’s right beside Mango condos, on the dusty road to Playa Langosta.

The owners are laid back surfers, and it shows. The vibe is uber, uber casual, somewhere between laid back and grubby (I mean this in a nice way, really). If you’re looking for white tablecloths, fine crystal and haute cuisine, this is soooo not the place for you. You’ll be sitting outside (but sheltered from the rain) with local pups running around your feet.

In fact, if you expect that the place will be regularly open during business hours, this may not be the place for you. We came by a couple of times at supper time (6:30ish) and it was closed, but had some luck a few days later.

Taco Stop is owned by two Argentinian brothers who made us feel right at home. The cook for the night (not sure which of the brothers that was) even went out of his way to make a cute little quesadilla plate (not on the menu) for our little two year old.

Our veggie and chicken burritos were both enormous, and packed with beans, veggies, and cheese in a melt in your mouth homemade tortilla. The salsa and guacamole were homemade and delicious.

Cost. Possibly the least expensive meal we had in Tamarindo. Our burritos were around $4 USD, and the excellent fruit smoothies were around $2. Taco Stop is a great choice for eating out on a budget in Tamarindo.

 Langosta Beach Club

These guys have cornered the market in casual elegance in Tamarindo. Langosta Beach Club is located right on Langosta beach, and you can choose a table right on the sand, or one under the leafy trees by the infinity pool.

The food’s pretty darn good too. We went for lunch, and loved the paninis on homemade bread, and delicious salads. Their fruit smoothies may be the best in Tamarindo (and that’s saying a lot – we never had a bad smoothie in town). My favorite was the strawberry. The crepes with fruit and honey or chocolate were absolutely amazing; some of the best I’ve had.

At night, the white tablecloths and good china come out, and the Langosta Beach club transforms into an elegant, romantic restaurant. With two Trits-covered little kids in tow, it’s hard to be elegant, and especially hard to be romantic, so we never tried their supper menu. Too bad – it looked delicious.

There was a $15/day fee per adult (our little ones were free) to use the infinity pool and facilities when we were there. We had some of our best days in Tamarindo lounging by the infinity pool, and grabbing a snack in the comfy, elegant palapas. It was awesome location to catch some great waves on our boogie boards and splash in the infinity pool.

We did hear a few complaints that the staff could be a bit … how do I say this? … rude. In response, all I have to say is that the owner/manager is, well, French. We treated the folks there with respect and tried to be reasonable, and they were absolutely wonderful to us. They even went so far as to loan us some beach towels for us the day we forgot ours (we didn’t even have to ask).

Langosta Beach Club is about a five minute walk down the dusty road to Playa Longasta.

Cost. Langosta Beach Club isn’t especially cheap, but it is good value if you’ll willing to pay a bit extra for the atmosphere. Crepes were about $7 USD, smoothies were around $3 USD, and paninis ranged from $9 to $12 USD. The dinner menu was much more expensive, but definitely looked tempting.

This photo of Mandarina Tropical Juice Bar is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Mandarina Tropical Juice Bar

Mandarina is a great place to grab a quick afternoon snack or a drink. Three’s not much here other than fresh fruit smoothies made to order, ice cream, iced coffee, salads, and light sandwiches, so save Mandarina for a quick bite. They also make an awesome, filling, breakfast smoothie with oatmeal and fruit salads. The kids might love a granizado, a refreshing creation of ice cream, lemonade, and topped with fruit. Our main problem with Mandarina was that the Tamarindo heat turned our ice cream into puddles faster than we could eat it.

Mandarina has two locations in Tamarindo. Most people go to the one on Calle Principal, just off the beach, but the location near the entrance to town is larger, and has better selection.

Cost:  An ice cream and fruit smoothie is $3.50 USD, a granizado is $3 USD, and a smoothie/salad combo runs about $6 UDS.

This post is part of our Barefoot Guide to Tamarindo, which checks out the local supermarkets, talks about the condo we stayed at (Mango condos), dishes on some of our favorite cheap things to do in Tamarindo, and gives some hints on how to actually find a car to rent in Tamarindo.

Miramar Beach on Dwellable

Tamarindo

Because of the heat in this area, we’ve made it a point to stay out of the sun from 12 to 2 each day. Tamarindo is crazy hot and walking out of an air conditioned place into the afternoon sun is like walking into an oven. If you’re out and about at an earlier time and stay outdoors (preferably in the shade unless you like to punish yourself) it’s not so bad. Just like the boiled frog parable, if you slowly roast yourself you won’t realize how hot it is as the day wears on but if you jump into a boiling pot (or the rolling heat in this case) you’ll quickly realize how much folly it is.

That being said, the few times we have braved the elements for the entire span of the day has been at a neighboring beach club. This one in particular is called the Langosta Beach Club and it’s about 2 blocks from our condo. It’s owned by a French company and everyone there seems to speak French, English and Spanish. They have a nice little pool, beach loungers, a few hammocks and one of the nicest stretches of beach (at least in my mind) right in front of the place. They also have a little bar and restaurant in the pool area and serve great food at somewhat reasonable (at least for this area) prices. Their bacon and avocado sandwich is quite delicious. Smoothies aren’t the cheapest we’ve seen but their strawberry one is heavenly on a warm day.

The condo we rented included pictures of the beach club in it’s ad and we foolishly thought that it included the use of it’s facilities. It turns out that it doesn’t. I want to be mad at Julius (the owner of the condo block) for including them but this place is pretty sweet for the price and Julius is actually quite a nice guy (from Montreal it turns out). The club charges $10 an adult in the low season and $15 an adult in the high season. Kids (or at least young ones like ours) are free. For $30 all in we have the run of the beach club from sunrise to sunset. Considering that most tours charge upwards of $100 a day per person for a day’s worth of activities, we’ve found the beach club to be a bargain. We usually get there around 10 and leave around supper time.

During the day we usually jump from the pool to the ocean a few times depending on the heat, the waves and the proximity to lunch. Around the pool there’s 3 large covered oasis’s of comfy chairs, couches and tables and if we’re lucky enough to nab one while we’re swimming around the pool in the morning then we get to enjoy them for lunch. There’s a bunch of chairs and tables around the pool but none of them offer shade so we usually go eat at the shaded tables on the beach. The kids love being down there so they can play in the sand and Cole can swing on the hammocks. It’s one of the only places we’ve found around here where we can let the kids really run around without constant supervision. Micki and I are always amazed how many hours they can play on their own when they have the right setting.

The last time we spent the day at the beach club we decided to buy a boogie board. After pricing them out across town we decided to buy a cheap one. A good quality board can easily cost $200 plus with a moderate board running from $70 to $100. Most places charge $7 – $12 a day to rent but then you need to go pick it up, drop it off, etc… Since we have no idea where or how long we’re going to be on this trip, Micki and I decided to pick up a cheap board at the local market. It cost us $13 and we figured that for that price we could use it a few times and then throw it out. Turns out we were half right.

Tamarindo is known for a few things out here but the biggest is it’s surfing. It has two solid breaks right in town and can pretty much guarantee you’ll see a few good waves every day. This makes it an ideal place to learn to surf and there are a dozen companies in town that will teach you how to stand up within a few hours. There’s also a dozens of “locals” that will teach you as well but it’s a hit and miss kind of thing in terms of their teaching skills. Micki and I are planning on taking a lesson some time next week. We’re both looking forward to it. Up until now we’ve been content with simply playing in the waves and lately, boogie boarding.

While we were at the beach club the other day we had the pleasure of enjoying the rising tide. We’ve found that low tide is the best time to play with the kids in the water and high tide was the best time to go in solo. The waves at high tide can get pretty severe (as well as the undertow) and that day they were the highest we’ve seen since we got here. To put it in perspective, I overheard one of the veteran surfing instructors say it was a horrible time to be teaching to learn and wishes he could quit and go get his own board. The waves were pretty intense. Earlier in the day when the waves were smaller Cole was becoming a boogie boarding master. With his little puddle jumper flotation vest he would swim out into the waves and ride the crest until he was standing on the sand. Once I saw him go so high up the sand that the wave was a body length behind him. It had pushed him so fast that he skidded across the dry sand. It might have to do with him being so light and the board being so big but it was sensational none the less.

Micki and I had gone out a few times around then as well and had a few good rides but as the afternoon wax and waned away high tide slowly crept in. At it’s peak the waves were way too strong for Cole and even Micki and I had a hard time staying vertical when they hit. It was a fun time to bring out the boogie board and we were quickly tiring out. After a particularly rough landing I decided it was Micki’s turn. She was a little apprehensive after watching a fellow boarder take a pretty nasty spill as she walked in but she was excited to get a turn tackling those monster waves. After a few good runs (and a few rough ones) she was ready to come in but wanted one last good ride. As she puts it she was still wading out when a monster wave formed in front of her. It was too big to let pass her by and so she spun into the wave. It was so big that as it curled above her she gained too much speed and did a massive nose dive. After a few tumbles in the wave she emerged unscathed. The board however was now broken in two. Our “cheap” board proved it’s worth and came up wanting.

I ventured out into the surf once Micki got in and tested the board to see if it was still usable but it was like riding a bucking bronco. I would manage a few good feet and then when I thought I was past the worse of it and starting to enjoy the ride the front would suddenly bounce and then dip into the water. On the plus side, I’ve never done such fantastic underwater cartwheels. I finally called it quits after attempting to ride one of the biggest waves I’ve ever had the fortune of being in the water with.

To me it was, as the surfers call it, the perfect wave. It started out far and gave me lots of time to get prepared for. When it reached me it still hadn’t peaked yet but had so much strength it pushed me with ease. I paddled quickly and was soon swept up in its wake. I was quickly gaining speed as the lip started to curl around me. For one brief second I found myself in a perfect tunnel. For that one brief moment I was the king of the sea and Poseidon himself must have looked on me with envy. It was at that moment that the noodle of a boogie board I was riding let me know I wasn’t in control any longer. With a sudden nose dive I was launched out in front of the wave and got to see sand, surf and sky before being mercilessly tossed into the sea. It was great regardless of the outcome and even though I was still scraping sand out of my ears hours later it was worth it.

In a sense, it reminded me of my life and even more so, this journey we’re now on. Sure, I continually have sand in places I’d rather not mention. Sure, I’ve seen a little too much sun. Sure, I’m a little lighter in the wallet than when I woke up but at the end of the day I have great memories that will last a lifetime and a sense of what might be if I let myself be swept up in the moment. Seize the day, enjoy what life has to offer and have no regrets. We only get one wave and all too quickly it will pass us by. Maybe not words to live by but something I think each of us should strive for.

Safe travels everyone from beautiful Tamarindo, Costa Rica.