We went to Tamarindo the second week which is also on the Pacific side. We stayed in an adorable hostel and did some more surfing. Before we went our tica mama told us that there are mucho gringos in Tamarindo… she was very right. It was very Americanized with a bunch of American food, stores, and resorts.  We saw parrots on the drive down and got to watch a green turtle lay its eggs though and we saw a boa constrictor too!  Koryn