Playa Tamarindo is a small, beautiful and relatively unknown bay and surf break in the Rivas Province of Southern Nicaragua. Located only 15 minutes away from the popular tourist town of San Juan Del Sur, Playa Tamarindo is secluded, peaceful, wild and luxuriant; it is also considered a secret surf spot among the local surfers. The beach itself is covered in small pebbles and light colored sand and because the bordering vegetation is lush and mostly intact, the exotic wildlife is abundant. Reaching out all the way out into the waters from the beach is a stunning rock formation that works in concert with the Pacific Ocean and Mother Nature to create Tamarindo’s fun and locally famous point break.
To find Playa Tamarindo you must look immediately over the hills on the south side of Playa Remanso, approximately 8 km south of San Juan Del Sur; Nicaragua’s surf central and the place where you will find good restaurants, entertainment and more. To access the beach you can either drive on a private road that passes through a local residential community or walk on the rocks along the shore at low tide. If you are in good physical condition and like a challenge, you can also paddle around the hills on your surfboard; a gruesome 20 minutes endeavor that is well worth it if you like to surf nice waves all by yourself! When its neighboring beach and famous surf break Playa Remanso is busy, it’s not rare to spot a few of the local kids hike or paddle over to Playa Tamarindo to get away from the crowd.
Maybe because its neighboring beach, Playa Remanso, is so popular or maybe because access to Playa Tamarindo is slightly limited at the moment, but for some reason and in spite of its great charm and obvious potential, the beach and the area surrounding it have remained somewhat of an unexplored secret in Nicaragua until now. But the news is out about Playa Tamarindo these days and the area is starting to attract the attention of foreigners in search of Nicaragua’s next great surf beach. At this point, Playa Tamarindo remains free of any substantial real estate development, which makes it a fantastic and rare blank canvas ripe with opportunities and good deals. Just over the hills on the north side, you will find of course the well-known and established Remanso Beach Resort gated community; a popular development directly on Remanso beach, offering beach lots with easy access to the surf and sand of Playa Remanso, and just a hop or a paddle away from Playa Tamarindo.
The surf at Tamarindo Beach is an exposed point break going mostly right but goofies can catch a few lefts here too. It is a fairly consistent surf break with a mixed bottom of sand and rocks. It works best with offshore winds and a swell coming from the South-Southwest will generate a tone of great waves. The preferred tide position for Tamarindo is mid and rising and the spot starts working with a swell just under 1 meter holding up to at least 2.5 meters. All in all, Playa Tamarindo is probably one of Nicaragua’s best kept secret at the moment, but the potential is huge, so make sure you check it out!