Contrasts: Forest, town and condos

For today's Monthly Daily Photo Theme of "contrast," here is a view of Tamarindo that shows the contrast between the green, natural beauty and forest of Tamarindo, and the large condo buildings that have emerged above the tree line. The contrast is particularly stark in the case of the new, white condo in the center of this photo.

The main part of Tamarindo is in the foreground, with the southern end of Tamarindo Bay on the right. San Francisco point is visible in the distance, and Playa Langosta is at the top of the photo.

The large white condo in the middle of the photo is called Pacific Park, and its advertising theme is that it has brought "New York style" to a Costa Rica beach. On the top right is another new condo, called Crystal Sands, that is on the beach. At the top left are several condos set back about two blocks from the beach at the entrance to Playa Langosta, which are called Naxos and the Peninsula. All of those condos are 7 or 8 stories high.

I have written in the past about the challenges faced by Costa Rica in managing the growth of the Pacific beach resorts. Limits are now in place that prevent the construction of condos like these so close to the beach. Elsewhere in Costa Rica there is a condo building under construction that claims to have the world's largest penthouse. I don't remember exactly, but I think it will have 10,000 square feet on three levels.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of "contrast," Click here to view thumbnails for all participants