Palm Trees Swaying in the Breeze

After yesterday's odd shot while being lazy,  I thought I should try to redeem myself.  But I was only slightly more energetic.  For this photo I had to get up off the couch and walk to the patio/balcony of our Diria Resort condo.

But I was rewarded with the refreshing ocean breeze, as is evident from the palm trees in this photo.  Cabo Velas across Tamarindo Bay is in the background.

This week we have photos of the National Archeological Museum in Guatemala City posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Patterns on the ceiling

OK.  Sometimes I get tired of taking photos of sunsets, waves, beaches, wildlife, surfing, people in swim suits on the beach, and other typical scenes around Tamarindo.

So, while sitting in my living room one night, wondering what I can possible shoot the following day, I contemplated the ceiling of our condo at the Diria Resort.  With the main lights off, the indirect uplighting, barrel-vaulted ceiling shape, and ceiling fans created this pattern.

This is perhaps not worthy of being posted, but it was what could involve less effort that taking a photo while reclining in one's own sofa.

This week we have photos of the National Archeological Museum in Guatemala City posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Tamarindo Diria Rooftop

For the last two days I showed views from the walkway in front of our condo at the Tamarindo Diria Resort, so today I am showing this little view of an architectural detail from the balcony of our condo.

This is a view of a part of the rooftop of the Tamarindo Diria Hotel buildings.  I like the pre-Columbian decorative features and the Spanish colonial design elements.

I also like the fact that our condo is on the 4th floor and the condo building sits on higher ground so that we have views over the hotel buildings to the beach and ocean.

This week we are showing another set of underwater photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Corridor at Our Diria Condo

The morning sun imprints the patter of the railing on the corridor that leads from our condo in the Tamarindo Diria Resort down to the elevator.  After breakfast on the balcony overlooking the ocean, this walking down this corridor is a nice way to start the day and head out to run some errands or take a walk along the beach.

This week we are showing photos from Waterford, Ireland, the home of Waterford Crystal, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Diria Resort Restaurant

As the afternoon draws to a close, and sunset settles over Tamarindo Bay, the Diria Resort Restaurant becomes even more inviting as a place to enjoy a drink or dinner.

This week we are showing photos from Waterford, Ireland, the home of Waterford Crystal, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Dira Resort Beach Front Lawn and Palm Trees

This is the beachfront lawn of the Tamarindo Diria Resort.  It provides a pleasant place to enjoy the sun, sea, and fresh air blowing in from the Pacific.

And you can rinse the sand and salt water off after swimming and have a drink or a snack so that you feel more refreshed while lounging around.

The ability to enjoy the amenities of the Tamarindo Diria Resort help make our condo there very popular with renters.  It is much more pleasant to enjoy the resort than to stay in nearby condos that do not have access to resort amenities.

My property management company tells me that my two condos are rented more often than any of the other 180 condos that they manage.  The Diria beachfront facilities and location are a big reason for that.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of Waterford, Ireland, the home of Waterford Crystal.

View of Tamarindo Bay and Playa Grande

This is a telephoto view from our Diria condo across the southern part of Tamarindo Bay to part of Playa Grande.  There are a few houses on the hillsides and there are others tucked behind the trees.

The preservation or development of Playa Grande is very controversial.  This beach is the main nesting site for the endangered Pacific leatherback tortoise.  They swim here from the Galapagos Islands to lay their eggs.  If there is more development, the lights from buildings will confuse and deter them from nesting here.

The beach at Playa Grande is part of the Las Baulas National Marine Park.  My wife went on tortoise watching outing with a park ranger.  They take people in small groups out on the beach at night, with red night lights, and wait for tortoises to come ashore to lay eggs.  None came the night she went there.

This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, a castle-hotel northwest of Dublin Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Capitan Island and Boats in Tamainrdo Bay

This photo shows Capitan Island, which shelters the southern end of Tamarindo Bay.  The island is just north of San Francisco Point, which I showed two days ago.

In Spanish, Capitan Island is called Isla del Capitan.  It takes its name from a legend that a captain of a ship that wrecked on rocks off shore swam to the island for safety.

The island is a place where people can swim or kayak.  It is very small and almost disappears at high tide.  It provides a safe place for boats to be moored in Tamarindo Bay, as is shown in this photo from the walkway in front of our Diria condo.

This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, a castle-hotel northwest of Dublin Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

View to the southern end of Tamarindo Beach

This is a closer view of the same scene as yesterday's post, showing the southern part of Tamarindo beach, taken from the front of our Diria condo.

The tall building reaching above the tree canopy is the Crystal Sands condo on Langosta Beach.  It is 7 stories tall.  If it were 4 stories tall, it would not be visible from a distance.

Most land near the beach is now restricted so that tall buildings can no longer be built along the beach.  Some of the land is grandfathered so that the right to build near the beach is preserved.

The land ownership rights are complicated, but in the future there will be fewer, and shorter, buildings on the beach, and developers will be required to keep half of the land in vegetation rather than  buildings, parking lots, and sidewalks.

This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, a castle-hotel northwest of Dublin Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

View to San Francisco Point

This is a view from in front of our Diria Resort condo out to the southern end of Tamarindo beach and bay.

This shows the San Francisco Point, which is the dividing point between Tamarindo beach and Langosta beach, which stretches to the south on the far side of the point.

This photo shows how the southern end of Tamarindo beach is sheltered from the full waves of the ocean by the point and the reef that extends from the point into the ocean.

I took this photo at low tide.  During high tide more of the rocky point is below the surface of the water.

This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, a castle-hotel northwest of Dublin Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

View down to the Swimming Pool

Our condo at the Diria Resort is above the resort's large lagoon-shaped swimming pool, which is 10,000 square feet (929 sq. m.)., the largest in Tamarindo.

Although the pool is large. most of it is hidden from view by the palm trees that are in the coves and islands that are part of the Diris Resort's pool landscaping.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos from Cabra Castle, northwest of Dublin Ireland.  If you want to see what it is like to stay in a  castle-hotel, use the link to take a look

View from our Diria Condo to Cabo Velas

This is the view from our condo balcony over the trees of the Tamarindo Diria Resort to the beach and across Tamarindo Bay to Cabo Velas.

Our condo is on the 4th floor, which is high enough to be above the palm trees and hotel units the lie between us and the beach.  The far row of palm trees in this photo line the beach.

Often people who consider renting our condo will ask how far it is from the condo to the beach.  This photo shows that distance.  It is about 100 yards, an easy walk through the beautify grounds of the Tamarindo Diria Resort.

We do not tire of this view.  We have this view from our balcony, from our living room, and from the master bedroom.

This week we are showing some photos of Paris, featuring several of its museums. on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

View from Our Diria Condo to Playa Grande

It occurred to me that I have shown lots of photos of sunsets and ocean views from our condo right on the beach in the Playa Langosta area of Tamainrdo, but I have not shown many photos of the view from our condo at the Tamarindo Diria Resort in the middle of Tamarindo.

Today I will start a little series to cure that oversight.  This is a photo from our condo balcony looking north across the mouth of the Tamarindo estuary towards Playa Grande.

The trees in the foreground are part of the grounds of the Tamarindo Diria Resort.

The main part of Tamarindo beach is straight out to the ocean to the left of this scene, but I like the view to the north as well.  I will show the view to the west tomorrow and in the coming days.

Yesterday was a holiday in Guanacaste, the northwest province of Costa Rica.  It was not a national holiday.  It was Annexation Day, celebrating the vote on July 25, 1824 during which Guanacaste voted to be a part of Costa Rica rather than Nicaragua.  Thank goodness.

This week we are showing some photos of Paris, featuring several of its museums. on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.