Playa Flamingo

This is another view of the beach at Playa Flamingo.

A few years ago there was a proposal to build a resort development and pier for cruise ships at Playa Flamingo, as it has one of the few bays suitable for sheltering ships in the area.

There was a delay due to controversy in the letting of the contract for the large infrastructure  projects, and then the 2008 recession hit and the plans have been shelved. There is no town at Playa Flamingo suitable for being overrun with cruise ship day passengers.

This week we have photos of the people Guatemala posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Playa Flamingo

Playa Flamingo is about 15 minutes north of Tamarindo. The bay is sheltered by the peninsula, so this part of the beach has gentle waves.

This week we have photos of the Dalmation Coast of Croatia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Playa Flamingo Bay

Yesterday I showed a photo looking out to the peninsula of Playa Flamingo.  This is a photo looking south down the coast of Flamingo Bay.

The area is very scenic, although these beaches are not suitable for surfing because the waves are gentle in the bay.

There are houses perched in the hills to take advantage of the views, as you can see in this photo.  There is also a high end condo development going in that advertises beachfront condos for about $1 million USD.  That is as expensive as I have seen in the area.

This week we have photos of the recent total solar eclipse off the coast of Australia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Playa Flamingo

This is a view across the bay at Playa Flamingo to the peninsula where hotels and condos are located.

Several years ago there was a proposal to build a cruise ship terminal here, as this is the best harbor in the area.  There is not really much of a town here, and the area would be overwhelmed by large cruise ships.

After the government selected the winning developer for the $90 million USD development, the losing developer sued, the project was delayed, and then the worldwide recession occurred and the project is dead, at least for a while.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of the recent total solar eclipse that we saw off the coast of Australia about 3 weeks ago.  It was a spectacular sight.

Playa Flamingo bay

On a drive north from Tamarindo, the road leads to Brasilito and then Playa Flamingo, and ends at Playa Potrero. This is a photo from Potrero looking back to the south across Flamingo bay.

This is a scenic bay that is the best natural harbor in the area. There are fishing and tourist boats in the bay, some homes, condos hotels and restaurants, but not a real town like Tamarindo.

There was a proposal a few years ago to develop a large marina, capable of accommodating cruise ships. The losing bidder for the rights to develop the $90 million project won a bid protest case against the local governnment, and before the project could be bid a second time, the recession set in, and the project is stalled.

This week we are showing photos of Bellagio and Varenna, Italy, two charming towns on the shores of Lake Como, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Houses overlooking Flamingo Bay

This is the last in my series of photos from Playa Flamingo, including some of the homes in the area. I hope you have found it of interest.

Homes along the Pacific in Costa Rica are much more economical per square foot than condominiums. In many cases it is possible to buy a house on a hillside with a view of the ocean for about the same price as a condo along the beach. One of the reasons is that the homes and ncondos are marketed primarily to foreigners who will not be living there year round. It is a lot easier to take care of a condo than a house and yard while away from Costa Rica.

Tomorrow I will show you what we saw on the short drive back from Flamingo to Tamarindo.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we have posted photos that show the diversity of architecture in Spain, including Moorish architecture, a building fit for the royal family, and the tile work of a restaurant in Madrid.

Tip of peninsula in Playa Flamingo bay

This is the house on the tip of the peninsula in Playa Flamingo bay, which I have shown during the past few days.

Whoever lives in this house obviously likes a lot of privacy and solitude. Not only do they have all to themselves a rocky point of land surrounded by ocean, but it looks like they have built a wall across the peninsula so that no one can walk out on the tip of the peninsula.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo sie we are showing photos of the monuments of Washington, D.C. at sunrise.

Houses on peninsula in Playa Flamingo bay

This is a closer view of the peninsula in Playa Flamingo bay that I showed yesterday. This looks like quite a compound of ocean front homes. I will show more such scenes tomorrow.

Maybe next time I go site seeing in the Playa Flamingo area I will try to drive out onto this peninsula to take a closer look at what is out there.

Playa Flamingo is about 15 - 20 minutes north of Tamarindo. The road goes as far as Playa Portero near where these photos from the north side of the bay were taken. To reach beaches further north, one has to drive inland, take the main road north, and then head back west to the ocean. There was an idea floated a couple of years ago to build a road along the coast, called the Ruta del Sol, but that would be very expensive and would post environmental issues.

We are showing photos of the monuments of Washington D.C. at sunrise on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Pocket beach in Playa Flamingo bay

This is a closer photo of the small beach that is visible on the left side of yesterday's photo of Playa Flamingo Bay. The terrain in this area offers both nice views and a chance to have small tropical beaches all to oneself.

There are pros and cons to the differences between beaches such as Tamarindo and Langosta or beaches such as this one. The solitude and privacy of being all alone on a beach is restful. It is harder to reach these beaches, however, and it is not possible to take walks along the beach. There are also no facilities for at the beach in this area.

My wife and I decided that we preferred to have a condo right on the beach in Tamarindo and Langosta so we could take long walks along the beach in the day, and short walks to dozens of restaurants in the evening.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site we are showing unusual photos of the monuments of Washington, D.C. in the glow of sunrise.

Playa Flamingo bay

This is a photo of the north end of the bay, looking south towards Playa Flamingo. As you can see, the coast line in this area is dotted with islands, peninsulas, and small pocket beaches.

This is about 15 - 20 minutes north of Tamarindo. The scenery is different, as Tamarindo has a long stretch of beach where people can walk for miles along he beach. In the area around Playa Flamingo, the scenery is dramatic, but you cannot walk very far along the smaller beaches. It is more common to see houses and condos up on the hills to take advantage of the views overlooking the ocean and coast, rather than houses and condos down next to the beach.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, we are showing colorful photos of the sunrise glow on the monuments of Washington, D.C.

Watch your step

This is the view straight down the cliff to the ocean at the spot where I took the photo yesterday.

Do you think that my wife was with me when I took this photo? How can you tell?

The answer is that I took this photo when I was doing some driving around with my two sons, without Julie. I never could have taken this photo with Julie around because she would have cautioned me not to get so close to the edge about five steps before I reached this spot where I could take a photo straight down.

This photo shows how clear and blue the Pacific Ocean is in our part of Costa Rica. This is the Pacific, not the Caribbean or Mediterranean. It is not this blue in California.

This week on our travel photo site, Viva la Voyage we are showing sunrise photos of Washington, D.C. Come click on the link to see an unusual photographic interpretation of familiar sights.

Playa Flamingo coastline

This is a view on the Playa Flamingo peninsula, with the camera pointed to the left of the scene that I showed yesterday. I think that building is a small hotel, although I have never been there. Tomorrow I will show shat this scene looks like taking a few steps forward, and then looking straight down.

I took this photo back in April, which is the end of the dry season. That is why some of the trees are brown. Like trees in the north in the winter, during Rica's northwest Pacific coast from November until April, trees will drop their leaves to conserve water. That also makes monkeys, sloths and iguanas easier to spot.

The hot, sunny dry season is also good for tourism. That is the season when Canadians and Americans especially like to come down to escape the cold weather up north. I like the weather in Costa Rica during the traditional summer months as well. We have only brief, occasional rain, and the forests turn very green.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are showing some unusual sunrise photos from Washington D.C. I love D.C. I was born at Bethesda Naval Hospital, went to college and graduate school there, and worked for several Members of Congress there from 1971 - 1982. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Vertical condos

I guess this building shows that developers will build condos even when they own a small plot of land and there is no where to build but up. This building appears to have only one condo per floor on each of about 7 floors., overlooking the bay at Playa Flamingo.

Under current building restrictions, I do not think it would be legal to build a condo this high so close to the ocean. Several years ago the then-President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, issued an executive order that for three years prohibited new construction within 200 meters of the ocean in our part of Costa Rica, and allowed only three story buildings from 200 to 800 meters. It also required that about half of each parcel of land must have vegetation, rather than buildings or pavement.

Not long after the building restrictions were imposed, the U.S. economy collapsed, and that reduced the demand for new condo and housing development in Costa Rica, as most of the purchasers are Americans and Canadians. The market took care of putting a moratorium on new building near the ocean.

If you have not done so already, I respectfully recommend that you check out the photos of Varenna, Italy that we have posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Varenna is located on the eastern shore of Lake Como, an Alpine lake north of Milan. I think Lake Como is one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

Playa Flamingo bay

Here is another view of a portion of the bay at Playa Flamingo, about 15 minutes north of Tamarindo. There are stretches of the shore that have sandy beaches and other parts that are rocky or that plunge steeply into the ocean. Some of the beaches face the ocean and have surf, and other portions are sheltered by islands and peninsulas.

If you have not done so already, I respectfully recommend that you check out the photos of Varenna, Italy that we have posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Varenna is located on the eastern shore of Lake Como, an Alpine lake north of Milan. I think Lake Como is one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

Driveway

I drove up the peninsula shown in yesterday's photo to try to take a look at the houses. The road did not go all the way to the houses, however. This is the driveway that extended up the hill to the houses near the top. I did not drive up it because I did not want to intrude on the privacy of the homes.

Of course in Costa Rica there will never be a problem having to drive up such a steep driveway in the snow or ice. There is a maintenance issue to make sure that there is no erosion on the uphill slope. I guess that is a small price to pay for the benefit of a view.

If you have not done so already, I respectfully recommend that you check out the photos of Varenna, Italy that we have posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Varenna is located on the eastern shore of Lake Como, an Alpine lake north of Milan. I think Lake Como is one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

Houses with a view

The houses on this ocean front hill have a great view of the beach. This is typical of the scenery north of Tamarindo about 15 minutes. Tamarindo is on a long stretch of beach. The coast north of Tamarindo is dotted with coves, small beaches, and rocky peninsulas.

This photo was taken in the Playa Flamingo area. Tomorrow I will show you how the people who live in the houses up this hill reach their homes. Playa Flamingo is very scenic, although my wife and I decided to buy our two condos in Tamarindo because we like to take long walks along the beach and we wanted to be right on the beach.

If you have not done so already, I respectfully recommend that you check out the photos of Varenna, Italy that we have posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. Varenna is located on the eastern shore of Lake Como, an Alpine lake north of Milan. I think Lake Como is one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

Playa Flamingo beach

Here is another photo to orient you to the bay at Playa Flamingo. This is a view up the coast to the north from the spot where the photos were taken that I posted on the last three days.

This beach is sheltered by the peninsula that creates the bay where you saw some of the resorts in the photos that I recently posted. There are other beaches in the area where the ocean waves crash on the shore. This beach is well suited for children, as there are almost no waves.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel site we are showing photos of the great Mayan pyramids and ruins of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.

Playa Flamingo bay

Here are some of the boats moored in the bay at Playa Flamingo. You can see some of the islands that dot the coast in this area. The islands provide sheltering waters for marine life and are popular spots for snorkel and scuba diving trips from Tamarindo.

Yesterday I talked about plans to develop expanded marina facilities at Playa Flamingo, including a cruise ship pier, which is on hold. An upgraded marina might enable people to dock their boats in a slip at a pier, rather than moored in the bay for access from a small shuttle boat.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on Viva la Voyage, our travel photo site. This week we are showing photos of Chichen Itza, the most famous of the Yucatan Mayan sites.

Playa Flamingo

This is a closer view of the main part of the bay at Playa Flamingo. The peninsula that you see here provides shelter for boats. The main part of the beach extends to the left from the other side of this peninsula.

There was a proposal to build a cruise ship pier at Playa Flamingo, and a large hotel complex. The winning bid was a $90 million proposal by a group with financing from the USA. As sometimes happens with government contracts, the losing parties filed bid protests, and the delay caused by that challenge and a court ruling that said that they have to re-bid the project. In the meantime, the world-wide downturn in the economy has reduced the market and demand for such large scale development projects, and seem to have caused this project to stall indefinitely.

A cruise ship pier for Playa Flamingo was a rather controversial project. As you can see in this photo, Playa Flamingo is not a large place. There would not be a lot for cruise ship visitors to do right in Playa Flamindo, although they could go out and make the beach very crowded, depending on the size of the cruise ship.

It is more likely that cruise ships would generate lots of business for people who run excursions, as the cruise ship tourists would probably buy shore excursion packages for zip lines, wildlife river trips, etc. Tamarindo would be the nearest town with shopping and other resources that cruise ship visitors frequent. I am sure that the business would be welcomed by many, although my impression of towns that are flooded with cruise ship visitors is that they often have lots of shops selling t-shirts and trinkets, and do not necessarily bring more desirable amenities.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, we are showing photos of Peru, including photos from an area that is very remote.

Playa Flamingo

Playa Flamingo is a little farther up the beach from Brasilito, about 20 minutes from Tamairndo. Flamingo is more developed than Brasilito, but a lot less developed than Tamarindo.

Flamingo has a nice, protected bay, as you can see in this photo. There are lots of fishing boats moored there. There was even a proposal to build a pier to accommodate cruise ships.

Tomorrow, I will show you more of FLamingo and tell you what happened to the cruise ship terminal development.

This week on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, we are showing photos of Peru, including photos from an area that is very remote.