FAQ / Cancellation

Someone on the reservation does. You don't.

If one person in your group is on a surf program, everyone can stay at the beachfront camp. People who aren't surfing pay $50 a night, which covers breakfast, the pool, the beach, yoga and the beach tours.

There's no ratio to hit. One surfer and five non-surfers is fine.

Then the beachfront camp isn't the right fit. It's a surf camp, not a hotel.

Pueblo Dorado is our second hotel, a few minutes' walk up the street. Rooms start from $90 a night for two with breakfast. It has its own pool and garden, and you also get the pool, the beach chairs and the showers at the beachfront camp. No surf program required.

No. You're in a group of three to five from the first morning and it's the same group all week. A lot of people who come alone leave with new friends.

No. Come any day you want.

Saturday is when the airport transfer is free, and the week has a slightly cleaner shape if you arrive then. But plenty of people come midweek and get exactly the same thing.

Whatever you want. Most people do seven.

One thing to know: the boat to Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point needs a stay of five nights or more, and it runs on a weekday. If that trip is why you're coming, tell us your dates before you book.

Probably not.

Beginners surf the wave out front. Sand all the way down, no rocks, no reef, waist deep, and the water sits around 80 degrees. You're standing up in whitewater with a coach next to you and two other students.

If you can walk into the ocean and get up off your hands and knees, you can do this. We've had first-timers in their fifties, sixties and seventies.

Most people do, and often on the first day.

Your first sessions are in broken whitewater close to shore, which is the easiest place there is to get to your feet. How fast it comes varies a lot from person to person. Most people are riding unbroken waves before the week is out.

The break out front is sand bottom, no rocks or reef, waist height, and the water is warm.

Three students to one coach for beginners, and we don't stretch that number for any reason. A coach is in the water with your kids the whole session. Every coach is ISA certified and holds a lifeguard certification. Joe co-founded the town's lifeguard program and ran it for close to ten years.

There's also lifeguard service on Tamarindo Beach. They aren't stationed directly in front of the camp, but they watch the whole beach all day.

Four.

At that age it only works if your kid already likes being in the ocean. If they're nervous about water, a surf lesson can make that worse instead of better.

Yes. One reservation, different programs.

Beginners surf out front. Intermediate and advanced go up the coast by van or boat. Everyone's back together in the afternoon for the beach tours, yoga, video sessions and dinner.

Kids and adults are put in separate groups by default, and we recommend it. A parent trying to learn while watching their kid does neither one well.

Someone who can surf on their own.

Not someone who's stood up in a few lessons. Intermediate means you can handle yourself in the water without an instructor watching over you, because the intermediate group surfs other breaks and the coach is there to improve your surfing, not to supervise you. You don't have to be good. You do have to have the basics.

If you're not sure, book beginner. Your coach will move you up.

Your coach will move you. It doesn't cost anything.

Usually within a couple of hours. Worst case, you'll hear back within 8 to 12.

We don't offer refunds. If you cancel, we give you a credit, less a fee between $100 and $400. Any payment or deposit you've made is non-refundable.

To reschedule, tell us at least a month before your arrival date.

Once you use the credit to book new dates, the credit is gone. If you cancel that second trip, you lose it. So pick the new dates carefully.

If your plans might change, get travel insurance. We point people to Allianz.

Yes, with at least a month's notice before your arrival date.

Moving dates converts your booking to a credit, less the fee. Once you pick the new dates, that's final. See above.

Full payment up front, and it's non-refundable.

The policy is the same. We don't make exceptions for the reason.

This is the case for travel insurance. We point people to Allianz.

Yes, especially if there's any chance your plans move. We recommend Allianz.

More than people expect.

On the property: the pool, the beach, beach chairs, Dawn Patrol coffee from 5am, and four places to eat and drink. Live music at El Vaquero on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Included in the $50 companion rate: breakfast, yoga three mornings a week, and the beach tours.

Book at the front desk: ziplining, ATV tours, horseback riding, snorkeling, scuba, kayaking, catamaran cruises, volcano trips, sportfishing, an estuary tour, and massages.

And town is a ten-minute walk. Shops, spas, and more restaurants than you'll get through in a week.

Afternoon trips to beaches most visitors don't find. Two or three a week.

These aren't surf tours. There are no waves. 

They're open to everyone including non-surfers, and they're included in the $50 companion rate.

No. The surf tours are where intermediate and advanced groups go to surf other breaks, so they're for people on a surf program.

The beach tours are the ones open to everybody. Different trips, different afternoons.

Yes. Three mornings a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and it's covered by the $50 companion rate.

All prices per person, tax included, and every one of them includes pickup and drop-off.

• Massage — from $35 for half an hour, $66 for the hour. In your room or at the beach tent.
• Estuary tour — from $60. Two to three hours through the mangroves. Crocodiles, monkeys, birds.
• Kayak and snorkel — from $79. Two hours out to Capitan island and back. No minimum.
• Horseback riding — from $86. Two to three hours along Conchal, Playa Minas and Brasilito.
• ATV — from $102. Half a day on the Congo Trail.
• Zipline — from $113. Two to three hours at Monkey Jungle, Santa Rosa.
• Snorkeling — from $131. Half a day, two stops, equipment included.
• Catamaran — from $141. Three to four hours with snorkeling, snacks and an open bar. Back at sunset.
• Zipline and ATV together — from $170. Half a day.
• Scuba — from $168 with certification, $229 without.
• Volcano day — from $181. Full day at Rincón de la Vieja with zipline, hot springs, mud bath, tubing, horseback riding, rappelling and lunch. Minimum four people.
• Sportfishing — half a day, up to four people, equipment, drinks and snacks included. Keep your catch, and the crew will clean and fillet it.

Most need at least two people, which a family always clears. Catamaran, kayak and massages have no minimum.

No babies. Four or five and up is the general guide for things like ziplining and ATVs.

At the front desk once you're here. Some can be booked the same day, others need a day's notice.

Nothing to arrange before you land. Cash or card at the front desk.

The pool is small, shallow throughout, fenced, and watched by our security. There's no separate kids' pool.

Surf lessons start at four. Eat at Joe's has a kids' menu and high chairs, and kids are welcome everywhere on the property.

We don't have our own babysitters, but we can put you in touch with an agency nearby and arrange it.

Air conditioning, a private bathroom, hot water, wifi and a safe in every room. Some have balconies, some open onto the sand, and a few have fridges.

They're simple. Clean and comfortable, not a resort. What you're paying for is where they are.

Courtyard and Sunset rooms both have two queen beds and sleep up to five with a rollaway. Courtyard sits around the pool, Sunset is closest to the water.

The Penthouse has two queens plus a twin in an upstairs loft, a kitchenette and a door onto the rooftop deck. Sleeps up to six.

Joe's Tiki Hut is the big one. Three bedrooms with a king, two queens and another queen, plus a futon, a full kitchen, two bathrooms, a washer-dryer, a private patio and its own beach entrance. Sleeps up to eight.

At Pueblo Dorado we have four sets of adjoining rooms with a connecting door inside, which fit up to six people across two rooms.

Yes, and no charge for either.

We can add a rollaway bed to any room with two queens. We also have pack-and-play cribs for babies.

Partly, and it depends where you stay.

The ground floor at Pueblo Dorado is fully accessible.

At the beachfront camp there's no elevator. Seven rooms are on the ground floor: the Beachfront Studio, both Sunset Downstairs rooms and the four Courtyard Downstairs rooms. Everything else is up a flight of stairs, including Joe's Tiki Hut, which is otherwise our best room for a group.

Up the street. Two or three minutes if you walk quickly, five or six if you don't.

The pool, the beach chairs and the beach showers. Breakfast at Eat at Joe's is included with your room.

Yes, in the courtyard at the main camp. It's on the small side, shallow throughout, fenced, and watched by our security.

Pueblo Dorado has its own pool and garden.

Eat at Joe's for breakfast, cooked to order off the menu, any time of day. El Vaquero is right on the sand. Same kitchen, same menu, different view. Dawn Patrol opens at 5am for coffee and baked goods. And Volcano Brewing, Tamarindo's first craft brewery.

Vegetarian options at all of them. Figure $20 to $25 a person for a full meal with a drink. Town is a ten-minute walk if you want to go further.

Yes. 65 down, 40 up, and it holds a video call. It reaches every room, not just the common areas.

There's a laundry service at both properties. $10 a bag, and we provide the bag, which is a medium size. Just ask at reception.

Joe's Tiki Hut has its own washer and dryer if you'd rather do it yourself.