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The well-known Mexican escape has it all: new hotels, an exciting locavore food scene, and plenty of adventures on the water.

While Tamarindo in Costa Rica is no longer a sleepy beach town known only to a lucky few, we can still settle ourselves onto the sand and feel like we have the vast skyline to ourselves. Staying in Playa Langosta, the beach just south of Tamarindo, provides a welcoming relief from clusters of tourists while keeping us close enough for sunsets like this! Extra bonus: Have a friend or loved one in one hand and a cocktail in the other.

What better way to rejuvenate than a yoga class and massage on the beach? Lorena at ReFLEXion Yoga Tamarindo is a gifted and soothing yoga instructor and healer. Besides the yoga classes (for all levels), she also offers an array of other healing therapies for the body and mind, including massage and reiki sessions. Sometimes being on vacation can start to get... well, stressful. This is the perfect solution.

El Be Tamarindo Beach Club will never go out of style. Take your pick between the bar terrace and DJ—ideal for dancing all night—or the Sandbar, where you can relax on the beach. In either spot, you’ll enjoy an authentic Costa Rican kind of party, with friendly locals and surfers, and happy travelers.

Even if you don’t have anything specific in mind to buy, go to browse Tamarindo’s main avenue for well-priced souvenirs. Here you’ll find traditional coffee and chocolate next to art and wood crafts. There are also supermarkets, drugstores, and jewelry and boutique stores. Whether it’s a valuable artwork or lovable trinket, it will remind you of your visit to this beautiful country.

So you say you want to learn to surf! If you’re in Tamarindo, Costa Rica and want to pick up a surf board, or learn to surf, head to Iguana Surf Shop. Iguana is located directly across the street from Tamarindo beach and has great local surf teachers on call and a wide variety of boards. Although Tamarindo is a very safe town there is petty theft, so you don’t want to leave anything on the beach while you’re out there catching waves. Iguana is a great place to rent from because you can get a free locker and access it as you please throughout the day. Another perk to renting from Iguana is that they have a fresh water shower right in the front of the shop so you can wash off the salt water before heading to one of the local shops or restaurants.

Guaitil Pottery Studio in Tamarindo is a truly unique experience. Here, owner Arbin Espinosa Guevara displays and sells his Guaitil pottery, and gives lessons to visitors interested in learning the craft themselves. One of the few remaining indigenous crafts still practiced in Costa Rica, this organic coil-built pottery is beautiful and intricate. Browse the studio, watch artists at work, or take lessons in this ancient tradition yourself.

Ask anyone in Tamarindo where to eat lunch, and the first recommendation will be Nogui’s. There’s a reason for that. A smattering of beach chairs, tables, and benches right on the beach make up Nogui’s dining area. There’s also an indoor bar and restaurant area, but over the course of three days, we never saw anyone sitting in there. Pick a spot outside, grab a cerveza, some ceviche, or a fish taco, and then sit back and watch the ocean.

Nestled under an old tree, Lazy Wave offers fresh Asian, Latin, and European fusion cuisine. The setting is wonderful, with fluffy cushioned couches and candle-lit tables in an exotic garden.

Part dive bar under the palms, part reggae dance hall, and part DJ club. This is the place to come for a great night out with friends. All Pura Vida!

People-watch to your voyeuristic heart’s content in this breezy DJ dancehall full of young, beautiful, and sunburned tourists and Ticos. It’s good for drinking, dancing, and enjoying fresh sushi from their sushi bar, too.

Cozy and comfortable, it’s hard to leave Pangas. The hours fly by here, where the Las Baulas estuary meets the Pacific, at wooden tables, right on the sand; or beneath marvelous, sparkle-lit trees in a setting that’s practically one with the surrounding nature. A tropical fusion menu makes the most of local bounty, featuring innumerable fruits, grass-fed beef, and locally caught seafood; fresh-prepared cocktails intensify the vibe. Surf-racks and showers available to those coming off the waves; reservations suggested.

The Gold Coast is a legendary surfing destination, and veteran surfers make pilgrimages from all over the world to catch these waves. Playa Grande is the granddaddy of all Costa Rican surfing beaches, and it doubles as a nesting ground for leatherback sea turtles. Other popular surf spots in the area are Playas Avellanas & Negra (where the 1994 surf classic The Endless Summer II was filmed), and Tamarindo. If you’re a beginner or novice and need lessons, Point Break Surf is a great option.

Hardcore surfers and those in quest of Endless Summer see an icon in “Witch’s Rock.” Legend says a sorceress used to inhabit the stone formation and maybe it’s black magic that makes the ride so great for surfers at all skill levels. Getting there is not half the fun; hire a guide and maybe pitch a tent in Playa Tamarindo or Playa Grande, then make your way to the witch near Playa Naranjo in Santa Rosa National Park. But you’ll get it once you’re there. Active year-round.

On a quiet white-sand beach within the gates of the historic Hacienda Pinilla ranch, just a few miles from the bustling surf town of Tamarindo, the JW Marriott is an ideal choice for families, offering a wide range of on-site activities for every fitness level—think surfing, volleyball, golf, hiking, kayaking, horseback riding, and the list goes on. The kids’ club provides organized daily adventures for children ages four to 12 while parents steal a few relaxing hours at the oceanfront infinity pool or indulging in beachside massages at the spa. Five restaurants and two bars serve everything from casual burgers for picky eaters to sushi, Asian fusion, and contemporary Costa Rican for those with more refined palates. And all of the 310 guest rooms have balconies or terraces with ocean, garden, or pool views, as well as marble bathrooms with oversize tubs for maximum comfort. Spring for a spacious one-bedroom suite, which has a separate living-room area—a great plus if your little ones are early risers.