My mom booked two "casitas" thru eBay for $350/ea for 8 days. Each was 2 bedroom and 2 bath. The casitas are half of a duplex on a road with many other casitas (some owned and some rented like ours). Not everything in the rooms was in good repair (window was broken, two cupboard doors fell off when we opened them).

However, we truly did enjoy our stay. There is a resident flock of crimson macaws (placed there to fool the turistas like me into believing that they're native and wild). It's a short drive to Curu National Reserve where you can truly see monkeys in the wild.

Also a relatively short jaunt to Montezuma over STEEP dirt roads. Our Nissan sedan made it but would have been easier in a 4-wheel drive. There are much-touted waterfalls in Montezuma which (for us) were difficult to find. WEAR STURDY SHOES...we had on "water sandals" which caused us to slip and slide. We only made it to first waterfall because the terrain became much too difficult to continue (I'm 47-female with two girls aged 9 and 12). My brother, sister and her boyfriend continued with a little difficulty (54-yr, 45 yr and 40 yrs -- but they had better shoes!) 78- year old grandparents did NOT make it very far!!

The trip from San Jose to Tambor takes at least 4 hours. From San Jose airport to Puentarenas (ferry dock) is over 1 hour. Signs showing directions to ferry are NON-EXISTENT but somehow we found it.

BEWARE of non-ferry employees "assisting" you in purchasing tickets and getting on the ferry. They "helped" us by telling us where to purchase tickets and where to wait in line only to beg for a tip and act angry when we didn't give them $20 each. Also, don't trust any ferry schedule...there were at least three we saw and none of them were correct.

From Paquera (where ferry drops you off) to Bahia de los Delfines is about 40 minutes. Bahia de los Delfines is well marked if you know what you're looking for. It is located just after a large Century 21 sign advertising real estate. But there is no actual "BAHIA DE LOS DELFINES" sign, only a large sculpture/waterfall of 3 dolphins.

If you reach the Tambor "airport" (I use this term loosely because it's basically an asphalt landing strip and a covered bench), you've gone too far.

Overall, we had a great time. The people were nice but didn't speak a lot of English. I ordered rice and beans and got bacon (don't order pizza -- took over 30 minutes with no apology). DO book a tour to Isla Tortuga....for $42/person we got a boat trip to the island (saw dolphins along the way which appeared to be clustering near some "bait" left there for them....very suspicious); lunch prepared over an open fire (Mahi-mahi or chicken, potatoes and buttered toast) and two or three beers each. Included snorkeling and several hours relaxing on the island which has stunning white sand and clear water (much clearer than the water at Playa Tambor).

DO enjoy a meal at H&B in Tambor and TAMBOR TROPICALE in Tambor (drive past the police station and then take a left at the beach....drive until you see large palm trees with tiny white lights and a lovely pool with a bar. It is a VERY adorable hotel....) Costa Coral which was recommended in a guidebook was VERY SLOW (one hour to serve) and served our appetizer with our meal.

The best and closest market is in Tambor (next to the police station). It has much better prices than the Bahia market and accepts US credit cards.

They make you wear wristbands which make you feel like a "target". We were told by some locals that the owner of Bahia de los Delfines had some shady business dealings (not paying his bills, gambling, not paying employees, etc.). We also discovered from locals that the "all inclusive" resort next door had been environmentally unfriendly.

Otherwise, nice reasonably priced place where me and family had a great time!

ENJOY!!!