Scarlet MacawPhoto: ondrejprosicky
Tango Mar is where a birding trip comes to rest. The resort is on Quizales Beach near Tambor, and its nine-hole golf course runs over rolling grounds and along the cliffs above the sea, among palms and the birds the hotel mentions there.
The serious birding is at Curú, about 16 km away on our map: a wildlife refuge with the only Scarlet Macaws on the Nicoya Peninsula. The resort's tour desk runs it by car or by boat with a guide.
On our Nicoya trip it is the last three nights, and then the little plane from Tambor instead of a day on the road.
The resort's site says nothing about birding on its own land beyond the birds round the golf course, so we treat it as the rest stop of a birding trip. Its tour pages offer Curú two ways, with a guide: by car, then a walk on the refuge's trails, or by boat followed by a hike. Our Nicoya trip adds the Río Pochote, a quiet river from Tambor birded from a boat.
Photo: Tango Mar Resort
Tambor
A Sophisticated Nicoya Beachfront Resort with Fabulous Ocean Views
★★★★
Beachfront on Quizales beach on the Nicoya coast, 35 suites and bungalows, four pools and a nine-hole golf course through grounds full of birds. The end-of-trip lodge, for the shore birds and a rest.
At Curú, the Scarlet Macaw first, the only population on the peninsula and the bird the refuge is known for.
From the Pochote boat and in the dry forest, the zone's two dry-forest trogons, Black-headed Trogon and Elegant Trogon, and the Turquoise-browed Motmot on the wires and fence posts.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Macaw | Ara macao | Guacamayo Rojo | |
| Black-headed Trogon | Trogon melanocephalus | Trogón Cabecinegro | |
| Elegant Trogon | Trogon elegans | Trogón Elegante | |
| Turquoise-browed Motmot | Eumomota superciliosa | Momoto Cejiceleste |
On the Nicoya coast near Tambor: the peninsula's only Scarlet Macaws at Curú, a boat up the Río Pochote, our beach lodge and the trip that ends here.
See the placeWant to add a luxury stay to your trip? See every hotel we represent on CostaRica.Org (opens in a new window). We plan birding lodges and beach resorts in one trip.
Tell us the birds you want, your dates and how you like to travel, and we will come back with a first itinerary: the lodges in the right order and how many nights each one really needs. That first version is just a place to start.
Or call us: 1 (800) 996-1139 from the US and Canada, +506 4052-2140 in Costa Rica.
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