Where to Stay Near Tamarindo: Casa Mono Jungle Airbnb

If you want to stay near Tamarindo without the noise, Casa Mono is where I’d send you. It’s a jungle Airbnb in a quiet valley about 25 minutes from Tamarindo. Howler monkeys cross the driveway. Goats keep the grass down. At night it’s just the jungle.

We stayed one night and used it as a base for two days of beaches. On day one we did Tamarindo by day and by night. On day two we hit Playa Grande and Playa Flamingo. Every stop has its own video, so you can see it before you go.

Disclosure: our one night at Casa Mono was complimentary. Matt, the owner, didn’t charge us for the stay. The Casa Mono, car rental and gear links below are affiliate links. If you book through them, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Stay in Tamarindo or Outside of Town?

If you have a car, stay outside. Tamarindo is a party town. A room on the strip looks great until you hear the music until 2 a.m. Parking in town is hard too, and some of the parking guys are a bit scammy. Inland near Huacas, it’s quiet, and you’re about the same distance from Playa Grande, Playa Flamingo, Conchal and Potrero as you are from Tamarindo.

I’ve stayed in Tamarindo too. It costs more and it’s a lot noisier. A night in town starts around $100 at the very lowest and goes much higher. It’s still a good choice if you’re there to party, or if you want to surf Tamarindo every day and walk to the water. Casa Mono works best with a rental car, since you’ll be driving to the beach every day.

Casa Mono: The Jungle Airbnb

Casa Mono is on Rancho Cartagena, a horse farm preserve in a green valley with mountains all around it. It’s gated, and Matt lives on the property with his family. A lot of guests tell him that makes them feel safer. We saw a howler asleep in the trees by the casita. The troop comes down the mountain and crosses the driveway most days. When the trees by the gate bloom yellow, they stop to eat the flowers and nap.

The house is a loft, kind of a treehouse style, with A/C and a hot water shower. It sleeps four. Two singles pull out in the loft upstairs. Out front there’s a deck and a small plunge pool. You get a gate clicker and a key, so you can come and go on your own. I slept really well in the house. After a night walk in Tamarindo, the quiet was a nice change.

The kitchen is the part that surprised me. Every time I come to Costa Rica, I end up buying salt, pepper and coffee all over again. Casa Mono already has all of it, down to a coffee press, a grinder and a cupboard full of spices. The best touch for a beach trip is the cooler bag with ice packs. You also get binoculars, a Bluetooth speaker and a binder of local beaches and restaurants. Matt can set you up with a massage lady who comes to the house, and there’s a grill outside.

The driveway is dirt. However, it’s easily driven with even a small car. I drove my little red Suzuki up it with no trouble, so you don’t need four-wheel drive. You just have to punch it a little. Once you’re parked at Casa Mono, it’s all flat, so there’s no walking up or down hills.

There are goats and chickens on the property. The chickens lay eggs. The goats are the landscaping crew. Matt has three acres to keep trimmed, so he lets them eat it down. The next morning, two of them, Charles and Chewie, came to say goodbye and left slobber all over my camera lens.

The only real trade-off is distance. Every beach is a drive. But the house is close to Huacas, where the road splits to all the beaches. You’re also closer to Liberia and the airport than you would be in Tamarindo. Rates change through the year, so check the listing for your dates.

See Casa Mono rates on Airbnb

How to Get to Casa Mono from the Liberia Airport

Fly into Liberia (LIR). It’s the closest international airport to Tamarindo and the beaches around it. I use DiscoverCars to compare the agencies, since prices vary a lot. Our Costa Rica rental car guide covers the insurance part.

Head towards the coast and stop in Belén after about 40 minutes. Belén has good sodas and a Super Compro, which is a discount grocery store. Stock up there. If you rely on the little corner stores near the beach for your groceries, you’re going to pay a lot more.

From Belén it’s about 20 more minutes to Casa Mono. Take the road toward Tamarindo and turn off just before the town of Huacas. The road is well paved and pretty straight. I wouldn’t worry about driving it at night. That’s not true of every road out here, like the Monkey Trail up north.

One warning. The speed bumps out here are mostly not painted. I got a comment once saying every speed bump in Costa Rica is painted. They are not. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll hit one hard.

What’s Right Around Casa Mono

• Painted Pony runs horse tours across about 700 acres of the mountains. The rides come past the house almost every day.
• A rescue for monkeys and other animals is about a 30 second drive down the road. You could walk there.
• For steaks to cook on the grill, Matt’s pick is Carne San Martín. They have several shops throughout Guanacaste.
• Huacas, about 10 minutes away, has a fruit stand across from the shops with pineapples, bananas and ripe mangoes.

For lunch, go to Soda La Bajura, about three minutes up the road toward Huacas. It’s a busy spot due to the great food at fair prices. I got the casado with barbecue steak for about $8, and the portion was massive. They also do smoothies, and Matt says the kids’ chicken fingers are the best around.

A Two-Day Plan from Casa Mono

Day one: drop your bags at Casa Mono, grab lunch at La Bajura and head straight to Tamarindo. If it’s busy season, find cheap parking just outside the main strip and walk in. Walk through town, then spend the afternoon on the beach. Stay for sunset at Caprichos, then drive back to the jungle for the night.

Day two: say goodbye to the goats and go straight through Huacas to Playa Grande in the morning, before the sun gets too hot on a beach with no shade. Then double back through Huacas and turn toward Playa Flamingo for a swim and a coffee at the marina.

Beach Day Trips from Casa Mono

In Huacas you turn left for Tamarindo, go straight for Playa Grande, or turn right for Playa Flamingo, Conchal and Potrero.

Tamarindo by Day (25 Minutes)

Tamarindo is the closest beach to Casa Mono, so it’s the one to do first. We walked it twice by day. The first walk went from the north end of the beach, near the estuary, down the main strip.

The middle of Tamarindo beach is a beginner surf area. Rocks out in front shape where people surf and swim. Surfers stay between the rocks or off to the sides. Swimmers stay closer to the rocks, where the waves break easier. At low tide you get tide pools. There are also horse rides on the beach that head toward Playa Grande. I didn’t do one. For lessons, see our post on surfing in Tamarindo.

The main strip is surf shops, souvenir stores, real estate offices and restaurants, with Hotel Tamarindo Diria and the casino in the middle. An Imperial at Agua Salada was about $4.50. Cigars and souvenir mugs at the little market were about $10 each.

A tip on parking. Where I usually park, there are guys in vests who tell you a price to park there. I doubt it’s legal. If you park a bit further out, you can skip it.

The second walk covered the town center and the road toward Playa Langosta. I’ve eaten at The Roof before. Go for the view, since you can see the whole bay from up there. The food court nearby had a large tuna poke for ₡8,000, about $16, and cheeseburgers for about $12.

If you need groceries in town, go to the Super Compro by the skatepark. It’s the cheapest place in Tamarindo. Vindi, a bit further along, also has good prices. We ended at Caprichos, right on the beach. It’s the one place I went into, and I’d go back. The staff were very friendly, and a lot of people in the comments on my socials recommended it too. They had a two for one happy hour on local and craft beer. A guy named Greddy was juggling coconuts and dancing on the sand at sunset. Stick around for it if you can. You can see his skills in this short.

Tamarindo at Night

I don’t do nightlife. For me, nightlife is 9 p.m. So this is what Tamarindo looks like at about 9 o’clock, which is still early here. The mission was to hit all three Tamarindo signs after dark. We got all three. The one on the beach is the one you want for your photo.

At 9 most of the bars were still pretty quiet. Club 41 had a few people inside. I’d heard there would be fire torch dancers on the beach, but I didn’t see any. A coffee near the casino was $3 US, and plenty of places here charge in dollars. The best part was back at Caprichos. A saxophone player was playing over a DJ set. Further along, a band was playing at the Jardín Tamarindo Food Truck Park, where a smoothie was ₡2,500, about $5.

Watch the traffic when you cross the main road at night. It’s busy and drivers don’t slow down much. If you’ve had a few drinks, take a taxi back to Casa Mono instead of driving.

Playa Grande (About 30 Minutes)

Huacas is about 10 minutes from the house. Go straight through town. About 5 minutes later you pass through a small town called Matapalo. Don’t mix it up with Playa Matapalo, the beach further north where the Riu resort is. This Matapalo has a supermarket and an ATV rental place. From there it’s about 15 more minutes. The road is paved all the way, with a few twisty parts and very little traffic.

Playa Grande is part of Las Baulas National Marine Park. The waves are a lot bigger than in Tamarindo, and the surfers are a lot better. The waves also cross each other, so it’s hard to swim. I’d been once before, about four years ago, and I didn’t get in then either.

Someone told me there’s no shade on this beach. I can confirm it. Bring an umbrella or plan to hide under the lifeguard tower like I did. I wore my water shoes for the water test, since the waves roll in fast. The water was cold and very refreshing.

Guys at the beach entrance will watch your car for a fee. The price is spray painted on the ground, about $4 USD. You can also find free parking along the road. I paid because all my stuff was in the car. If you’re going to be out on the water all day, it’s probably worth paying them.

Playa Flamingo and Marina Flamingo (About 30 Minutes)

This is the swimming beach of the trip. Playa Grande is for surfers. Flamingo is where I’d take the family for a swim. The day we went, a few waves broke close to shore, but the water was very clear.

Margaritaville is a resort hotel right on the beach. A sign out front says it’s open to visitors. There’s parking along the beach road, so try to get a spot in the shade. On the sand you’ll find vendors selling souvenirs and massages. I don’t know if you can rent the beach tents. Bringing your own umbrella works fine.

Marina Flamingo is a short drive up the hill. Every time I come here they’re building something new. This time there was a covered parking garage with the first two hours free. I’d never seen that before. A coffee was about $5. There are yachts, fishing boats, a few restaurants over the water and a big staircase down to the pier. Near dinner time there’s a line of people waiting to take their photo on it.

From the marina you can see across to Playa Potrero. For more on this part of the coast, see our guides to Playa Flamingo and Flamingo, Brasilito and Conchal.

What Things Cost Around Casa Mono

Prices are from our trip in July 2026. Tamarindo prices are high for Costa Rica. The casado at La Bajura costs less than a burger on the strip, and it fills you up more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Check Casa Mono for your dates. For more of the coast, see our Guanacaste beach hopping guide and our Tamarindo beach town guide.