Exposed Reef at Low Tide Near Tamarindo, Costa Rica

Tamarindo Beach sits on the Pacific coast of Guanacaste Province, just south of Las Baulas National Marine Park, a protected nesting ground for leatherback sea turtles. The volcanic rock shelf exposed here at low tide runs along the shoreline toward Punta San Francisco, a rocky point separating Tamarindo from the smaller cove at Playa Langosta. Guanacaste's dry forest, visible along the point, sheds its leaves in the dry season between December and April, thinning the tree cover near the coast.