The glint of diamond-dust beaches and the gleam of emerald golf course have created a tourism gold rush for Nicoya, bringing new panache to an otherwise sleepy region known for its superb sport-fishing, scuba diving, and surfing.

Sand and sea are the names of the game in sunny Nicoya, a mountainous crab-claw peninsula that hooks around the Golfo de Nicoya, endearing itself to visitors with the appeal of its white-sand beaches and a six month dry season when the sun dances incandescently on a sea which has blue sky pouring into it. And golf courses have multiplied in recent years, attached to the deluxe beach resorts that are attracting a new breed of traveler to Costa Rica.

Modernity has come late to the region. Local life still revolves around fishing and ranching, and Nicoya moves at a sleepy pace. A half-dozen burgeoning resort settlements dot the rugged shoreline, though Tamarindo is the only coastal town of significant size or sophistication.