Monteverde or Tamarindo?

This is the starkest gap between the two. Monteverde has no beach and no swimming, and the nearest coast at Puntarenas is a couple of hours down winding roads, so anyone wanting sand has to plan separate nights for it.

Tamarindo is built around its bay of golden sand, with warm water and gentle, steady waves for beginners. Within a short drive you have quieter Langosta, wild Playa Grande, Avellanas and Playa Negra for stronger surfers, and the clearer water of Conchal for snorkelling. Watch for rip currents and keep away from the estuary's crocodiles.

Both places rely on the soda and its casado of rice, beans, plantain and grilled meat or fish, but Tamarindo offers more choice. Foreign residents have brought fish tacos, poke bowls, wood-fired pizza and Argentine grills, plus fresh ceviche from the day's catch, though the menus repeat after a week.

Monteverde's range is narrower and the evening choice thin, as most eating happens in small Santa Elena. What it has that the coast lacks is real local produce: coffee grown on the surrounding slopes, tasted on farm tours, and cheese from the dairy the Quaker settlers founded.

Neither town is a place for museums, monuments or historic architecture, so the difference lies in what little each has. Monteverde has an unusual story, the American Quakers who settled in the early 1950s and helped protect the forest, still visible in the community and its cheese plant. Tamarindo grew from a fishing village into a surf resort, and for heritage you head inland to the older towns of the Nicoya Peninsula.

Tamarindo is the only one of the two with a night out. Evenings begin with drinks on the sand at sunset, move to open-air bars on the main road and, on the busy night of the week, end in a dance club playing reggaeton or electronic music. It is small and the crowd is much the same each night, but something is on most evenings.

Monteverde goes to bed early. A few Santa Elena bars serve a drink after dinner, but the real evening outing is a guided night walk for tree frogs and tarantulas, before an early start for the birds.

Both are strong nature destinations, but Monteverde has the more remarkable landscape. Its moss-hung cloud forest along the continental divide, protected in the Monteverde, Santa Elena and Children's Eternal Rainforest reserves, is the reason to come, with hanging bridges, canopy zip-lines, quetzals, bellbirds and dozens of hummingbird species.

Tamarindo's outdoors is coastal and active: surfing, diving at the Catalinas Islands, kayaking through mangroves full of herons and howler monkeys, and leatherback turtles nesting at Playa Grande in season. The surrounding dry forest turns brown from December, and for volcanic scenery you drive about two hours to Rincon de la Vieja.

Tamarindo has more to reach in a day. Guaitil, about 45 minutes inland, is a village of Chorotega-style potters with traditional kilns, Nicoya has one of the country's oldest colonial churches, and coastal towns such as Playas del Coco or Nosara make a change of scene, roads permitting.

From Monteverde there is very little, since the cloud forest is itself the excursion. Puntarenas is hardly worth the round trip, and Arenal and La Fortuna are three hours or more away, better treated as your next stop than as a day out.

Both work for families, but for different children. Monteverde suits school-age animal lovers, with butterfly gardens, frog exhibits, hanging bridges and torchlit night walks, though the cool, damp weather, steep wet trails and long drive up make it hard work with toddlers.

Tamarindo is the easier choice with younger children, as days revolve around the sea, gentle surf lessons, calm water at low tide and pools at many rentals. The catches are rip currents, the crocodile-filled estuary and late noise on the main strip, which is why families often stay at Langosta or Playa Grande.

Getting around is similar in both: small centres you can walk, with harder going beyond them. In Monteverde the effort is getting up the slow mountain road; once there, tour pick-ups, taxis and a small bus cover the reserves, so a car is unnecessary. Tamarindo is easy on foot along the sand and by golf cart or bicycle to Langosta, but reaching other beaches means shuttles, taxis or a rental car, ideally four-wheel drive in the wet season.

Tamarindo gives you a little more to browse, almost all of it for the beach, though in neither town would you set aside a day for shopping. In Monteverde the shops in Santa Elena sell souvenirs and outdoor gear, along with bags of coffee and chocolate grown nearby. The best thing to take home is embroidery from the women's artisan cooperative.

Tamarindo adds surf shops for boards, wetsuits and rash guards, small boutiques of swimwear and linen, and stalls with wooden carvings and Guaitil pottery. The pottery is better bought from the potters in the village itself.

Expect prices close to North American levels in either place, because Costa Rica is the costliest country in the region. The money just goes on different things. In Monteverde it is reserve entrances, the guide you need to spot wildlife, canopy tours, night walks and the shuttle up the mountain.

In Tamarindo it is resort-town hotels, beachfront meals, drinks and transport, since little beyond the town is reachable on foot. In both places, hostels and the local sodas keep a budget trip possible, and in Tamarindo the beach itself costs nothing.

You are a little more likely to come across live music in Tamarindo, though neither town has a theatre, a concert hall or a programme you could plan a trip around. In Monteverde it comes down to the odd evening of local musicians in a restaurant or bar and the occasional small community concert. Tamarindo has bands and acoustic sets in its beach bars and now and then fire dancers on the sand, while Guanacaste folk music and dance belong to the festivals in nearby Santa Cruz.

Tamarindo has more on offer for a restorative stay. Yoga studios hold daily classes, surf-and-yoga retreats are common, and massages range from beach tables to resort spas, while Langosta and Playa Grande give you quiet hammock days away from the noisy strip.

Monteverde's version of rest is simpler: cool misty air, birdsong at dawn, lodge balconies over the trees and early nights. Treatments are few, and for hot springs you need to move on to Arenal.