What are your thoughts on having a stranger in a foreign country rub your nearly naked body in public for over an hour?

Well I am ALL over it!

After two weeks in Tamarindo, I finally felt like I hit my vacation “groove”. I figured I would heighten my new found sense of relaxation by indulging in a beach front massage.

As I’ve mentioned, we’re on a budget, but we each have our own “fun” money set aside. Since Shaun has been enjoying his moola with a surfboard, I figured I should jump on the band wagon.

You don’t have to go far on Tamarindo beach to find someone willing to give you a massage, in fact, it’s hard to avoid the lovely ladies, nestled in the trees yelling out to you “massage, massage, good price good price”

I had spent some time scoping out the services, and the standard price seemed to be $40 per hour. Pretty impressive since back home, you are looking at about $100. All of the set ups offered a variety of techniques including Swedish, reflexology etc…

Now, I’m not massage picky at all. In fact, if I can get Shaun just to push on my back while he watches football, I’m in heaven. So, when I stumbled across two women offering 1.5 hours for $40, I was sold.

I would assume that most people know what a massage is like, so I won’t go into great detail, but I have developed a list of tips for travellers who want to get the most out of this vacation luxury

1. You are on a public beach, so people will be watching you. Take this into account when you choose the bathing suit you will wear.
2. To follow up on this point, there will be likely be times where your legs will be splayed like a trip to the gyno. Embrace it!
3. Your bottoms will stay on, but your top will come off. After my first surfing trek, I am pretty open to public nip slips, but the women are surprisingly adept at maintaining your modesty.
4. You are outdoors, bugs, branches, leaves and other identified things will fall on you. Don’t worry, If it’s gross, they’ll flick it off.
5. People will walk by and watch you during your euphoric moment. It doesn’t matter, your eyes are closed. Make some moaning sounds to help your lady get more business when she’s done.
6. If there is a knot, they will find it. Oh, I wasn’t aware my inner thighs were tight. Thank you for rubbing them.

I highly suggest getting your massage once you’ve hit the vacation groove. There is nothing like having a relaxed mind while in a relaxing state.

This is what I saw when I opened my eyes after 1.5 hours.

Now, I would not be a good travel blogger if I didn’t mention the safety aspects of getting a beach massage.

• Watch your personal items. All things considered, Tamarindo is a fairly safe place, but there is petty theft.  My bag was under the table, and I made sure that there wasn’t anything valuable in it.
• Be especially careful with jewelry. It can be very easy to slip a ring off when you are greased up, half asleep and getting your hands rubbed. If you have a big ole rock you’re worried about, leave it at home.
• If you have injuries, go elsewhere. Not all of these beach front places have registered massage therapists. If you have a specific injury that you need dealt with, check out the local spa.
• When you are done, get the heck outta dodge. You are greased up like a slab of bacon, and if you linger in the sun, you my friend, will fry. Get back to the hotel and shower and scrub off the oil before heading back out. (or have a big greasy siesta like I did!)
• Drink water! Just like any massage, you need to drink lots of water afterwards, but especially so since you’ve baking in the sun throughout!

The view from my table

What are you vacation massage experiences??

Pura Vida!

Kate
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