From where you get off the bus, at the bottom of the hill, you can see pretty much the entire centre of "town". Chico's Bar is straight ahead, as is the grocery store and the souvenir shop. To the right are two of the village's places for health-food and smoothies, the Sano Banano and the Soda Monte Sol .

Nearly everyone in town claims to be able to fix you up with tours. On the main drag, the helpful multilingual people at Aventuras de Montezuma (tel & fax 642-0050, avenzuma@racsa.co.cr ) have the largest range of tours, services and information in town, including trips to Isla Tortuga (US$40) and horse-riding on the beach and to local waterfalls (US$25). They also have an Internet café, international phone service, arrange car and motorbike rental, sell tickets for Travelair flights from Tambor to San José, and have information on current bus, ferry and flight times to and from Montezuma.

In the centre of the village, the Montezuma Expeditions kiosk rents out bicycles and motorbikes, and offers full-day trips to Isla Tortuga (US$40; including breakfast and time for snorkelling); diving trips (US$80, including equipment rental); four-hour horse-rides to waterfalls (US$25); and boat transfers to Jacó - though this can be a rough ride. They also arrange transfers to Cabo Blanco reserve and act as the local Sansa agent for flights to Tambor. The Sano Banano , adjacent to Aventuras de Montezuma, has an Internet café above its restaurant with satellite connection for about US$3 for thirty minutes.

Chico's shop, next to the bar and grocery store of the same name, sells sunscreen, film, clothing and telephone cards, which you can use in the telephones outside (if the lines are working). There's a laundry next to the Sano Banano , while for nice souvenirs , head to El Jardín gift shop (in the hotel of the same name). For newspapers and a lending library, try Librería Topsy, about 20m before the entrance to the beach. Some businesses in town close down between noon or 1pm and 4pm. Almost everyone seems to change dollars, or will accept travellers' cheques (but will give you a rate slightly below that of the banks). Still, it's best to bring some colones - you'll certainly need them for the bus and the ferry or lancha.