Thank you for visiting ‘Tank Tops Flip Flops’

Hola! Welcome to Paradise. My name is Michael Simons, the Owner of Tres Amigos Realty, established in 2003, with offices in Playa Hermosa, Playas del Coco and Playa Panama.

The majority of people interested in buying real estate in Costa Rica tend to have many of the same questions so I took the time to answer them in detail here in a fun and informative way. This site contains a tremendous amount of information for you and allows me to express my views and pass along wisdom gained while living and doing business in the tropics. Hope you can join us. Pura Vida!

I will respond to your questions immediately with an email or personal phone call.

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First Annual Howler Open Charity Golf Tournament

Written by Michael Simons on September 23, 2026. Posted in Costa Rica Charity, Costa Rica Living, EX PATS in Costa Rica, Golf Costa Rica, Newsletters

Somewhere Between a Birdie and a Mulligan…

Introducing the First Annual HOWLER OPEN, happening Sunday, December 13, 2026, at Tres Volcanes Golf Club.

SAVE THE DATE

And before anybody gets too excited, yes, there will actually be golf.

But this is not just another day of chasing a little white ball around 18 holes while insisting that the next shot is definitely going to be the one that turns things around.

The Howler Open is a Charity Golf Tournament & Community Fiesta benefiting International Animal Rescue Costa Rica and the Nosara Wildlife Rescue Center.

Tank Tops Flip Flops Newsletter edition no. 255

International Animal Rescue (IAR) Costa Rica—formerly known as the Refuge for Wildlife—is a non-profit organization that provides 24-hour emergency rescue, specialized veterinary hospital care, and rehabilitation for injured, orphaned, and displaced native wildlife across the Nicoya Peninsula. The sanctuary, based in Nosara, treats species like sloths, anteaters, and birds, with a primary focus on howler monkeys suffering from habitat loss and electrical line shocks. Through its proactive “Stop the Shocks” campaign, IAR works to insulate local power lines and install canopy bridges while offering a lifelong sanctuary for animals unable to return to the wild. They work closely with the Local Salve Monos Group in the Papagayo Area.

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The Howler Turns 30: Three Decades of Telling the Costa Rica Story

Written by Michael Simons on September 10, 2026. Posted in Buying and Selling Property in Costa Rica, Costa Rica Living, EX PATS in Costa Rica, Newsletters, Papagayo Region, Tres Amigos Realty Group

The Howler Turns 30: Three Decades of Telling the Costa Rica Story

There are certain publications that become more than just magazines or websites. Over time, they become part of the fabric of the place they cover, a record of the people, businesses, changes and stories that help define a community. In Guanacaste, The Howler is one of those publications.

We have had the pleasure of being part of that story ourselves. In early 2021, Tres Amigos Realty Group and Tank Tops Flip Flops began a marketing partnership with The Howler as it was making the transition from its traditional print magazine to a digital, online-only publication. It was an interesting moment for a publication that had spent nearly 25 years putting ink on paper, but it also turned out to be the beginning of an entirely new chapter.

Tank Tops Flip Flops Newsletter edition no. 254

Now, as The Howler celebrates its 30th anniversary, we thought it was worth taking a look back at just how far this particular piece of Guanacaste history has come.