buying a board in CR, but......

[BCspicoli]

hey guys

i plan on going to CR this summer, near july. im going the be there for about 6 weeks i presume, and im going to buy my first board (wont need to use my sisters board anymore!). the thing is, im not super good at surfing yet, but the only thing im lacking is the paddling speed and getting my takeoffs consistent. once im up i can shred pretty decent. ive surfed probably about 12-15 times, but all spread out over 3 years. ive wakesurfed a bunch, ive been snowboarding since i was 11 (im 20 btw), and im pretty athletic and i pick up quick. i dont want to buy a board and outgrow it in 2-3 weeks and have to sell it and buy a new one all over again. is that my only option? just sell and buy another?

my sisters board is a 7 foot gerry lopez hybrid, seems like it doesnt carry me at all and when i paddle i go nowhere. i wanna try a wider thicker board, maybe even shorter than 7' if im feeling ambitious.

oh i weigh 185 @ 5'9" (im a stocky hockey player haha, i plan to burn off the beer once i get back in the gym this summer so i can paddle myself!)

[dennis_lv]

Hey mate,

I've just came back from CR and had the best holiday of my life ... so far. I does make sense to buy a board in CR as prices are almost twice as less than in UK. I went there with my own board, but after renting few demo boards from the local surf shop in Jaco (WOW SURF) I could not resist and bought a second hand Al Merrick M13. You see, I've also got a bit of puddle problem and 8'0 M13 happened to work for me very well. You can pick up waves almost as early if you were riding a long board, but at the same time you can duck dive it when paddling out. As a cheaper alternative to CI M13 you can get Anacapa Bandit board, range from 7'0 to 8'0.
You can also contact jethrodog for more info - I believe he leaves somewhere not far from Jaco and he's more familiar with local prices (he helped by advising few things when I was planning my trip to CR).
Good luck

[BCspicoli]

finally some info! thanks alot man, i'll look into that. ill probably rent a 6-10 at first and see how i do, then decide if i want a 7 or 7-2ish or buy a shorter one. ill get a hold of jethrodog too,

thanks again!!