Going to Costa Rica. Take a board or rent?

[alex]

Christmas trip to Tamarindo. Can rent boards there for 20-25/day. Is it worth the hassel to carry my own board? I don't think it flies for free. anybody know about this?

[surf patrol]

Hi Alex, welcome to Surfing Waves.

I think that if you are going specifically for a surf trip then take your own board. What happens if you get there and the boards are all rented out, they are knackered or the rental shop has closed down - it puts a bit of a dampner on the trip.

Would anyone else consider hiring and not taking their own board?

[chris]

first thing you need to do is find out if there is an embargo at the time. if not i would suggest bring your own. you are familiar with your board. american airlines charges $70. taca $40. continental $100. each way for a bag. you would probably spend that much renting one.

[Guest]

Just got back from CR. Taca charged me $25 for one board. Didn't lose it or ding it. The selection of boards I saw around Playa Grande and Tamarindo was not too good. Some decent long boards but the short Boards were rather beat and fairly old. If you have a decent travel bag, take your own board!
Les

[Gustavo]

Take your board!!!
it will cost you less and it is YOUR board.

[guest]

Does anyone know how much united will change per bag?

Does size matter?

[NewWave]

Does anyone know how much it cost to buy a board in Tamarindo, and if it is easy to re-sell.

Me and a crew of five are headed there begining of May. Any advice on good uncrowed spot to hit up. Any advise on truck rentals too.

[richard]

Looking to buy/rent a board in San Jose for a two week trip on pacific coast, ideally be able to re-sell at the end. Any advice or recomendations on where/how to do this would be appreciated.

[oslo]

Looking to buy/rent a board in San Jose for a two week trip on pacific coast, ideally be able to re-sell at the end. Any advice or recomendations on where/how to do this would be appreciated.

Buying a board in SanJose is not a good idea. As a matter of fact, you shouldn't go there at all. I love SanJo, but with two weeks to spend you are best of heading straight to Jaco from the airport. The surf shop's in SanJo are pricy, and the selection is not good.

Jaco is the surf capitol of CR, and the natural start for a surf trip. Two days of booze, stripers and to get a board. You can even go surfing there. For a beginner, Jaco beach is almost OK. For 1000 - 1500 Colones (half price if you speak spanis) with a taxi, you are in Playa Hermosa. Great beach break, but it gets a bit shallow.

PS. remeber to buy an extra set of fin's, as the more rural shops (eg. Mal Pais\ Santa Theresa overcharge you for fins, as they know you are desperate if something happends.)

Jaco is also the natural place to end you're trip. Sell the board, either to a shop or to someone starting a trip. Expect to pay $ 100- $150 for a well used one, around 200- 250 for a decent one, and 420 for a new one. If you go to Chuck you can get a T&C or a merrick for a bit under 700. Some people say he is a scam...

Just ask if you wanna know something else. I spent 8 months down there all togheter.

Alexander.

[Richard]

Alexander, thanks for the advice.

One more question: How easy is it to find bigger boards 8'6" - 9'6"? I'd rather not bring my own board, and this is what I'm used to riding, so I want to make sure I'll be able to get my hands on one.

[oslo]

How easy is it to find bigger boards 8'6" - 9'6"?

I'm not a longboarder myself, but I know that the hot- dogs waves in Santa Theresa\ Mal Pais and Playa Nosara on the Nicoya Peninsula attracts loads of american longboarders.

If you ever go to Jaco, you could stay at Chuck's cabinas. Talk to Chuck. He goes out on his longboard every day, and had loads of info about CR(he might talk crap about other places, as he want's you to stay there forever...)

You will be able to rent longboard in either location, and you might get a nice price from someone going home. I haven't been in Nosara since '99, but I met the owner of coconut Surf in Nica last year, and he told me they had boards for rent\ sale.

AS for the question. Very easy. I believe Costa Rica is the most developed surf country south of the US.

[kampai]

I was wondering if there is a legit way, bus or whatever, that anyone would recomend taking to tamarindo from the San Jose airport. Three guys total, with fair spanish speakability...

much aprreciated...

-d

[Guest]

Jaco is also the natural place to end you're trip. Sell the board, either to a shop or to someone starting a trip. Expect to pay $ 100- $150 for a well used one, around 200- 250 for a decent one, and 420 for a new one.

Just ask if you wanna know something else. I spent 8 months down there all togheter.

Alexander.

Hi Alexander. I'm going to Costa Rica in 10 days. Me and my brothers are carrying 6 short boards total and would like to sell them all down there at the end of the trip. We will start the trip in Hermosa (4 days), then Dominical (4 days) then head back to San Jose to catch the plane back home.

Given our itinerary, what are our best choices to sell the boards? We can sell some of them in Hermosa in the first days, but the last 3 will have to be sold at the end of the trip. If there's a place in Dominical, that would be PERFECT! If not, is it worth driving back to Hermosa just to sell them before heading to San Jose? 3 of those are new (we'll only use them those days down there), 2 are almost new and one is older, how much do you think we can get for those?

Thank you so much in advance.