Costa Rice trip 07

[supertuber]

I am heading to costa rica for june and july. Any info would be cool.

Whats kind of daily buget is needed?
Is getting away from busy areas easy?

Peace

[libby]

Come on guys and girls, Phil and Kitesurfer especially, you must know the deal with Costa.

The guy posting this is a surf bud of mine so if you could help him out i'd be really grateful....

Plleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaase

[northswell]

Never surfed there but if i were to go i'd buy a guide book. This is supposed to be good.
https://surfing-waves.com/Browse/sur ... el-guides/

I know a guy whose surfing his way round the world at the moment and i think he's headed down there from Mexico so will pass on any tips if he divulges them.

[kitesurfer]

Come on guys and girls, Phil and Kitesurfer especially, you must know the deal with Costa.

The guy posting this is a surf bud of mine so if you could help him out i'd be really grateful....

Plleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaase

But Libby you allways accuse me of stalking ur friends.
Unfortunatley as much as i would like to help as yet i know nothing about costa rica other than it has good surf and that im going there sometime in may, which of course you will all get to hear about....

Sorry but at the mo i really don't have any info. Phil?

KS

[libby]

Kitey you suck!

[fiend]

I'm heading down for three weeks in March. I'll try to remember to post advice here when I get back.

[kitesurfer]

Kitey you suck!

So u've said b4....

KS

[libby]

BOOOOO why are you stalking me with rich tea biscuits???

Your behind the times, i only had 2 biccies last night. You should change your avatar to pancakes now

[supertuber]

Thanks fiend, let me know how it goes. Good waves.

[jethrodog]

I just got back from 3 weeks in CR. If you can give me more specific questions as to what you want to know I would be happy to help in any way I can.

[supertuber]

You get good waves??

Looking for any info really. Where did you surf?? Was getting to more remote breaks ok or did you have to hire 4x4?? What are the prices of everyday stuff, accomodation, food, drinks etc?? Was it easy to get around? Any place to avoid?

I go in june till august so this time of year the majority of swell is on the pacific coast.

Thanks for you reply, hopefully hear from you soon.

[jethrodog]

Hey Supertuber. Sorry it took so long to answer, been too busy trying to mop up the mess my business turned into while I was gone on vacation.

I surfed 2 areas this trip, Mal Pais and Jaco/Playa Hermosa. Both really good. Mal Pais had better waves but the access to it is horrible. The ferry to Paquera was down and we had to take the Naranjo ferry and then drive the extra distance to Paquera. It was brutal. 37km and it usually takes 2 hours to drive. I had full insurance on the rental so I did it in just under an hour.
If you go to Mal Pais/Nicoya Peninsula definately get a 4x4. I actually recommend it all the time, but if yoou stick to a place like Jaco you don't really need it. But, you are going in the wet season, and 99% of the roads are dirt, so if you plan on driving much then I would plan on getting a 4x4. If you go to just 1 area and stay there the whole time, don't bother with the car rental. Take a bus or shuttle, they are cheap.
Cost? Well, it can be pretty cheap or somewhat expensive, depending on where you stay, go to eat, extra activities, etc. For example, in MalPais we stayed at The Place Hotel. Nice place, A/C, awesome pool, great people, good price I thought for $40 USD a night. But, if you are staying for an extended time then that would get expensive quick. You can stay at the Cabinas El Carmen for $8 USD per night, kinda hostel/dorm style. Or you can rent a house if you have friends going with you. You can eat at Itauna and it will cost you about $10-$20 for dinner depending on if you drink, but you can get an omelette at the Soda beside the El Carmen Cabinas for $1.20 USD. They are good too. Or fried chicken for $2 USD.
Jaco is generally expensive, as CR goes. Hard to find cheap accomodation anymore. But they have an awesome Inca restaurant there, at Herradura. If you have a vehicle stop at a hotel in one of the small towns nearby, like Tarcoles. They cost almost nothing.
You can find surf anywhere, almost. If you can get to the coast, you will find something. My favorite this trip was Playa Hermosa. Always something breaking, 7 kms of beach so you can always find something uncrowded, thumping waves that broke 2 peoples boards as I watched. Take your short boards to Mal Pais and Hermosa, short or long in Jaco or Esterillos Oeste.
There are lots of other places than these two. Dominical is great surfing but really bad rips. I don't bother to go that far south. Tamarindo has some of the best surfing, but it is really busy now, most expensive place to go to in CR. Thousands of spots in between that are worth checking out.
Don't know if there is anything else you want to know. If you ask some more specific questions I can answer them for you.
I bought a place in CR, about 20 minutes north of Jaco. We stayed at it for 11 days this trip. I am moving there in July to start renovating one of the houses, the wife is coming in September. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help with your trip.

[supertuber]

Thanks for that. My plan is to head to NW, surf ollie's point and witches rock then work my way down the coast. Want to spend most my time between tamarindo and jaco but want to go to pavones, the left point down south. I am on my own so hiring a 4x4 may be difficult as won't be able to afford it. Will head over to the other side for last week just to have a look around.

I'm just taking a 6'4 shortboard. Think i will suit most breaks.

Thanks again for your info and maybe see you in a line up in july.

Good waves

[squid]

Supertuber,

Go south. Go to Pavones. I surfed down in CR back in 99' up in Tamarindo, Boca Barranca, Jaco, Playa/Hermosa, Esterillos, etc. At the end of my trip, I decided not to make the drive to Pavones because I heard the roads were absolutely horrible. And it's an 8-hour drive to boot. Anyway, I went to do some sightseeing and went to volcano Arenal (awesome by the way). When I flew out a couple of days later, I hooked up with a couple of surfers at the San Jose airport and they had just gotten back from Pavones. They said that everything you've read about it, or heard about it is all true. The best left handed point break in the world. I was really bummed that I didn't make the journey since I was already down there, but there you have it.

Good luck and journey safe.

[jethrodog]

Haven't been down there yet, never seem to have time. But they do have the new highway in now and it is all paved so the drive time has been cut down signifcantly. It is on my list for this fall. But I have heard from some locals that it is a fierce line up out there, lots of possesive locals that aren't the sharing type. Bah, who cares, heard it's worth it anyways.

[supertuber]

Always waves about, why do locals get like that....LOL. Will check it out, looks so good to miss. Thanks for all your info.

[costaricasurf]

Hey Supertuber,

I have been travelling and surfing down here in Costa Rica for about 8 years now, and I have to say that you will want to stay as long as you can to get the most out of your trip. Getting around is difficult during the rainy season, but I find it to be part of the fun. It's not that busy during this time of year and if you head off the beaten path you will catch waves with just you and your friends.

I live in Tamarindo, which is one of the busiest places on the coast and I get waves all to myself just by paddling across the rivermouth. Here is another tip. During the rainy season, it usually stays pretty glassy all day, but when the storms come in the winds begin to blow offshore. The nice thing is that most people hide from the rain. I guess to keep from getting wet.

Tamarindo is not off the beaten path, but is a fun place to hang and is the only place around that has any nightlife. Although, the surf in Tamarindo is not the best it does get really fun. The nice thing about this place is that it is centrally located near some of the best surf in Costa Rica. From here you can get to Playa Langosta, Playa Grande, Playa Avellanas, Little Hawaii, Playa Negra, Junquillal and Marbella just to name a few. The reason why Tamarindo has become so popular with surfers is that there are so many quality breaks nearby, many that you have never heard of because the locals want to keep it that way. This is also the home to Witch´s Rock Surf Camp, which provides guided boat tours to Witch's Rock and Ollies Point.

I have surfed most of the spots in Costa Rica and have to agree that Pavones is something you don't want to miss if the swell is running. It is a journey to get down there though. So, keep that in mind if you only have a short time to stay. It is not really open to a lot of swell and needs a strong direct south swell to be all-time.

Costa Rica is no longer the cheap surf destination it once was, but you can still find reasonably good deals if you look around. Budgets can range from under $40 per day (including meals) to well over $300. It just depends on what type of accommodations you choose and how extravagant your meals are.

Here is the typical pricing:

$70 to $120 = Rental Car (per day)
$5 to $10 = Meals (per meal)
$30 to $250 = Accommodations (per day / double occupancy)

I'm don't think you would need them, but for those that do here are some additional costs:

$10 to $20 = Surfboard Rental (per day)
$25 to $50 = Surfing Lessons (per day


Pura Vida,

Colin

[glisserscrew]

hey guys, pretty amazing source of knowledge here, v. cool...
Me and some friends of mine have started to build a directory of surf accommodations around the world, to make it easier to find that perfect place to stay when you're out traveling: . Would be awesome if you had some time over to add places you've stayed at. There are some places in Costa Rica already listed in the directory, but pretty sure you know many more...
Take care / Nils