SURFING: COSTA RICA

For a dedicated surfer searching for the perfect wave, Costa Rica is the place. Costa Rica boasts both a Pacific and a Caribbean coast, some of the biggest and most consistent year-round surf. The most efficient way to take advantage of the surf in Costa Rica is to pick one or two towns to use as your home base and use your rental car by day to explore the nearby breaks. As most breaks are located within less than an hour drive from your home base (and over half are located within 10 minutes), this will allow you more time in the water and less time on the road. Whatever your level of expertise, Costa Rican beaches have something for you.

Caribbean Surfing: The Caribbean has fewer breaks than the Pacific, but still offers great surfing during winter and spring. Waves are short yet powerful rides with sometimes Hawaiian-style radical waves. Occasionally massive swells sweep over the coral reefs, creating demanding tubes. You'll also experience exciting offshore cloud breaks, reef breaks, point breaks, and more than 80 km of beach breaks. Just north of Playa Bonita is Potrete, with a hollow right break at the south end of a small bay. Farther south there are innumerable short breaks at Cahuita. Puerto Viejo has the biggest rideable waves in Costa Rica (up to seven meters at times). The mecca for surfers is Salsa Brava. One expert recommends avoiding the Tortuguero region, where sharks are abundant. The best time is late May through early September (hurricane season) and December-March (when Atlantic storms push through the Caribbean, creating three-meter swells).

Pacific Coast Surfing: The Pacific Northwest offers more than 50 prime surf spots. The best time is during the rainy season (May-October), when the surf can build to three meters; there are large offshore winds throughout the dry season (November-April), but the waves are smaller. Tamarindo is the surfing capital, with lots of good surf spots within a short driving distance; it also offers good hotels and is an excellent jumping-off place for a surf safari south to more isolated beaches. Hot spots such as Witch's Rock at Playa Naranjo (one of the best beach breaks in the country, with strong offshore winds December-March) require 4WD or boat for access. You can rent a boat from Playa del Coco and other beach resorts for visits to Naranjo and Potrero Grande. Just north of Tamarindo is Playa Grande, with a five-km-long beach break acclaimed as Costa Rica's most accessible consistent break. There's fine surfing the whole way south from Tamarindo, including at Avellanas, with a "very hollow" beach break called "Guanacasteco," and breathtakingly beautiful Playa Negra, a narrow beach with fast waves breaking over a coral - and urchin - encrusted shelf-definitely for experts only when the waves are big. Continuing south you'll find Nosara, Samara, Camaronal, Coyote, Manzanillo, and Mal Pais, all with good surf, lively action, and several surf camps.

Central Pacific Surfing: March through June are good. The best time, however, is during the heart of the rainy season (July-December) when the Caribbean dies down and conditions along the central Pacific create a full spectrum of kilometer- long lefts, reef breaks, and powerful beach breaks. Central PacIfic surfing centers on Jaco, though the waves really appeal to beginners and intermediates. Farther south lie Playa He (known as Boom Boom Beach to the Iocals) which has miles of expert beach breaks and an international contest every August.

Southern Pacific Surfing: The Osa Peninsula am Golfo Dulce have many virgin surfing beaches. Getting there in rainy season can be problematic but this does not stop diehards who arrive in droves. Then the waves are at their grandest, and.. long left point can offer a three-minute ride.

More information can be obtained from the following websites

www.crsurf.com
www.latinsurf.com
www.surfcostarica.com
www.costaricasurfingtravelguide.com

Much of the information on our site as it relates to Costa Rica is:

Courtesy of Christopher P. Baker and Avalon Travel Publishing.
© 2004 Christopher P. Baker. All Rights Reserved.

Spanish Abroad, Inc. highly recommends Christopher P. Baker's book: Moon Handbooks Costa Rica. Click on the image to visit his website where you can purchase this book or find out more about the author.