surfing costa rica

We are going to Tamarindo the begining of january and im just wondering where the best breaks are. Or if there's any other highlights that are a must.

Avellanas and playa negra

Is Tamarindo on the Pacific side?

yep, west coast

Take a boat to Witches Rock. I've surfed the rivermouth in Tamarindo and caught it really good. Check out wannasurf.com. Or rovercam.com.

Also, just north of Tamarindo is Playa Grande. That place goes off. In early January, I think you're going to have mostly offshore winds. I have a few friends that have been around that time and got really good surf.

I'm jealous!

We stayed with these guys and they took us everywhere we wanted to go, twice a day, packed lunch, beer, drove, watched our stuff, took pictures, etc. http://www.witchsrocksurfcamp.com/

The Witches/Ollies point boat ride (playa del coco) is a must, and if you can afford it, and the winds aren't too strong (the popagayos can blow too hard offshore to even surf), just do that every day. The other breaks are good, but Ollies and Witches are just insanely good.

The surf is usually pretty small in Tamarindo itself, but directly north of it is Playa Grande, which can be an awsome beach break when it's on. I've gotten some of the best barrels of my life there. I think you can actually walk to it, if you cross the river on the beach at the north end of town... otherwise, it's about a 20 minute drive because you have to drive inland to find the nearest bridge.

Oh, and if you're inclined to do some travelling, the best surf in the region can be found just to the north of Costa Rica, in Nicaragua. Hit up these guys for tours there: http://www.quiksilvertravel.com/nicaragua/
Eberly's an old shaper dude from North County San Diego, and he's got a pretty good crew. We like them alot.

We are wanting to go to Nicaragua in the near future. Thanks for that link.

Thanks everyone, I have heard witches rock is excellent. Just wanted a few more opinions.

Since this is the wakesurfing forum, and Manitoba isn't known for its surfing... Unless you are a pretty decent surfer (in the ocean), Witches Rock will be very intimidating, and would honestly be a waste of time and money to plan to go there. If you're a novice, I'd recommend hanging around Tamarindo until you get the hang of it. There is a lot more to surfing in the ocean than wakesurfing. Tamarindo's waves (from the estuary down to Langosta) and an 8'+ board are a perfect setup to learn to surf.

I love visiting Avellanas - great food, friendly people, and Lola the pig - but the waves close out quickly there. Reminds me a lot of Jaco, just not much fun to ride IMO.

Fun but sad witches story: I got off the boat at witches on a nice overhead day, paddled straight in for the best standup barrel of my life, paddled back out, and noticed that there was nobody else out except me and the 2 other touristas that came on the boat with me. I told one of the other dudes that the drop wasn't as bad as it looked, then I caught another perfect wave. As I was paddling back out with a huge smile on my face, I watched him attempt the drop on his 8 foot "fun board" (whatever the heck that is!). It didn't look to me like he was having too much fun on it. He took gas, coming down with the lip of a nicely overhead left, his 8-foot-egg-with-a-fancy-name by his side. The howling offshore winds really made it dramatic, hanging him up at the top until the wave just drained out over the sandbar below. You could really feel the energy as it broke. Next thing I know, he's back on the boat, and "el capitan" is signaling for us to all paddle back to the boat "tan grande... demasiado del currienta" or something like that. Day over! We left the empty witches lineup to hang with 40 longboarders at Ollies. I only got like 3 waves at witches before we left.

Anyway, if it's going to be 6 foot or under, witches is a fine beginner break. In fact, that's all you'll see there typically, beginners... If it's a bit overhead and the papagao (sp) wind is howling, you better not paddle an 8'0" egg, or "fun board", into the lineup, or you're gonna take gas. Bring a board that's built for real waves.


(Message edited by Monkey on December 29, 2007)