Getting ready to hit the surf!
Our little apartment in Nosara, Costa Rica is just down the street from a fun little beach break called Playa Guiones. The waves here are fun; it is generally a user-friendly wave that picks up pretty much any swell in the Pacific. On any given day you’ll find the lineup scattered with local rippers busting airs on the inside sections, longboarder ex-pats waiting outside for the big sneaker set waves, and plenty of aspiring surfers and groms getting acquainted with the ocean, standing up on foam boards on the inside white wash. The wave itself is incredibly consistent yet seldom epic, at least in my experience over the past several weeks. Every day we’ve had plenty of surf, yet conditions this time of year tend to be mixed-up with daytime onshore winds and near shore swells caused by the frequent rainstorms just off the coast. In just two weeks there have been a handful of decent swells offering up well overhead surf, which can be quite tiresome to negotiate as there are no real channels offering an easy paddle-out at this beach.
Didn’t quite make that little section.
One of the great things we’ve found about Costa Rica, and Playa Guiones in particular, is how kind all of the people are, both locals and tourists. One example of this are the great guys at Surfing Nosara, a local real estate shop. As a sort of promotional side-business, they send photographers down to the beach every morning, big lenses and tripods in tow, to take photos of everyone down at the beach. Then they come back to their office, process the photos, and save the high-res versions to give away for free to surfers who stop by the office with a USB stick. They also put up a daily surf report featuring photos taken during the morning session. You can check this all out at SurfingNosara.com.
Big wave @ Playa Guiones
I’m looking forward to exploring more of the surrounding areas. I have heard good things about breaks to the north and south – Ostional is about a 20 minute drive north, and Camaronal is a few hours south. Both are heavier than the wave here at Guiones, but being a solo surfer with no car it’s a challenge to get to these spots, not to mention the fear of paddling out alone at a new break.
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Pura Vida!
