Comments...

comment by Anonymous, 2009-10-24 10:15:39

@ Anna about Samara and travel advice

Anna -

I went in December '08 with my younger brother for two weeks and we went all over the country. I am fluent in Spanish (I lived in Costa Rica for more than a year and a half) and I hope you are as well because it will make the trip much easier for you.

We stayed in Samara for a few days and I would say that Samara is a good place to learn how to surf. There is a reef out a ways at the entrance of the bay that keeps the waves on the smaller side. Almost all beaches in Costa Rica have no life guards so you need to be smart about things when you are out in the water. Rip currents (resaca) were not bad when we were in Samara (in fact a current was hardly noticeable), but be sure you study up on how to notice a rip if you are just learning. Board rentals run about $20 a day (which kinda sucks because you can rent them in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu for $10), and there are lessons available in Samara. Samara is very out of the way though and they don't have a grocery store (closest one is in Nicoya) so you will have to buy food at either a soda (mom & pop restaurants they have all over the country) or a pulperia/abastecedor (convenience store).

This is a great site to know when the peak times of the year are for different regions of the country http://www.surf-costarica.com/surfing-best-time-of-year.shtml

Since I am in college we took a tent to save money and there are many places around where people will allow you to camp on their property so you have access to running water, shower, toilet, etc. If you are looking at saving money I would recommend this as the hosts will often offer you food for purchase. In Samara the place you can camp is called Bar Aloha which is about 25m N of the Banco Nacional (ask the police at the station right next to the beach at the end of the road into town for directions if you need help)

We brought a tent with us, but I think that if anyone wanted to do any kind of tent camping you could go to a HiperMas and get a tent. HiperMas is actually owned by Wal-Mart and you can get all sorts of things there. We even found a certain type of gas cartridge for the stove that we took.

Don't count on hotels like you would see in the US to be all over the country. They are mainly in the capital and tourist areas on the pacific coast such as Tamarindo and Jaco.

If you plan on renting a car take a taxi to the rental agency as there is an outrageous fee they charge for the pick-up at the airport, and do not take any of the drivers up on offers to rent you a car (we had a guy do this and offered $350 for a 4Runner but we ended up screwing up the rental on the last day of the trip near the Nauyaca waterfalls - Joe Taxi driver isn't going to go out to help you in a tow truck so stick with the agencies).

I will warn you right now that driving in Costa Rica is a very irritating activity. The roads are not large enough to handle the amount of traffic there is in the capital and country roads can get bogged down by small farming trucks. Potholes are all over the place and tend to be worse on the Caribbean side of the country - though the roads in Guanacaste are better than any of the other roads in the country.

Ticos (Costa Ricans) are wonderful people. They generally like Americans and are friendly and hospitable. It is the safest Central American country, but I don't know if I would travel by myself if I were a female. You may have experience traveling already so regardless I hope you have a great trip.

This response is already a freaking novel so feel free to contact me if you have any other questions and anyone else who has questions about traveling to wonderful Costa Rica. My email is mvhs_dynasty[at]yahoo.com

Good luck and have an awesome trip!

chau

comment by Johnny_K , 2009-07-25 23:05:03

Planning a surfing trip and wanting yo meet such a country
Hey Ticos! I'm from Argentina. I'm planning to visit Costa Rica in january with some friends. The idea is meeting the country as much as we can, meeting great spots for surfing and having a great time but saving as much money as we can. We dont need great hotels and stuff like this. Just wanna surf, trip and have fun.
I really appreciate any kind of help. If you are about to come to Argentina do not forget to ask me! I'm gonna help you as much as I can! TXS you all!

comment by Crazytubes00 , 2009-06-04 12:00:44

Costa Rica nov- jan
Finally after 5 years of wanting to go i will have a 70 day trip in CR from mid nov to late Jan. im a kiwi now living in west australia .Areas i want to surf are Mal Pais, matapalo, puerto viejo, jaco dominical, pavones and bocas del toro panama for ten days. Will be travelling on the lonesome and really just wanting any advice/ tips possible. have i covered the country and spots well? is it easy to travel by bus with a surf board? can i buy a decent board in mal pais as this will be my first spot. Any one wanna join the experience?? email me at o_hara_steven@hotmail.com, peace stevo

comment by Anonymous, 2009-03-20 22:29:03

Surfing Costa Rica in November??
Looks like the only time of work I can get this year is in November.

Any idea where to go last three weeks of november?

comment by fred, 2009-03-20 14:43:12

samara & pav + ollies
Hi Anna! I am pretty sure you will have a wonderfull time there! And there is no better place in the world to learn to surf than in Costa Rica! Samara ia a very good surf beach you will have good waves everyday! Make sure you travel all over the contry, and visit the vulcanos and museus too, costa rica is amazing. The anonimouys guy here who wants to go to pav and ollie, it is ok, but to travel form pav to extrem north you will spend a whole day or maybe two days, you can do it by bus, car or plane, and you have to plan itright, there is a ferry boat to get in pavones, you gotta know the departure times, also to get to ollie you need arrange a trip with some boat, there is a limited number of boats that can go there, so it is around u$300 a trip for 5 people, and you will visit witches rock too. it really worth!!

comment by Anonymous, 2009-03-18 17:04:54

Surfing in Samara
Hey, my name is Anna, I am 18 and I am going to spend 5 months in Costa Rica. For sure I'd like to surf, but I'v never done before...

Does anybody if surfing in Samara (that's in Guancaste) is possible?

if you have any other informations about surfing or trippin' in costa rica please let me know. My mail is anna@weissensteiner.at

THANX! :)

comment by ofragata , 2009-02-13 00:22:56

trip to costa rica
I am heading to Costa Rica on June and plan to stay for 8 days and wanted to surf pavones and ollies point, although they are in the extermes. Is it doable?

comment by Anonymous, 2008-12-27 06:00:46

HELP MEEEEEEEE
Hey, Im a 16 year old girl from virginia. We dont get waves bigger than 5ft on a once a month day. Usually its about 2-3. (Hurricanes bring in nice swells like 10ft maybe)
Im planning a trip with my older brother and friend who are pretty good and would like to surf big. Me on the other hand, i do not want to get drilled. Im a little hesitant about steep waves. Where are some good spots where the waves arnt too big but a small tube is available and are not over REEF!
Also should i bring a board or buy a board there?
Im planning on bringing just a little backpack with a couple bathing suits and cash.
Could we crash on the beach?
Anywhere thats not packed and maybe a little hidden would be sweet.
Anyway thanks for any info!
Email me at: lizxoxo467@yahoo.com

comment by steve , 2008-12-02 13:21:50

cheap accomodation
hey does anyone know of any cheapish accomodation in tamarindo. am planning a trip for the end of march, the surf camps are all expensive and i wanted to know if there are any cheap hostels or shacks to stay in in this area. If you do contact me at nattydread@hotmail.co.uk

Cheers guys

comment by Anonymous, 2008-11-27 14:06:50

north swells hit costarica?
hello
pllaning goign there next week. no south swell activity but there is a solid norht swell coming in. does someone no if north swells hit costa rica? thanks a lot