Costa Rica on 9¢/day
Written by: Graham Bondt

Costa Rica has long been a favourite destination for North American surfers and a trip there is almost a rite of passage for the un-traveled. The country offers warm water, consistent surf and an overall friendly atmosphere. It also offers much more than surf and a trip there should include at least a cursory glance at what else the country has to offer in order to fully appreciate its beauty and diversity. This is what we had planned to do on a twelve day trip in the middle of a Canadian winter experiencing some serious lack of usually reliable winter swells. Our trip would take us from San Jose north to La Fortuna to see the Arenal volcano, then west to Santa Elena to hike in the cloud forest. After that we would continue west onto the Nicoya peninsula first to Avellanas and then a high speed burn south to Santa Teresa where we could relax for a few days and enjoy our time out of the cold.

The area around La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano is rife with things to do, which is a good thing because the chances of actually seeing the famed volcano's eruptions are relatively slim. Our time there was spent hiking in the rain near the foot of the volcano and willing the clouds to disperse just long enough to see the peak. This was not to be. Our second day in the country was spent driving around Lake Arenal, Costa Rica's largest, to Santa Elena where we would hike through the cloud forest. This road, while quite good and very scenic along the lake, degrades into some of the worst driving I've ever experienced. Potholes could no longer be called potholes as they were large enough to swallow our rental truck. Places where most of the road was washed down the adjacent cliff were nicely marked with a stick and plastic bag warning of the danger that lay beneath our wheels. There were also several tourist information centres located conveniently close to road signs with directional arrows knocked off. I refused to enter to ask directions as a matter of principle of course. Besides, there are only so many choices and when in doubt, there was the crude map we bought from a young boy in the middle of the street after our first wrong turn. Apparently that one is frequently missed.

We arrived in Santa Elena no worse for wear and immediately set out to hike in the cloud forest. Despite its moniker it was actually very clear, however if the clouds weren't going to obstruct our view, the extremely dense foliage would. We rarely saw anything that wasn't on the path directly in front of us or leaping through nearby trees. Despite our bumbling through the forest without a trained guide (which is a good idea to hire), we did manage to see some pretty spectacular things up close. With soggy shoes and sore feet, I was getting a little antsy to dip my feet in the warm Pacific, so we headed next to Avellanas. But first we had to endure more of the same roads we had just driven in on.

Despite feeling jostled and tired from the seemingly continuous driving, we were finally on our way to Avellanas. But first we had to stop in Tamarindo where I was going to buy a surfboard. My original plan was to take my boards with me, however after determining that checking surfboards with Continental Airlines would cost more than two hundred dollars, I decided to buy a board down there and then re-sell it before I left. This way I could save myself the hassle of dinging my own boards on the way down and maybe come out a little ahead. I just had to find a board that was right for me when I got down there. I quickly learned that Tamarindo is the Costa Rican equivalent to Daytona Beach during spring break. The town has grown from a one street dirt road a little over ten years ago to a bustling and annoying perpetual traffic jam. We negotiated it once while heading to Playa Grande (which was flat) and that was enough for me. On the way back through to buy a new stick, I parked the car outside the thick of it and walked into town. With a little luck the second shop I entered had a board that was just my size and with a little negotiating I got it for the price I wanted. We immediately made tracks for nearby Avellanas where we stayed for the next two days. The surf was pretty marginal but offshore all day. There was no shortage of beginners in the water so I stuck to a nice empty rock reef and picked off clean chest high walls all by myself.

Due to the general lack of swell, we made our way to our final destination of Santa Teresa the next day. We arrived to head high to overhead surf and got into full relaxation mode. We spent the next seven days here living cheap by eating at local sodas, buying fresh fruit and groceries and generally enjoying the warm sun and (relatively) good surf as well as the cheap Imperials. Santa Teresa is a great place to park yourself and spend time surfing. It's a small town on the verge of undergoing some serious development that is jammed with traveling surfers during the dry season. But the wet season is when things come alive in the ocean. Pacific storms bring loads of swell to the area and the steep beach means the waves pack more of a punch than in nearby Mal Pais. Once you get used to the primitive sewage disposal system that assaults your olfactory senses on a daily basis (which is common in all towns in Costa Rica), the town exudes a certain charm I didn't get from other areas. This was by far the most enjoyable part of the trip for me. Mainly because I was doing nothing more than surfing twice a day and spending the time in between in a comfortable hammock waiting for the wind to switch. It's the kind of life a guy could get used to. There wasn't an office chair in sight.

I always want to score great waves on a surf trip but when it comes down to it, if I'm away from a brutal Canadian winter and enjoying the slower pace of life in the tropics, I'm happy to just be surfing warm waves every day. We didn't score epic surf, but we did get fun waves the whole time and getting to experience what the mountains and rainforests inland had to offer made the trip that much more worthwhile.

Graham Bondt

 

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