Just got back from Playa Hermosa. 4th time down there. Def didnt get skunked. Chest to shoulder high + with a few head high sets during the best tides. Unfortunately mid to draining tide every morning during the best wind conditions with the tide push happening in the early afternoon as the winds turn onshore, except for one rainy day where it stayed clean throughout the afternoon. Couple head dips, lots of closeouts that day. Brought a GX and a Banjo and both saw plenty of action. Pretty much an air show every other day by the locals, i swear every single tico can bust air reverses on demand these days. Felt great to get into some juicy surf again, that place packs a serious punch even at chest high on the right tides. Was happy it wasnt DOH ervery day like the last time i was there.
Weather was pretty typical - lots of overcast-ish days with windows of sun, some rainy afternoons and nights but nothing that stopped the fun.Locals were out and about and enjoying life as usual. Rental car sitch was pretty wack - wound up with a van for 100 bucks a day, pretty much the last car for rent in Jaco. Seemed like some prices were jacked up slightly for other regular stuff, food, activites,etc but nothing significant. Did some touristy sh!t to kill time during bad windows, hikes, ATV's, Manuel Antonio, and the beach parties in hermosa were raging every night.
As far as covid precautions, pretty similar to LA. Masks indoors, except to sit and eat. Every restaurant down there is open air - well circulated anyways so no worries there, but they are def being careful and are weary of foreigners for sure. Most buisnesses survived except the Backyard Bar is closed now. Hotel still open but no bar/ resteraunt. Vida Hermosa was the hotspot evety day/night. Had a sketch moment in Jaco as one of my local buddies took us over to an underground party one night. started to get super packed and we bounced shortly after. The return test is pretty dialed in. Go to the airpot, shuttle to the testing tent in about 3 minutes. test took 5 minutes. go back to the airport and wait for your results via email. Was a little nervous with all the news everwhere else in the world about this new strain spreading - but couldnt find anything about omicron being down in CR yet. They do however have an 11pm curfew in effect right now so thats something to think about if your a night owl and looking to party but overall probably less chance of catching something down there than in the states.
All in all much needed little vaca in one of my fav parts of the world. Wanted to make it to Salsa Brava but the roads were pretty bad according to the locals and we couldnt get a 4x4 rental.