Costa Rica this summer

[ThaDood]

those of you who just went- how was it? heading down to Nosara this weekend. looks like some rain in the forecast

I was in Negra/Avallanes/Grande 8-15 thru 22 and it was 4-6' - 5-7' most of the trip. Grande was maxed so me and 2 friends went to a protected left "semi secret" spot that's totally exposed now ( f'n photog taking Witches Rock surf camp buoys with the ink barely dry on their WRSC surf certificates for a fee.....c-sucker).....but I digress. Avallanes was big and closing out mostly, some friends from Florida scored Little Hawaii with good form, Negra was hit and miss...mostly hit

 

[tedshred5]

Just got back from 5 days in the Guiones area. Fun little town, like others have said. Stayed in a guest studio AirBnB on the ground floor of a house. Didn't rent a car, but was clutch to rent a quad and explore the surrounding area a little bit. Surf when I was there was 3-4', kinda mixed up, nothing crazy, but definitely more powerful beach break than the typical SD county break. Brought a HS Untitled and an Album Fascination and ended up surfing the Untitled most of the time - almost wished I had my 6'3 Blackbird one session. Got some mid- to late- day rain almost daily, and a thunderstorm or 2. Took the ATVs up into the hills one afternoon which was super cool... if you have 4x4 and wanna splurge on a good meal, hit up Coyol, it's a trek to get to but the food & views were unreal. Food/drink isn't that much cheaper compared to the US, plenty of good options around town. Breakfast/coffee at the restaurant in La Negra Hotel was also a standout. Covid testing with an E-Med home test was very easy, just uploaded the results to the United Air app. Would definitely go back.

 

[grg]

Coyol is amazing

 

[Oceanslide]

Just got back from 5 days in the Guiones area. Fun little town, like others have said. Stayed in a guest studio AirBnB on the ground floor of a house. Didn't rent a car, but was clutch to rent a quad and explore the surrounding area a little bit. Surf when I was there was 3-4', kinda mixed up, nothing crazy, but definitely more powerful beach break than the typical SD county break. Brought a HS Untitled and an Album Fascination and ended up surfing the Untitled most of the time - almost wished I had my 6'3 Blackbird one session. Got some mid- to late- day rain almost daily, and a thunderstorm or 2. Took the ATVs up into the hills one afternoon which was super cool... if you have 4x4 and wanna splurge on a good meal, hit up Coyol, it's a trek to get to but the food & views were unreal. Food/drink isn't that much cheaper compared to the US, plenty of good options around town. Breakfast/coffee at the restaurant in La Negra Hotel was also a standout. Covid testing with an E-Med home test was very easy, just uploaded the results to the United Air app. Would definitely go back.

View attachment 115754

That looks awesome!

 

[CutnSnip]

How about Costa Rica in the "winter" ?

Ive been down many times in prime season April-July but im dyeing to gtfo dodge and go somewhere easy in a few weeks.

Looking at second week of December leading up to Xmas. Anyone been down? will I get skunked? Locals say theres always waves but I dont know..

 

[potato-nator]

i went once in late november and got skunked..

 

[trifish]

How about Costa Rica in the "winter" ?

Ive been down many times in prime season April-July but im dyeing to gtfo dodge and go somewhere easy in a few weeks.

Looking at second week of December leading up to Xmas. Anyone been down? will I get skunked? Locals say theres always waves but I dont know..

A lot of places in the more popular areas will double their pricing around the xmas holidays. I've only been once in December. It was with the family and wasn't a surf trip. Waves weren't great on the Pacific but weather was and it was a good trip. Really though, I've never had a bad trip to CR. It's always a good time. If you have the option to go, I'd say go

 

[CutnSnip]

yea not worried about cost per say.i love it down there too regardless of surf but lets be real - thats the point for me.

looks like theyve been getting decent swell in the last 2 weeks. Looks head high and fun today. Just booked a flight, fook it. need a break and one last tax write-off for the year.

 

[rowjimmytour]

How about Costa Rica in the "winter" ?

Ive been down many times in prime season April-July but im dyeing to gtfo dodge and go somewhere easy in a few weeks.

Looking at second week of December leading up to Xmas. Anyone been down? will I get skunked? Locals say theres always waves but I dont know..

Caribbean coast is firing from November thru February best wave(s) in all of CR

 

[CutnSnip]

Caribbean coast is firing from November thru February best wave(s) in all of CR

how is it going from the Playa Hermosa/Jaco area to some of the better carribean side waves if you dont mind me asking?

Flying into San Jose and doing a couple days in that zone for sure but trying to see if its possible to get a few days near Salsa Brava?

 

[paunch23]

how is it going from the Playa Hermosa/Jaco area to some of the better carribean side waves if you dont mind me asking?

Flying into San Jose and doing a couple days in that zone for sure but trying to see if its possible to get a few days near Salsa Brava?

There’s transportation to and from Bocas del Toro - Puerto Viejo.

 

[rowjimmytour]

how is it going from the Playa Hermosa/Jaco area to some of the better carribean side waves if you dont mind me asking?

Flying into San Jose and doing a couple days in that zone for sure but trying to see if its possible to get a few days near Salsa Brava?

About 5 hours from Jaco if no flooding or other road hazards remember its the rain season on Caribbean and it can come down. I would do Salsa first from San Jose then if you still want to go to Jaco go. Leave in morning allowing plenty time to travel to East coast and make sure to leave plenty of space in front of you when driving thru cloud forrest. Last time I went pre covid (year before) huge road project going on from road to Limon making it safer and took us a least 5 hours to drive from San Jose to Puerto Viejo.

 

[CutnSnip]

About 5 hours from Jaco if no flooding or other road hazards remember its the rain season on Caribbean and it can come down. I would do Salsa first from San Jose then if you still want to go to Jaco go. Leave in morning allowing plenty time to travel to East coast and make sure to leave plenty of space in front of you when driving thru cloud forrest. Last time I went pre covid (year before) huge road project going on from road to Limon making it safer and took us a least 5 hours to drive from San Jose to Puerto Viejo.

dope, appreciate the info. trip is locked and loaded but yea got to head to Playa Hermosa first, meet up with a homie and we just booked the first 3 days there. leaving the rest open and we'll see what pops off!

 

[rowjimmytour]

dope, appreciate the info. trip is locked and loaded but yea got to head to Playa Hermosa first, meet up with a homie and we just booked the first 3 days there. leaving the rest open and we'll see what pops off!

When you drive back towards San Jose make sure to avoid SJ at all cost to get on to the 32 fairly easy coming from Jaco but things can go South quick so make sure to check road map first idea of directions even if you have gps which has gotten better and specially good for traffic patrol before you come to them. Still a little slow sometimes in more remote areas signal so good to know general direction beforehand. If you see heavy rain coming and late find safe place to stay near by and finish drive in morning after down fall clears. 10 years ago I was in brand new Toyota Yaris 4 door rental left San Jose morning very light rains "area flooded earlier in week" got passed tunnel and tree fell in road. Took hours to clear 3.5 hour drive now at 4 hour mark and still only half way. Finally cleared road but as we approached Limon rain started really coming down and after I committed to driving Puerto Viejo pushed on as road flooded out and became a river. Really lucky I made it by 8pm that night scary as fuk I flooded inside of yaris and was squeaky rusty doors. Turned the car in on NYE never got charged extra $$$ after finally dried out some what.

 

[CutnSnip]

When you drive back towards San Jose make sure to avoid SJ at all cost to get on to the 32 fairly easy coming from Jaco but things can go South quick so make sure to check road map first idea of directions even if you have gps which has gotten better and specially good for traffic patrol before you come to them. Still a little slow sometimes in more remote areas signal so good to know general direction beforehand. If you see heavy rain coming and late find safe place to stay near by and finish drive in morning after down fall clears. 10 years ago I was in brand new Toyota Yaris 4 door rental left San Jose morning very light rains "area flooded earlier in week" got passed tunnel and tree fell in road. Took hours to clear 3.5 hour drive now at 4 hour mark and still only half way. Finally cleared road but as we approached Limon rain started really coming down and after I committed to driving Puerto Viejo pushed on as road flooded out and became a river. Really lucky I made it by 8pm that night scary as fuk I flooded inside of yaris and was squeaky rusty doors. Turned the car in on NYE never got charged extra $$$ after finally dried out some what.

sh!t buddy i thought this was the dry season

im always down there in tween May and July which is suppoed to be wet - barely ever rained though.

 

[rowjimmytour]

sh!t buddy i thought this was the dry season

im always down there in tween May and July which is suppoed to be wet - barely ever rained though.

Caribbean wet season is worst November to March but pretty much all year long they get 140" year

 

[CutnSnip]

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.

 

[potato-nator]

i didn't swim at the hotel P. Negra once cause a banded sea snake
was in the pool...