Author Topic: SUP surfing in Costa Rica (Read 4271 times)

viatormundi · « **on:** November 01, 2017, 01:54:31 AM »

We plan to visit Costa Rica after Xmas until 11th of January as family with two kids 7 and 9 years old. We will spend some time in the capital city and then plan to visit some other areas of the county like National Park of Tortugero and then head to Pacific side for some beach holiday and surfing.
Our boys are learning surfing and I would also like to do some surfing and SUP surfing.
Which towns or areas would you recommend for a quality family location with surf possibilities? We prefer small and authentic towns instead of main stream tourist areas. Samara, Nosara, Tamarindo or any other town?
I plan to contact some local SUP schools there like Blue Zone SUP or Nosara Paddle Surf to check if I can join their daily events without using their lodging. What I am looking for is quality SUP surfing material and some daily local guide services to good spots. I currently surf a 8’5 Speeed from Sunova. Also it would be nice that our boys can surf some small waves so they can practice their surfing skills. We plan to spend 5-6 days for surfing.
Looking forward for your suggestions for areas and SUP schools or rental places.

joelcr · « **Reply #1 on:** November 02, 2017, 05:15:56 PM »

You're on the right track. But definitely get a move on hotel reservations as it gets busy there over xmas/New Years and after. Nosara has the sup/family thing going on, but...

Lots of gringos there so not very "authentic ", and they don't like sup surfers very much. Samara is more Costa Rican , and has some decent surf nearby. Another spot to look at is Mal Pais. A little further south on the peninsula, but lots of good spots to surf. I like it better. My friend Andy has good sups for rent.

And in Tamarindo you can always look up Marco Pacheco for boards. He's the man.
Plus a Green Bay Packer fan.

Good luck

eDUBz · « **Reply #2 on:** November 02, 2017, 08:31:23 PM »

http://www.nosarapaddlesurf.com/home

nalu-sup · « **Reply #3 on:** November 02, 2017, 09:32:07 PM »

If you are in Tamarindo, the other Marco to check with is Marco Salazar of Costa Rica Stand Up Paddle Adventures (the two Marcos know each other well). Very nice guy around 60, and a very knowledgable surfer having been a Costa Rican surf champ in his younger days, before being a dentist in Florida for many years. He has a quite a varied selection of SUP boards to rent from different brands, ranging from short high performance boards to some nice quality flat water race boards. He can direct you to, or drive you to different spots if you like, and is very enthusiastic and fun to surf with. For a very nice hotel right on the beach, we liked Hotel Diria. They have a locked board storage room, and one of the best outdoor buffet breakfasts (after surfing of course) that I have ever seen as part of the package. The surf right out in front was consistent when we were there, but mostly closeout beach breaks. Okay for an evening glass off paddle, but you will probably want to go elsewhere for quality surf, and Marco's shop is only a couple of blocks down the beach to meet him for a drive, or pick out your board for the day. Tamarindo is nice and small, but is definitely a tourist surf town. The one downside we found is that we were discouraged from taking our SUP boards to some of the more well known quality breaks in the area, and the best break we went to did have a little anti-SUP yelling from psudo-locals, not that it stopped us from going back there again the next morning.

viatormundi · « **Reply #4 on:** November 03, 2017, 09:46:19 AM »

Thx for your advices. Mal Pais sounds interesting. But we are maybe too late to book the hotels etc. We looked a bit and almost all the good places are booked :-(

APPST_Paddle · « **Reply #5 on:** November 06, 2017, 08:29:52 AM »

I've made this trip 3 times splitting time between Nosara and Avellanas. I would strongly recommend checkout Playa Avellanas (particularly the rivermouth) if you are staying near Tamarindo. Marco is very helpful, and I really never had any anti-SUP interactions at any of the beaches (although I've never surfed in Tamarindo). There's a lot of great restaurants in the Avellanas/Playa Negra area as well as Nosara.

Avellanas also has a very mellow beach break near Lola's that would be perfect for your kids.

blueplanetsurf · « **Reply #6 on:** November 06, 2017, 02:40:54 PM »

I made a couple videos and a blog post about a SUP trip to Costa Rica. There is a great SUP friendly outside break by Avellanas. Many of the surf breaks are shore breaks and can get quite crowded, so it's good to ask a local SUP paddler for advice on where to go. If you are interested, check out my friend Fabrice Beaux's beautiful vacation rental villas that are a 15 minute drive from Avellanas and Playa Negra. Fabrice is a very good paddler and can give you some pointers.

This is the link for the vacation rental villas: http://www.puravistahills.com

and the blog post/ videos: https://blueplanetsurf.com/news/costa-rica-sup-trip/