I've been lucky enough lately to pick some of my surfing spots! Since starting to surf, I've surfed in Nicaragua; the east coast/Atlantic side of Florida (Amelia Island to be exact); Miami, Florida; and, this week, Tamarindo, Costa Rica. In last week's post, I wrote about five places I would love to surf and my first spot was Costa Rica. My surfing pal Robin planned the trip through a recommendation from a friend of a friend of mine based on a few recommendations from a friend of hers. Pshewww! That's confusing. Anyway, we traveled to a place called Witch's Rock Surf Camp. It's called a camp because lessons are provided, but, basically, it's a small hotel that rents boards and provides surf instruction to those wanting to take lessons.
Tamarindo is a sleepy coastal town about an hours' drive from Liberia, which is where the airport is located. Costa Rica is a poor country. However, many say traveling in Costa Rica is much safer than many of the other Central American countries because the infrastructure is more stable. I'm not quite sure I believe it, although I didn't see anything bad that would make me think otherwise. It's just that things are a bit rustic. Tamarindo is definitely a Surfer's paradise though. The beach at Witch's Rock was incredible, with a shore break that consistently provided some sort of wave action, albeit sometimes small depending on the tide. During high tide and, at least once during low tide, the beach filled with surfers of all abilities ready to catch some pretty waves. The surfing was incredible to watch and be a part of.
Robin signed us up for intermediate lessons, which was probably a little more advanced than what we probably needed. I felt incredibly uneasy the first few days. It had nothing to do with our resort nor the waves. It was a feeling I've only had a few times in my life; something unexplainable, but something to which I needed to respond. Our first lesson were in the waves out front of the hotel. We we're to meet up with Andre at 8:30. He was quite late, and not very apologetic about it. He was also not very informative. I caught quite a bit of whitewater though and, although I got a little banged up by the board when I I was trying to get out (I missed the rip I rely on inG-town). I had a hard time reading the sets.
Day two included a trip to another surf point (will have to look up the name later) with an instructor named Paco. Ross, also from Houston, and Pedro, from Brazil, joined Robin and me. The uneasy feeling from day one returned at a magnified level. It didn't help that the waves at the other beach looked huge from the shore. I hesitated even going out, which is unusual for me. I'm not easily intimidated, at least I don't think that I am, but I couldn't shake the bad feeling I had about being there at that beach on that day. I initially had a hard time getting out, and after several attempts and getting banged up badly by the board, I finally made it to the outside. However, one big wave later and I decided that my surfing there was complete. Too bad! I'm definitely going to return to that beach some day. At least Robin got a good ride! I saw her whiz by on a huge wave (size is relative, but for us, it was huge).
By day three, I felt better. I awoke to a bright day. Not sure what had happened to my confidence and mental toughness, but I was glad it had returned. In fact, I had felt alive better later in the evening on day two. I even managed to feel the drop during a couple of my evening rides. However, day three would be my day. The camp had decided that Robin and I needed to surf the waves in front of the hotel. (I sure hope that she wasn't relegated to the hotel break because of me.) As it turns out, day three turned out well for both of us. Our surf instructor was Andres. Note: the "s" at the end of the name reassured us that we weren't going to have the same instructor as day one. Thank goodness! Andres was an incredible instructor. He taught me a new way to pop up and a new way to paddle. He mentioned that he had seen me surf and that one of my biggest problems was looking down at the board instead of looking out. He also mentioned that I might want to reconsider the way I pop up. I listened and followed what he said. Robin did the same. I saw her do the most incredible pop up, and both of us took big waves (again, size is relative, but they were big for us). It was an incredible day, and I hope I can translate what I learned to my home break!
All good things must end. I'm writing this from the airplane on our way home. We were scheduled to surf early this morning, but neither Robin nor I felt that we really had enough time before our shuttle ride back to Liberia. I'm confident that we will be returning to Tamarindo.
Note: The photo was on the wall of my hotel room in Tamarindo. Witch's Rock hotel was definitely created for sufers!
