I've been fortunate enough to find myself in Costa Rica again! A friend of one of the guys that surfs regularly in Galveston at the 43rd Street jetty manages a Bed and Breakfast in a charming little town called Santa Teresa. When my regular surf gal pal met him in Galveston, he suggested that we visit him in CR. So, she planned a trip, invited me along and, although the planning took place quite awhile back, we are finally here. We've also brought along another 43rd Street Jetty surfer to have fun in the consistent waves.
After flying to San Jose, CR, spending the night in the Adventure Inn (aptly named...in a good way), I took a puddle jumper to Tambor and after a 50-minute drive found myself at the adorable Casa Cecilia in Santa Teresa. It is a town that is still growing up, so to speak, after I found out that many they only received electricity here 15 years ago. Yet, in many ways, I find CR to be much more advanced than Nicaragua. Casa Cecilia is a delightful little place and the surf is right at the end of the path that goes to the beach. Rumor has it that Mel Gibson has a house nearby as does Gisele B., the famous model.
Just walking up to the house, you can hear the waves. Even now as I type this, I can hear them clearly, and I'm sure I'll hear them all night. It will be a soothing sound as I sleep. Don, the manager of the house, took me into town right away to get a board. After discussing it with the owner of the shop and asking me about my boards at home, he suggested I use a 8' Robert August board with a swallowtail. I explained that I mostly use 9' boards, but he said that given my weight and the strength and speed of the waves, I should be able to use the 8' Robert August. I was hesitant, but excited. As soon as we made it back to the B and B, I changed into my suit and paddled out. I made it to the outside rather easily the first time, but I didn't stay there long. The waves seemed rather big to me, even though November is considered their month with the smaller waves. I caught one of the smaller ones right away, but from then on, I found myself in the whitewater since it was so difficult to get back out. For the rest of the day, I paddled for the forceful whitewater, attempted to stand and tried to surf at an angle. I was successful a few times, but on the times that I wasn't, I would either pearl or just miss the board with my pop-up altogether. The board was definitely smaller, and I needed to be directly in the center of the board to be able to surf. I'm not always in the middle, which causes me to lose my balance. I surfed for awhile, put the board up and walked awhile, then went back out near sunset with many other sunset surfers. I had a couple of really fast rides; rides that even led me to believe that I had turned. However, practice is definitely the key to this and many sports. We'll see. I might end up exchanging my board for a 9' before the week is up! Can't wait to find out what the week holds for me. (I wanted to add a photo of the beautiful waves, but blogger in CR just doesn't want to let me. Oh well.)
