Playa Tamarindo

Zipping along

Surf: Knee-Chest High. Light offshores. Crowded.

I’d promised my mom I’d only bug her to go down and watch me surf once on this trip. But…it’s kinda hard to stick to surfing JUST once in warm water and Wes was pretty stoked to get back out there.

We tried the next beach south, selling my mom on the idea with the promise of beachfront restaurants and shady places to site. Thankfully the van this time took the paved road. It was a beautiful drive. We could see lots of countryside all without jostling about.

Tamarindo was crowded (especially compared to the mellow Playa Grande), but had beach chairs and umbrellas for mom. She had a great lunch and a tasty milkshake while Wes and I threw ourselves at larger, more crowded waves.

Many rides were cut short by instructors pushing surf school peeps right into my line. Good practice on my cutbacks, but less than ideal. The waves I was able to pick out all to myself were plenty fun.

The board I’d rented was only waxed about halfway up so walking up the nose was an amusing challenge. There was just enough wax residue to delicately walk around with bare feet, but nothing fancy. I got a few nice long rides into the channel crossing my fingers I didn’t slip.

On a left

Wes and I at Playa Tamarindo

Pretty stoked. Mom was extra stoked to have been able to watch us from the shade this time. 😀

Playa Grande

Knee-Waist High

Surf: Knee-Waist High. Light offshore winds. Warm! Sunny!

Yaaaay! Family vacation to Costa Rica! 😀

We haven’t taken a family trip since 2005. This year for Christmas we spent the Holiday in Costa Rica. I’ve been looking for a good excuse to get my family involved in my surf life so I arrange for some classes in Playa Grande from Point Break Surf. They set us up with surfboards (softies for Dad and Wes and a proper board for me) and made arrangements for a van to pick us up.

The road out to Playa Grande was rough. Three water crossings, steep gravel hills. We got to see a lot of nature, but wow…we were pretty relieved to be out of the van and on the HUGE beach.

At low tide the beach is massive.

Playa Grande at Low Tide

Grande indeed.

While waiting for the tide to come in, we body surfed for a while in the warm water. Got a few fun rides and a few beatings. One of those beatings took my wallet which, for no logical reason, was in my board shorts. Oh well!

Once the tides were right and the instructor had pulled up with with the boards, we hit the surf. Lots of great little waves for Wes and Dad to learn on. Dad got lots of long rides on his knees and a few stand up rides. Everyone cheered for him. Wes got some nice ones in too and is getting better at turning. The instructors were great, they kept everyone motivated, safe, and happy.

Mom braved the hot sun to take pictures of us.

Dad

Wes on a wave

I had fun picking off little corners. I got a few tips from the instructor and helped push some little groms into waves.

Me on a wave

It was a lot of fun watching the little fish scatter as I swooped in on my bottom turn. Wheeee.
All around great day.

Dad, Wes, and Me