No Bad Tides: In Search of Confidence Building Waves in Central America

Photo By @Wood_Brain

It was with mixed feeling that I was traveling back to Central America on another surf trip. A year ago I hit my head on a reef in Nicaragua and got 8 stitches to the back on my head and since then my confidence in the water had dropped more than I should have allowed. My courage had digressed and I was actively searching for some confidence-boosting waves that I hoped would help get me back in the groove again.

I really can’t thank my wife enough for coordinating all the travel stuff and making this trip possible for me. She is my hero and my biggest supporter and is one of the few people that can keep me calm when I start to overthink things. She would say everything will work out fine and she is right, it always does for us.

Plus we would be staying north of our usual hangouts so we would have the opportunity to see new places and explore more of the country. And we were traveling with friends that had already stayed in those areas (stress reducer for me). My wife loves Central America and all those exotic plants and butterflies. So happy wife – happy life...

The weekend before this trip I picked up the new 6’4 Takayama (tuflite) Scorpion 2 direct from the factory in Huntington Beach. It just felt right under my arm, I had the feeling that this board would help take me to the next level. I pieced together the fin set up from two other boards and packed it up in my 7’6 travel bag with pool noodles on the nose and tail (plus some extra padding for travel safety). I also need to point out that I LOVE that Alaska airlines only charge $30 for a surfboard bag (each way)!

Photo By @Wood_Brain

We were totally surprised when my wife ran into her friend at the airport and found out that she was on the same plane as us and was even going to the same town (small world)! We made plans to meet up again once we got in town and settled in. It felt like this was already turning into a great start to a great trip. We met our friends at the airport bar and starting the pre-party to our friends 50^th birthday (the reason for the whole trip was based on Michelle’s 50^th Birthday).

Photo By @Wood_Brain

The flight was good, a little bumpy at times but not that bad. It was already dark when we landed, and we made it thru customs no problem. We got our rental car, loaded up and only got lost once on our way to Nosara. It was around 11 pm by the time we made it to our house and we partied till 1 am poolside. Dan and I got up early the next morning for a quick surf check and were stoked to find some fun 2-3’ (waist to should high with plus size sets). Once our wives got up and had finished their coffee we all headed to the beach to surf.

Photo By @Wood_Brain

So let’s talk about the surf in Nosara for a few. The water was great! The locals were friendly and vibe in the water was super inviting and friendly. The surf is best at higher tides, but you can pretty much go out at any time and get waves. The first 2 days of the trip the surf was easy and fun. The next few days the swell came in and it was big and dumpy (out of my comfort zone).

Photo By @Wood_Brain

The last day it was still pretty big but the shape was way better. The spot was definitely better for a shorter board on the bigger days. It was great practice for me duck-diving and paddling around. I would try and stay near the impact zone and catch the in-between waves that were smaller and had the best shape. Overall, it was worth it. I did get a few great waves even a few sets. It was a great experience for me to test out my 6’4” scorpion 2. The board worked like a dream come true, fast, responsive, and easy to duck-dive, great little noserider. It was so fun to play around on! This is by far my favorite shorter board!

Photo By @Wood_Brain

Now let's talk about shoes and what we did with them when we were at the beach. We would bury our sandals off to the left of the beach access path. Sometimes my wife and I would just hang ours on the trees like Christmas ornaments. My wife would say- no one’s going to take them. And she was right (as always), well sort of. On the second to last day, someone stole 3 out of the 5 pairs of sandals from our group while we were out surfing. My wife’s sandals and mine were not taken, but our friends were.

I’ll admit I wish mine were taken instead of my friends because mine was meant for a one-way trip and they were not going last much longer. So if you are going to Costa Rica (or anywhere really) keep your stuff on hand, or hand it off to a friend, or bury that stuff, or don’t complain if your stuff gets stolen because that stuff really can happen.

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Of course, we partied hardy for Michelle’s 50^th Birthday. We played music all night, some guitar. Lots of drinking and even had a custom strawberry cake! It was just a blast! I totally took notes and need to do something like that for my 50^th birthday, 60^th, 70^th (etc) and few in between. I’m open to suggestions on surf destinations, so please let me know where a cool mellow surf destination worth going to is at and what time of year is best for that spot.

Photo By @Wood_Brain

After a week of surfing Nosara we headed north to the smaller town of Avellana. Now, this was how I always pictured Costa Rica to be before it started getting all built it and overly touristic. A super small town with just a few smaller hotels that just finally got A/C installed. Lola’s gets a bit crowded with tourists but the rest of the place was pretty open and you could easily find yourself alone on the beach if you walked a little ways away from the main back access points.

The Surf in Avellana was the best of the whole trip. The paddle out was pretty easy, for the most part, it had a sandy bottom but every now and then there was a shelf of rock so be mindful of that. I nailed my toes a few times on the bottom rocks. We would park at Cabinas Los Olas bar and restaurant then walk over the rickety, termite-infested wooden bridge that went thru the mangroves and that was sketchy at times. I felt like I had to really choose each step carefully as any single wooden plank might snap if I chose poorly.

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Once you made it to the beach it was instant paradise. Just the way I want to remember Costa Rica, beautiful jungle, uncrowded beaches, picture-perfect. It was the stuff dreams are made of.

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On Friday, July 5^th I went out for a second session in the afternoon and it was the best surf of the year! It was quite possibly the best surf I’ve ever had the pleasure of riding in the last 25+ years. Solid 4 foot, perfect crispy A-frames, light offshore and only a handful of people out! I caught about 17 waves in that magic hour and I have some photos to prove it!

Photo By @Wood_Brain

Yet again, all hail to my wonderful wife for taking pictures of me nearly every day of the trip. I can’t thank her enough for taking so many pictures! Well, I guess I need to find a way to get her a super big camera lens that she’s been asking for, that will be a good start.