"Costa Rica"

---

---

On to "Costa Rica"
Ross OlsenIt would be great if we could transport ourselves between locations like "Scottie" or "Dr Who". No, we´re all herded into great metal cylinders, stacked, packed and tortured on long haul flights, transit lounges, in and out of airports......someone has to invent a better way. If it wasn´t for destinations like Costa Rica, we´d all stay home.
Travelling to Mal Pais and Santa Teresa you might consider you were never going to arrive. You might even consider turning back as the roads narrow and quickly turn into into an ugly mess of pot holes and ravines resembling something akin to the surface of the moon. Mal Pais and St Teresa is a sleepy little area (at least in the off season) that essentially share the same stretch of beach disturbed on occasion by the odd rocky outcrop. It's a beautiful place where the rain forest almost penetrates the palm covered shore.
I met my travelling companions Yvi & Lutz the previous day in San Jose, some 5 1/2 hrs away. They arrived minus their surfboards which they last saw in London. I was relieved mine hadn't suffered a similar fate. We took our accomodation at Ranchos Ituana, a neatly presented hideaway that gave a personal feel having only four rooms or Cabina's. Wildlife and all manner of tree species are rude in abundance. We shared our Cabina with 3 large Iguana's whose favourite pastime was to scratch around on the roof into the early hours of the morning. Every day late in the afternoon we are hit by a tropical downpour of immense proportion usually followed thereafter by a pyrotechnic blitzkrieg of thunder and lightning. Costa Rica is hot! Lying around 10 deg lat north some days the heat and humidity drain the life from you, the only refuge being the fan inside your Cabina. The water temp is about 27 deg year round.
Costa Rica is a developing country, the mainstays being agriclulture and tourism. There appears to be a lot of foreign investment in tourism, mostly American I assume. Still many locals seem relatively poor, living in shanty's often right next door to expensive resorts.

The waves at Santa Teresa seem to follow a pattern. There is a high tide wave which is fat and often mushy and a low tide wave which offers more in terms of speed and shape. Their were no discernable banks and
the rides were mostly short. On the upside, during our stay it was never under 2 ft and consistently 2 - 4ft. The wind when it blew was mainly light so you often got glassy conditions. It wasn't unusual for the sea breeze to arrive after midday.
Yesterday we hired quad bikes along with our newly acquired Canadian and English friends and took a tour from Santa Teresa to Montezuma. The road was custom made for quad bikes as we traversed large water filled pot holes and flooded trails, winding our way through the countryside. There is a law in Costa Rica that say if you don't nail something down or keep a constant watch on it it will be stolen and so our carpark was provided with a guard. Similarly the local bank in Cobano came with armed security both inside and out. The outer variety with what looked like a shotgun at his hip.
After a sometimes tricky clamber over a succession of slippery rocks and sometimes near sheer cliff faces we arrived (safely thanks to the efforts of our vigilant Nicuraguan guide, Carlos) at the uppermost of three waterfalls to be greeted by a group of half-pissed Canadians trying to "out Tarzan" each otherby hurling themselves off the 100ft high waterfall where no doubt a voluminous enema awaited at the bottom. Curoiusly, no one died on this occasion as apparently 12 have succomed previously in this way.
The most ridiculous rule in Costa Rica......."Please do not flush toilet paper down the toilet" This ridiculous suggestion comes with no recommendation whatsoever as to what to do with it...

Left lovely St Teresa 6:30am en-route to pick up our rental vehicle in Punterenas, an arduous 2 hr taxi commute plus 90 min ferry crossing across the Nicoya Gulf. Awaiting us was a nice modern Mitsubishi 4WD with ample room for our multitude of surfboards and associated paraphenalia. With Lutz familiarising himself at the wheel, I opted for the passengers seat and we hit the road. We began a leisurely 200km stroll down the coast via Jaco, Quepos and various other coastal towns, final destination Dominical. The plan was to roll into Dominical in good time to find some comfy accomodation, check the surf, then settle in for dinner and the night, perfect! Until we hit 40km of the worst road you could imagine driving on between Quepos and Dominical. 5km from Dominical we tore a rear tyre apart half an hour from dark. Needless to say, the rain started to fall as Lutz and me grappled with the various combination of tools required to replace the wheel whilst Yvi offered a variety of strategic advice. 45 mins later we had a new tyre on and limped into Dominical around 7pm, a mere 9 hrs after picking up the rental. We chose the first accomodation mentioned in the travel guide, which incidently turned out to be very good, and were ushered to our rooms by the American host with the passing remark that there was a disco on this evening so there might be a bit of noise until around 2pm. No problem, we were glad of a bed and with only one meal in our stomachs that day were looking fwd to heading out for something to eat.....Power Cut! these are common in Costa Rica. Two hours later with power on, we emerged from our rooms thinking maybe they'll can the disco now? Arriving back at the hotel I actually thought they had set up in our room such was the crescendo coming from the dance floor. It didn't stop until 3am......should be good waves tomorrow I dreamt.....Dominical being one of the most consistent and hollow waves in Costa Rica.

As it happens Dominical, at least at this time of year is quite tricky. Devil rips and heavy beach break with no channel to paddle out resigned us to spectator status only. Some good barrells but waves very short and very fast.

Back to Playa Hermosa about 5 mins south of Jaco. This beach can get incredibly thick. Think of Pipeline but a beachbreak.....not quite on the same scale but had that feel about it. The waves come out of really deep water so are as thick as they are high, and probably the most powerful wave I have surfed. I picked off a few smaller ones whilst watching some expert tuberiding going down. Met a local, Roberto at a nearby restaurant who delighted in telling us that if you make a bad mistake out here, you can pay with your life.

And so, that is Costa Rica. Tomorrow its off to Europe. I'm unsure at this point where my next surf will be. We have enjoyed 3 weeks of good fun, some frustrations, beautiful land and seascapes. Pura Vida......maybe.

p.s..photos to follow

---