Costa Rica Surfing: Playa Guiones, Nosara

Fed up with waking up before sunrise and being able to see our breath in the cold, workday morning air, my buddy Monty and I decided to loosen our ties, toss our briefcases aside and book a weeklong winter getaway to sunny Costa Rica.

In addition to basking in the region's warm, 80-degree weather, we took a friend up on his advice to check out a new beginners surf school in Nosara and gave ourselves another worthy goal: to learn how to surf.

Costa Rica is home to some of the best and most consistent surf in the world, and lessons are available at a fraction of the cost compared to a stay in Hawaii or the hassle of getting to Indonesia, two other renowned surfing destinations. There are plenty of surfing beaches along the Pacific Coast in this Central American country, but we decided on Playa Guiones, near Nosara in the Guanacaste province of northwestern Costa Rica. It’s a relaxed beach town that attracts surfing and yoga enthusiasts alike.

Innocent Surfing School

Once you finally reach Playa Guiones (see the transportation section at the end of this article) and have adequately carbo-loaded, you’ll be ready to surf. Playa Guiones boasts a consistent break all day long that attracts surfers young and old from all corners of the globe. But what about the surfing newbies who think a rash guard is a colorful euphemism for “prophylactic”?

 

• With the help of Innocent Surf School, you too can soon ride the waves like a pro.

Ben Chapman

Luckily, Playa Guiones is home to one of the world’s level-four British Surfing Association (BSA)-certified surf instructors (there are 20) and the surf school that he owns with his fiancée. Founders Ru Hill and Gem Yates opened Innocent Surf School in May 2007 with a mission to provide professional surf coaching at an affordable price. At $45 per 1.5-hour lesson (first lesson is $48; subsequent lessons are $45; 5- and 10-lesson packages are available), Innocent Surf School has accomplished its goal to the critical acclaim of many (just read the testimonials on the Web site). Your $45 gets you a board for the lesson, 10 to 15 minutes of instruction on the sand and more than an hour of intensive coaching in the water.

Preparing to Surf

A word to the next wave of surfing virgins out there—it’s not all fun and games. Surfing takes hard work, dedication and focused preparation. That’s why Ru, Gem and fellow Innocent surf coach Jack Phillips preach proper rest and thorough stretching prior to each lesson. Keeping with the theme of discipline and concentration, it’s also important to temper expectations and to maintain a level of calm. As with anything else new, surfing can be very frustrating—especially in the face of unrelenting sets of five- and six-foot waves when you haven’t perfected your Eskimo-roll technique.

Swimming Practice

Paddling out beyond the breakers can seem like the challenge of a lifetime at first, and it’s that much harder if you’ve been avoiding the gym for months, like my travel mate Monty. One word of advice to beginners: The best preparation in the weeks leading up to your vacation is to get into swimming shape to help with paddling. Neither of us had been swimming in months, and the muscles used for paddling are very different from anything that would be stimulated through weightlifting exercises. Despite being a buff studmuffin, I, too, struggled with my paddling.

 

• A group of surfers hikes through the trees to get to the beach.

Ben Chapman

The Innocent team will not hesitate to remind you that sound technique and practice are prerequisites for that exhilarating 10-second green wave ride. If you approach each lesson seriously and focus on the fundamentals stressed by the coaching staff, you should catch your first wave by the fifth or sixth session, as we did. After that, as with any sport, it’s all about repetition and incremental improvements.

Next: Playa Guiones and Nosara