| “The world doesn’t
know that the third largest wave on the planet, after
Hawaii and Australia, has been recorded in Costa Rica,
right where my hotel is located,” said Nestor
Cevallos. Hotel Sierra, where he works, is in Golfito,
along the Southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica near
the Panamanian border. And he is right. Costa Rica
is still fairly unknown among amateur surfers, even
if it offers some of the best surfing in the world.
Professional surfers, who have been coming to Costa
Rica for over a decade, recall that, in the beginning,
surfers were once so rare, and therefore so well treated,
that the immigration officers ushered these sportsmen
through the airport ahead of everyone else. Surfers
today represent nearly 10 percent of Costa Rican tourism.
So, what makes Costa Rica such an ideal location for
surfing? Federico Pilurzu, an Italian-born Costa Rican,
who has ranked second in the Costa Rican National
Championships, has a whole list of advantages. “In
Costa Rica, surfers are treated well in the water.
The sea is not overcrowded and people are friendly
and cooperative. The water temperature is a stable
68 degrees throughout the year, so wetsuits are never
needed. Compared to this, California is cold!”
The waves in Costa Rica are constant yeararound. Along
the Caribbean coast, near Puerto Viejo, the waves
can be more like they are in Hawaii – harsher
to tackle. In other prime locations, along the Pacific
coast of Costa Rica, such as in Witch’s Rock,
Golfo Papagayo, Playa Negra, south of Tamarindo, Jaco,
Dominical and Pavones, the waves are quite large and
can be as long as two miles –like the one recorded
in Pavones!
The surfing season is well balanced, with the Caribbean
side offering its best surfing from December until
March, while the Pacific side’s is from April
to November.
Mr. Pilurzu, who has surfed in every continent of
the world and received many high international rankings,
is confident in his claim that Costa Rica is the among
the top three locations in the world for surfing,
after only Australia and Hawaii. “The industry
here is quite developed, far beyond any other Central
American country,” says Pilurzu. “Many Americans
come to Costa Rica and are amazed how high and professional
the level of surfing here really is.”
However, it is not only the degree of professionalism
and size and length of the waves that makes Costa
Rica so special. Nor is it necessarily the fact that
there has never been a reported shark attack upon
a surfer. Indeed, surfing in Costa Rica can be unlike
that experienced anywhere else in the world. Pilurzu
remembers a time when, while surfing beneath a full
moon, he watched millions of microscopic plankton
sparkling in the water. |
