Costa Rica Surf Report July

by crv.staff
02.07.09
3:37 PM UTC

Filed in Costa Rica

Surfers: are you tempted to take a surf trip to Costa Rica now?

FORECAST

Caribbean Coast: July is generally a quiet month for waves, but as the hurricane season gets into gear, there may be a swell or two. The actual storms don’t hit the coast, but instead move north toward Cuba and the Yucatan. If it’s powerful enough, it can send overhead surf for two to three days at a time. Pacific Coast: The last week of June has seen overhead surf just about every day from the South and Southwest, and this pattern continues for July. A stream of Southern Hemi systems plow towards Central America, sending head-high to double overhead-plus surf. The key is getting to the beach early when winds are offshore, and being there at the right tide — generally lower tides for points and reefs, and higher tides for beachbreaks. Full moon: July 7; New Moon: July 21.

TRAVEL

Joe Walsh from Witchs Rock Surf Camp in Tamarindo is taking the WRSC bus on a Pacific Coast surf tour August 15 to the 29. It includes daily surf instruction, surfboards, photos and video of you surfing, and all meals for only $700 per person per week. David McNeil is offering to take photos of you surfing while visiting Jaco and Playa Hermosa. He charges from $40 pp for a two-hour session and also can help arrange boat trips to lesser known point breaks. For July, the cheapest flights I’ve found are on Taca for $211.42 from Miami to San Jose. ($80 for 2 boards in one bag each way). American Airlines has flights from MIA to SJO for $235.42. ($100 per board each way). And Jet Blue has a few seats left from Orlando to San Jose for $315.42. ($50 per board each way). Join CRSURF on Facebook Groups, MySpace, and Twitter today to get the latest photos, news, and insider stories from Costa Rica.

CONTESTS

The Billabong ISA World Surfing Games will be held from July 31 to August 8 behind Terraza del Pacifico in Playa Hermosa. So far, 35 countries have signed up to compete, and if you are staying in Jaco, buses will be running to/from the contest site. Check out the CRSURF website for a list of our favorite accommodations with a satellite view of their location in relation to the contest — www.crsurf.com/ISA09-hotels.html. The top qualifiers for the Costa Rican team have been chosen for ISA World Surfing Games. Open: Jason Torres, Luis Vindas, Carlos Muñoz, Diego Naranjo, Juan Carlos Naranjo, Jairo Pérez y Gilbert Brown. Mujeres: Lisbeth Vindas, Nataly Bernold y Mariana Samudio. Longboard: Cristian Santamaría y Anthony Flores. Of these twelve, eight will make the final cut.

ENVIRONMENT/COMMUNITY

CRSURF is raising money to donate books to kids. “All the Way to the Ocean,” by Joel Harper, follows two boys learning about how litter affects the marine life and coastal ecosystem. Laird Hamilton explains in the beginning why it is so important for surfers to keep their beaches clean. To purchase a copy, visit the travel shop at www.crsurf.com. For every two copies sold we can donate a copy in Spanish to kids in Central America.

If you want to help the communities of Pavones and Punta Banco, stop the construction of eight experimental yellowfin tuna cages, then use this link set up by PRETOMA and sign the petition: www.pretoma.org/petitionpeticion

An International Surf Day event was held on the beach at Hacienda Pinilla on June 21 to raise funds for the Tamarindo Lifeguards and future beach cleanups. There was a great turnout for the event. Also, the Soulstice Pro took place the same weekend behind Cabinas Las Olas in Playa Hermosa. Their efforts were focused on cleaning the beach at Playa Guacalillo and supporting the Friends of Playa Hermosa in their environmental efforts. And Safari Surf School organized a contest in Nosara the same day to raise funds for the local schools.

The Christian Surfers group from Daytona Beach sent two groups to Dominical to help with local community projects and put together a free contest for the kids on June 20.

Rating 3.00 out of 5