“Your pop-up was flawless,” my instructor, Andrea Diaz Coto, shouted from the water as I got on my nine-foot surfboard and started paddling toward her again. I had just ridden one of the many beautiful left-breaking waves all the way to the sand at idyllic Iguanita beach in Costa Rica. Diaz Corto runs a surf school, SurfX, along with Norwegian ex-pat Hanna Storrosten, who trained as a marine biologist before starting surf instruction full time. This year, they started working with the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo, leading the property’s surf program, which is how I met the duo that day. I had spent the past week making my way through several of the country’s best Pacific surf breaks and towns.
Because of Costa Rica’s central location in the Americas, it benefits from both South and North Pacific swells, resulting in year-round access to perfect waves at dozens of breaks along its coastline. My journey had started with an early morning flight out of hot, humid, and cicadas-ridden Washington D.C. I was headed to Liberia, the capital and largest city of Costa Rica’s Guanacaste province, home to the country’s most famous surf spots.
My first stop was Tamarindo. Once a quiet fishing village, it is now a bustling town that draws ex-pats, tourists, and, most recently, remote workers. Surf enthusiasts may recognize the town from the second installment of the classic The Endless Summer, released in 1994. In the movie, surfing legend Robert August takes young surfers Patrick O'Connell and Robert 'Wingnut' Weaver to Tamarindo and introduces them to now-legendary surf breaks Witch’s Rock and Ollie’s Point.
Tamarindo has the vibe of a resort-style town. Its peaceful streets—lined with souvenir shops, swimwear boutiques, and small restaurants—come alive at night as the town turns into a party destination. I was headed to Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas, a luxury boutique hotel perched at the top of a hill overlooking the Guanacaste coast. The secluded adults-only property has 21 villas, each with a salt-water plunge pool and jaw-dropping ocean views. The sunsets are something out of an impressionist painting—an explosion of orange, pink and purple illuminate the sky reflecting in the ocean dotted by the lush Catalinas islands. And when it rains—I visited the region during Costa Rica’s Green Season when late afternoon tropical rains were almost a daily occurrence—the experience is so soothing that it feels like you are meditating with your eyes open.
Costa Rica has been recognized as one of the leading wellness destinations in Latin America and certainly the best for yoga practitioners. The country’s many natural hot springs, mineral-rich mud baths, a plethora of outdoor activities, and biodiversity are at the heart of its Pura Vida approach to well-being. As I practiced my Cobra pose during an hour-long yoga class in the hotel’s open-air studio, the cool ocean breeze carried the aroma of burning incense sticks around me.
Later, I headed to Tamarindo, where I met my instructor, Valeria Salustri, a 20-year-old athletic brunette who competes internationally for Costa Rica’s stand-up paddle-boarding team. She has been surfing since she was five. We picked up a surfboard from Costa Rica Sup and Surf Club, owned by a Guadeloupe Islands ex-pat who came to the country more than 15 years ago in search of waves and never left.
The sandy bottom at Tamarindo’s main beach break and mostly mellow waves make it one of the most popular spots for beginners and longboarders. While it can get crowded if you visit during high season (December to April), there were only a handful of surfers that morning, leaving everyone plenty of space (and waves) to surf.
After we worked up an appetite in the water, we grabbed lunch at Santa Rita Café, a hip all-day-breakfast coffee shop with high ceilings and rustic, wooden tables. Next, we stopped by Del Toro Bikinis and Morena Beachwear, chic boutiques offering locally made and designed swimwear in vivid tropical prints, perfect for tanning and surfing. I also picked up t-shirts for my son and husband from a beachy store called Guana, specializing in Costa Rican-made apparel and accessories. After a relaxing 90-minute massage back at the hotel, I dined at Sentido Norte, Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas’s restaurant. The executive chef, San Jose-native and Cordon Bleu-educated Jose Lopez, has created an international menu largely influenced by coastal Costa Rican cuisine. Delicacies include ceviche in a spicy yellow aji leche de tigre sauce and freshly caught pan-seared snapper with roasted corn and coconut milk sauce. Part of Guanacaste Province is in the Nicoya Peninsula, one of the five original Blue Zones with an unusually high number of centenarians. Nicoyans’ longevity is partly due to their steady diet of black beans (high in antioxidants and protein), rice, locally grown fruit and vegetables, and, of course, fresh seafood.
The following day I headed to Nosara, a small town about 43 miles south of Tamarindo and the mecca of surfing in Costa Rica. We drove along narrow, gravel roads lined with huge Guanacaste, Espavé, and Mango trees. Signs in the shape of surfboards advertised accommodation and surf schools in the area. We stopped at the stunning Avellanas beach, dubbed a “surfer’s paradise.” Directly in front of the main parking lot is a reef break called La Purruja, also the name of one of the two restaurants at Playa Avellanas. The second one is called Lola’s, where I had a delicious passion fruit and soursop smoothie. At the very north side of the beach is Little Hawaii—a reef break that consistently delivers barreling waves. Spoiler alert: they are not little.
Next up was Playa Negra (not to be mistaken with the beach of the same name on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast). On weekends, it draws a mixed crowd of locals and tourists. The low tide had exposed the lava reef, which makes the spot dangerous to beginner surfers. Pros come here for the right-breaking barreling waves (getting “barreled”—or surfing inside the hollow part of a wave—is the holy grail of the sport). Nosara to Costa Ricans is what the North Shore of O’ahu is to Hawaiians. It is the place to be if you surf or do yoga. Everything here revolves around catching waves and opening your chakras. The area has long been home to many surfing schools, camps, and hotels. I had decided to stay at the very first one—the Gilded Iguana. Originally built in 1988, the boutique hotel underwent a complete renovation in 2018 led by acclaimed architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe. The property now offers its guests modern amenities in an open-air environment (both the lobby and the restaurant are outdoors). Palm thatch covers the two-story structures while the rooms are furnished with sleek teak furniture and jute chairs. With a modern surf school and a brand new athletic center, the Gilded Iguana is a destination not just for amateur surfers but for professional ones, too. The hotel is only a two-minute walk from Playa Guiones, where most of the surfing action in Nosara takes place.
I had booked a 90-minute surfing session at the Gilded Iguana Surf Club & School, an expansive facility with a lounge area, a juice bar, lockers, two surfboard rooms, and a mini outdoor gym with balance boards and a slackline. After picking up a surfboard, my instructor Tinis and I snuck into the lush forest where a short trail led to the beach. The ground was covered in leaves and small holes—a large population of orange-legged Halloween crabs make a constant rustling sound as they go about their day unbothered. (Watching where you step is essential.) Once on the beach, Tinis advised me to shuffle my feet along the sandy bottom of Guiones as I got in the water. Apparently, the region is also home to round stingrays. Costa Rica may be slightly smaller than West Virginia, but the country is inhabited by about six percent of the world's biodiversity.
Playa Guiones is truly the gift that keeps on giving—a cornucopia of rideable waves. The 4.3-mile stretch of gorgeous, crescent-shaped white sand beach has a sandy bottom with plenty of breaks for all surfers. Bigger waves break far out, which prevents pros and beginners from ever riding too close to each other.
Compared to places such as Hawaii, Costa Rica’s surfing history is relatively short. According to the country’s Surf Federation, two Americans, former World World II soldiers, pioneered the sport here. The year was 1952, and they had come to Playas de Doña Ana in the Gulf of Nicoya after having seen the epic waves from their warplanes. In the next few decades, interest grew exponentially among locals and eventually among international travelers. And then, of course, there was The Endless Summer II that put breaks such as Playa Negra and Witch’s Rock on the map.
Nowadays, surfing is an inseparable part of coastal Costa Rican communities. I met the director of a local NGO, CEPIA, that among other things organizes surfing classes for underprivileged kids. I visited a local school, Del Mar Academy, that counted a surfboard rack as one of the many facilities available to children and teachers. What impressed me the most, though, was that women often dominated the lineups here. In fact, Costa Rica will be represented by two female surfers at this summer’s Olympic games—Leilani McGonagle and Brissa Hennessy. And last year, Nosara-native Jimena Ruiz brought home a bronze medal from the International Surfing Association World Para Surfing Championship. She is 13.
The next day, after an early morning surf session, I checked out the Love, Nosara boutique—a completely open-air single-story apparel store erected next to the gigantic trunk of a tree. Breezy separates in monochromatic palettes, jewelry, and canvas bags—all produced locally—made up the inventory.
I arrived at the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo that afternoon, and headed to the spa for a Koyomo treatment inspired by the ancient healing practices of the Chorotega, a local indigenous tribe. My room at the property overlooked one of the two beaches in the resort, so the sound of gently breaking waves was the first thing I heard every morning. The expansive resort features a private beach club, a golf course, world-class bars and restaurants serving international cuisine, and sprawling private residences with postcard-worthy ocean views. Guests can choose from a long list of activities, including a brand-new reef restoration project and a surf session at SurfX. The school offers one- to eight-hour truly epic experiences led by professionals. Diaz Coto is Costa Rica’s first national female surfing champion. Before she became a surfer and traveled the world as part of Roxy’s surf team, she was a professional swimmer. Diaz Coto was also the first woman ever to be featured on the cover of Surfos, Latin America’s biggest surfing magazine. I had met her and Storrosten at Peninsula Papagayo’s marina, where we boarded a spacious motor boat. We were off to the nearby Playa Iguanita. A river mouth here creates a sandbar that rewards surfers with a peeling left waist-high break.
After our session, we paddled back to the boat and headed for a tour of the stunning coastline. Protected lands make up almost a third of the country. Witch’s Rock, located at Santa Rosa National Park, is Costa Rica’s most famous break that delivers perfect barreling waves more than 300 days a year. Then there was Ollie’s Point, another famous (albeit remote) rocky right point break for advanced surfers. The boat stopped so we could take a dip in the ocean. The scenery was breathtaking—the lush and rugged coastline, the glistening warm water of the Pacific, and the clear blue sky felt therapeutic. On our way back, Hanna pointed out to the left of our speeding boat. Several grey fins emerged from the water: Dolphins.
Surfing has a spiritual side that goes beyond the physical challenge of the sport. Steve Kotler, in his excellent book about surfing, science, and religion West of Jesus likens it to a "watery communion." He writes: "At the far end of this spectrum are the surfers who believe that since the ocean was the place where life began on this planet, the act of riding on a wave allows the surfer to momentarily connect with this living memory. In Jungian terms, surfing gives the surfer access to the collective unconscious of the planet." After more than a year of constant anxiety when avoiding people and hunkering down became the norm, connecting with the planet and the ocean in Costa Rica truly felt like a fresh start.