Planning a trip to Costa Rica this summer. Thinking about Witch's rock. Just wondering how it is both wave quality wise and crowd wise. I would imagine that it is pretty crowded. Also, any other suggestions on where to go for a pretty cheap price? I will be going with a group of about 8-9 people. Thanks!
i second that #belmarfrieghttrainbarrels #23fteverydayinbelmar im sure 9 people paddling out in a group will be welcomed with warm arms. it will be crowed and tamarindo is expensive. i would stay in playa grande at a cheap hostel if anything with such a big group you should be able to get a good price somewhere. i would head further south just a preference of mine. make sure you hit up playa negra, i didn't get the opportunity to surf there and wish i had. if in tamarindo be ready to get hassled by coke dealers all day they will follow you are to, they never seem to get that **** off means no after you decline them nicely.
If you go to Witches you should drive in. It's the best a cheapest way to get there .... bring a tent ... lol!
Check the conditions before you make the trek to Witches Rock. Long journey for crappy waves. I would suggest renting a boat and hitting all the breaks up there. Costa has gotten pretty crowded over the years so what's nine more people in the line-up! I know one thing, forget the crowd, its the nine people all getting along and deciding where to go that's going to be the problem. I never travel with more than two people anymore just because it always ends in disaster or at the very least is a major pain in the @$$! If you want a really killer place to stay my friends have a really nice place right on the beach in Playa Grande which isn't too far from Witches Rock and is just around the corner from Tamarindo. You can rent out the whole house or the bottom of the house is divided into two separate rooms complete with bathrooms, kitchens, a/c, huge beds etc... Their rates are actually pretty cheap for what you get and compared to other places. The view from the porch sitting in the hammock is worth a million dollars! There is also a nice reef break right out front which really gets good during hightide. The people that own the place are Allan and Kathy Keyes and their place is called "Villa De La Roca". Here's a link to a site with info and picts of the house. http://www.vrbo.com/4280
Probably damn true! I have never, ever been on a trip where someone hadn't gotten sick or hurt. Whether it be from bouncing off the reef, or blowing mud from eating tainted lettuce or bad ice! Hell one trip one of our guys was paddling back out and duck dove a wave only to take a ten foot piece of driftwood log to the forehead! He was very lucky it didn't knock him out however there was blood everywhere and he did need quite a few stitches. On another trip we had a newbie with us who thought he could just meander out onto the black sand beach at 3pm with nothing on his feet. By the time he realized his feet were cooking he was past the point of no return and couldn't do much about the situation but run to seek refuge from the black sand. He ended up with third degree burns on both his feet and both feet had huge blisters to the point where he couldn't walk and we had to carry him around wherever we went. Needless to say he didn't do any surfing that trip. So I'd say that statistic is right on! At least one out of two or three will get sick or hurt.
I just came back from a 4 day trip at Tamarindo and I couldnt agree more about the wave being exactly like Belmar on a big day--Heavy/fast, mostly closeouts and breaking in knee deep sand.. Grande offered a better wave but not not much.. I'll head back to SoCal for my next trip.
Dude those bigger days in Belmar are when you gotta hit the new artificial reef, it'll handle the juicier stuff no problem. #BelmarCloudbreak
