What's Your Next Surf Trip Going to Be?

Save some of that for the 2nd week in Nov

 

Ill ship the bag within the next week

 

One of my old friends lives near Popoyo now.

It would be pretty suite to take a trip down to Nicaragua. Maybe do that in January instead of Rincon, but the flight is probably longer than the one to PR, which eats into/wastes my off days.

 

Hey guys. Just got back from a surf at grande... wife is sleeping still... sitting outside with some coffee and figured I'd give you guys a mid trip update. It's been amazing.

By the way, not that you guys really care, but our wedding was INSANE! That year of stress and all that was more than worth it.

So a little background about me before i get started. I feel it's notable details.
1) iv only traveled to PR. I was much younger, and was with family/close family friends who live near rincon. Point being i had people around who essentially took care of me
2) i don't speak Spanish. Took French in high school. I have worked in restuarant kitchens and even now am in kitchens alot due to my job. So i know a little. Meant to brush up before this trip but totally forgot due to work and wedding.

Now to the good stuff. I'll break it down into surf and the actual trip. Surf first.

Arrived Monday around 2. Was up for 12 hours. Pretty shot. Checked the wave at grande and it was solid HH+. Grabbed the board (which was waiting for me at our room. A 5'8 CI flyer) and suited up. I could see the look on my wife's face though. She didn't want to hold me back, so wouldn't say it. But she was tired and hungry and wanted to go eat. Said she'd go without me but i couldn't ditch her in the first hour of our trip. Plus i was in no state to surf honestly. So i passed.

Woke up Tuesday and got on it. Still HH+. High tide was 3AM i believe. Got out at 530 for sunrise. I literally got stalked by howler monkys as i walked the path in the dark. That sound will wake you up real quick. Only a few guys out. Didn't have the best sesh. I found out real quick why they say to surf mid- high tide. It was good for maybe 30-40 min. The power in the water is unreal. And the wave is tough to dial in. It would feather waaaay outside then come in and unload in fairly shallow water. Wave is pretty fat then just jacks and gets super steep. My positioning was all off. Did manage to snag 2 or 3 wedgey rights. Before the tide dropped to much. Walked the beach afterwards... it's crazy how quickly things change here. Tide swings are about 8-9 feet. Walking the beach only an hour after my sesh it looked completly diffrent.

Yesterday, Wednesday i passed on the morning sesh. We planned a estuary tour at 7 since the tour needs a fuller tide. Could of got an hour in but with it still only being a dropping mid tide at sunrise and swell still HH+ i figured i wouldn't mind passing.

Today was slightly smaller. Shoulder to HH. High tide was 4, got in a little before 530. I'm getting a hang of this wave. You need to sit inside and when you see that huge set feathering outside, hold your ground instead of paddling for the horizon. Im still sticking to the rights because of my leg. So i caught only rights. Really fun wave. Steep on the peak, little barrel section, then would either continue to wall up inside or fatten a bit for a nice cutback section then wall up to the inside. Feeling much more confident on this wave. The boards a little small. Id ride somthing similar at home but here i feel like i need a bit more paddle power. The flutter kick hurts my leg. Still, quality waves. Quality over quantity.

Now the trip as a whole. This is so cool and never would of thought it would be a highlight over surfing.

So after bailing on the Monday evening sesh me and the wife grabbed some food and drinks at the tree top bar here. Our server was "man-reek-ay". Can't spell it. I'll call him manny. He speaks Spanish obviously, some english. We speak english obviously, some Spanish. He was awesome. We tried speaking on Spanish and were actually doing good, but then the conversation got beyond our ability. I find it important to try and not expect him to use english. He was very patient and actually would test us. Pushing our Spanish. Somthing i didn't know, in CR they use a more formal way of speaking. For instance when someone says "gracias" (thank you) they don't say "de nada" (you welcome).... they say "mucho gusto" (my pleasure". So the little Spanish i know is getting tweaked by manny to use thier dialect. Any way... we had a quick lunch, some drinks. Told manny we'd be back for dinner. He offered to put a few drink orders in for us so we could get the happy hour pricing. We said yes. Walked the beach. Beautiful. It's the rainy season. But at sundown the clouds broke up some for a beautiful sunset. Went back for dinner, talked with manny some more, then called it a night.

Tuesday after my surf we walked the beach. My wife LOVES tide pools. So we walked and found a bunch of cool fish, crabs, urchins, and more. There's this huge rock the size of a building with smaller rocks around its base. I'll post pictures once home. The wife was like a child, running from pool to pool in excitement. Got some breakfast. Then spent time on the beach. She is terrified of the ocean and the power in the water here is nothing like home. But she was a champ and even started body surfing the inside. She was getting a little too confident and i had to reel her back some. Spent some time in our pool. Then grabbed drinks at the bar. The bar tender is tinco. A surfer. Very much like manny as far as talking goes. We were laughing and talking about surfing and a bunch of stuff. It's funny how the language barrier isn't an issue. Great conversation. Then manny walks up and asked us about our trip. We mentioned we just got married. He's wifes cousin just got married the same day as us. Offered to pick us up in the morning, bring us to this little cove with no waves for a bbq to celebrate both weddings. The wife was hesitant but i quickly said yes. He's a nice guy and i had a good feeling. This area isn't built up like tamarindo. It's pretty "rugged". I wanted to see the country through a locals eyes. We left the bar, had some alone time, then when back for dinner. By the way, we keep going to the tree top restaurant here, but the foods amazing. And like i said we've made friends with manny and tinco. We do plan on venturing out to other places though. Manny served us again. Right off the bat he tells us only Spanish. We did really good. Not to toot my own horn, but for never learning Spanish i can speak it pretty good. I owe alot of that to manny. He won't stop and speak english, he will try and reword something or make us figure it out.... with patience ofcourse. Finished dinner, said goodnight to manny and tinco and hit the hay.

Yesterday we woke up, took the estuary tour which was fun. Got back and got ready to meet up with manny. He picked us up, brought us to a liquor store and food store for beer, chicken, mahi. I insisted to manny i pay. Then we went to his home to get his wife and son (5 years old). We got to this beach.... holy crap. Beautiful doesn't describe it. I'll post the pictures once home. Then manny left to pick up the other newlyweds. Manny was the only one who spoke english. So our Spanish was tested for sure. But they were all incredible people. We spent the day swimming, eating, drinking, and teaching eachother our languages. Even manny. His english is better than our Spanish, but it's still not great. There was plenty he wanted us to teach him. Again, good vibes regardless of language barrier. We all hit it off. Manny taught me how the ticos bbq. Cook the meat with garlic, throw the tortillas on the grill, make tacos with yuca (like a potato) on the side, topped with homemade salsa mannys wife made. The salsa was so good. Mannys wife kept laughing at me as i moaned after every bite. I played with his son, ali (alejandro). That kid is wild. He never gets tired. I had him stand on my knees in the water and hold my hands then you walk backwards. Stimulating water skiing in a way. It's somthing my dad did to me as a kid in the pool. He was going bonkers. We spent 4 or 5 hours together. Then got dropped back off at our room. Manny said he'd be back to grande in about an hour for the sunset. So we grabbed some drinks and waited. Then watched the sunset with his family. Had a few more drinks with him and his family. Then called it a night.

Having a amazing time. The people are so kind and welcoming, surfs fun, scenery is beautiful. Can't wait to ser what the next 3-4 days being. Pura vida!

 

Where ya going Yank?

 

Congratulations Senior BassMon2!

¡Felicidades, y que tengan juntos una vida plena de bendiciones y maravillas! Congratulations, and may you have a life full of blessings and wonders together

 

MAN! Reading this makes we want to go travel!!!! Sounds like a blast. post up some pics when youre back!

 

Nosara

 

Ok. I'm rolling into Hermosa on 12/1.

 

Nice. Haven't surfed there. Did Tamarindo & Playa Grande a few yrs back, prefer Nosara, mostly cause it's familiar turf & at this point in my life, that aspect has attractiveness.

Unfortunately, when the NYT pinged Nosara as one of the '50 must-travel places' a few yrs ago, it blew up & hasn't stopped. The trustafarians are, annoyingly, all over the place nowadaze.

 

I hear what you're saying the one time I surfed it it would jack up outside temptingly then fatten out and roll though and just detonate on the beach in like 2ft of water. So you're choice was nothing outside or roll the dice with your neck inside. Maybe it needs a honking big swell to start the outer bars working?

 

+1 Siss

 

Me gusta!

 

Setting up to do tamarindo in the early spring. Doing a surf-cation type thing to see if I can lure my wife and daughter with a cool trip - and surf a dream for myself!

 

My wife wants to do the Emerald Isle, Galloway Bay is where her family is from. I'm pumped. Need to get my cold water game in gear, so I may venture to the Jerz late spring for a wake up call. I'm such a pussy. Thin blood and a thick skin - a Gator to the core.

It won't be a surf trip, but a trip with some surf.

I'll don a hood, gloves, and booties to be able to see Ireland from the lineup. Can't duck dive the cold slabs, I'll shut down. I'm prone to ice cream cone headaches just from drinking frozen drinks (I don't anymore). I'm looking for long period longboardable liners, I've seen pics. Time the sets, dry hair paddle out, long rides with no poundings. And the 'Pipes

 

Mr. B....i was deciding between tamarindo and playa grande. Chose grande ofcourse. Speaking with the locals here.... im glad i did. I can see tamarindo from here. It's much more built up. I guess it's a matter of opinion, but i couldn't be happier here. Im getting the impression that this trip wouldn't have the little things that make it so special had i stayed in tamarindo. More accommodations and luxury, tamarindo. But im getting to mingle with the locals here and seeing the country through a locals eyes, not a tourist. Even wifey who would normally prefer more luxury is loving it here. Id suggest grande over tamarindo, maybe get a car to drive to tamarindo for surf. Don't know how you or queen B would fair here in the water, no disrespect intended. When the trips over I'll post here and give my opinion for anyone coming to the area.

Again all optionin. And I'll give my 2 cents over its over covering all the details. But knowing you i think you'd like playa grande more.

 

Nic for the holidays. Had an epic 2 month Mex road trip this summer. Soooo many great empty waves breaking down there.....just need the time and motivation to scope them !

 

Went for the first time this past July. Got really lucky and had sun and temps in the 80s every day... which is unheard of anywhere in Ireland. It was kinda funny (but not) because EVERYONE was walking around sunburned, to one degree or another. The headline in the newspaper the day I got there was, "Dozens Hospitalized from Heat Wave." It was only 85 degrees! They were in the middle of the worst drought in 45 years, so things weren't AS green as they should have been. Still green, though.

If you go in the winter, be prepared for nasty weather and really, really short days, and really, really long nights.

Waves were good for two of the 9 days I was there. One day was smaller then the other, but the surf was generally uncrowded and top quality. Reminded me a lot of Central California surf... some beachbreaks, but mostly rock reefs and some points. Food, music, booze all great... women - gorgeous.