Hi everybody, I am so amped and high on life right now, I figured I'd share my experience with everybody here, and that's all I want to do, I'm not looking for praise or anything, I'm just happy that I had the opportunity to experience such a spiritual happening. I went on vacation to Costa Rica last week and surfed the majority of time at Grande, we had planned on camping one night at Witches Rock, but time was running out, so last Thursday after a morning sesh at Grande I put my foot down and said to my two friends who had stayed out all night, that I was going to Witches, whether they were going or not, so my one friend bailed, luckily my other friend was game, we strapped the boards on our rental and started heading out, we ran into a Tico friend who we had met the first night there and he wanted to come along. I did not want to take a boat, if I was going I was driving in myself and that's exactly what we did. It took 45 minutes to drive some cool ass 4x4 and rock crawling and we made it to the bottom where the bridge is, the park ranger told us to park off to the side of the road out beyond the bridge because the tide was filling in. We grabbed our boards and walked through the jungle, I saw the estuary that Wingnut, Pat O'Connel and Robert August paddled across in Endless Summer II, and due to the over-infestation of crocs, that route is now closed. We made it to the beach, at 3:15...perfect timing, the boats were gone for the day and there were only 5 locals out...the waves were 2 ft. overhead and barreling, just beautiful! I stretched for a couple minutes, rubbed some wax on my board and paddled out, as I was paddling out I realized how black the water was, from the waves breaking and churning up the black sand...I said a prayer to God, I always do whenever I get myself into sketchy situations, and this was definitely one of them situations considering there are 20 foot crocs, bull sharks, tiger sharks, manta rays and who knows what else...I prayed and asked God to protect me and thanked him for giving me the opportunity to be there....I caught a couple nice rides, but 1 stood out, not my best ride ever, but one I won't forget, when I was paddling for waves, the locals were cheering me on, yelling "Go Gringo, Go Gringo!". It was amazing how welcoming and friendly these guys were, I was so amped! The sun started going down and we figured we better paddle in, so we got back to the beach and we just standing there watching some more sets roll through and my Tico friend pointed up to the sky, there was a break in the clouds shaped like an eye and the sun aligned itslef directly in the center, he said "that's the eye of God". We watched probably the most unbelievable sunset I have ever seen, red, pink,orange streaks disappearing behind the mountains...it started getting dark, real dark and real fast, so we walked up the beach and headed back to our truck. We got back to the bridge and it was literally in the middle of an estuary, the water was only 2 feet deep, but it was about 25 yards across with the bridge in the middle. One of the locals went first and I followed, we crossed the first section to the bridge and then proceeded to cross another long section of water, not a big deal if there weren't crocs and cayman, but in this case kinda freaky considering it was dark and it was feeding time! We made it across, and I thanked the locals we had met for allowing us to share their break and strapped our boards on the truck and backed out onto the road, started driving and after about 10-15 ft. came to another area that had filled in with water, and there in the water was a 7 foot crocodile, he saw our headlights and started crawling away and we hurried up and turned the truck to follow him with our lights and we saw him slip into deeper water and swim away. Best experience of my life, without a doubt...I can't explain the feeling I have now, renewed confidence, inner peace and a no fear approach to life...definitely the best day of my life...so far!
honestly this is the reason that i love surfing. the different cultures to see. cograts on your mecca bro
I know exactly what you mean with the locals man. I was in Quepos last May with a singing group I'm in, and one of my friends and I woke up and did a DP every morning. One day, my buddy went with the rest of the group to go zip lining, but I figured, since this was my first time surfing in the Pacific Ocean and since it's real tough for me to do any traveling, it'd be worth it to stay. So here I am, surfing at Playitas by myself... I'm out for awhile when I notice some other bodyboarders a ways up the beach. I get out, get my stuff and walk over... waves are forming a little better at the new spot. When I get out there, I start talking to the guys... there are four of them, two of whom speak decent English, the other two of whom speak only Spanish (and I don't speak Spanish at all). We're all chillin' and surfing, cheering each other when we get great rides. After about a half hour or so, I notice one of the guys who didn't speak any English getting out and going over toward my stuff -- I had about $400 of equipment on the beach, which, granted, was in retrospect a bit irresponsible. I turn around and one of the guys noticed that I looked a little uneasy, so he told me that his buddy was going to grab my stuff to put it next to theirs. It'd be less likely to get stolen if it's with a whole lot of stuff, especially since they are well known locals. That moment was one of those times when I just couldn't stop smiling, knowing that there was a common bond between these guys who had never left the town of Quepos in their lives, didn't graduate from high school and spoke English only so far as they have had contact with tourists, and me, a kid who lives 4,000 miles away, speaks Spanish only so far as I know how to say "Where's X?" or "How are you?" I was so glad that I dragged around a sponge and fins for a week and a half, through Bogota, Colombia, Panama City, PN and San Jose, CR for this experience. Everything was completely worth it. Of course, that's nothin' to your story man haha ... great times. I can't wait to go back to Costa Rica. It's gonna happen sometime.
Awesome! That is what living life is all about..not acquiring materialistic stuff but living life in a manner to allow for the opportunity to experience something like that. Jealous. I'm going there on my honey moon in like 3 months..can't wait! Doubt i'll drag the Mrs. through an alligator swamp..so i'll probably take the boat out there! What about you friend who bailed? He must feel like crap after hearing your charged up story!! You snooze you lose! The dude kookmeyered it!
The national saying is Pura Vida, pure life. To us gringos, it sounds cliche but there they mean it and they live it. Live is about the simple pleasures and your experience typifies the amazing experiences I've had down there. You feel the stress falling off of you when you get there and the lineups are totally chill. Throw in some magical overhead waves and it changes your life
definitely changed mine...you really need to leave this country to realize how stupid the **** is that we stress over...no wonder people are dropping off like flies here from cancer. I love Costa Rica and the people of Costa Rica, they will bend over backwards to help you...I've known for a long time that materialistic crap and money will not buy happiness and surfing has taught me that the only thing I can take with me are experiences, knowing this and listening to a lot of positive music, Bob especially, it was so refreshing to go to a place where just about everybody shared the same views...All i felt is love down there, I met so many people in one week that are friends for life....I was talking to one of the guys I met down there and he just invited me to come live at his house, he told me his family has a bed and food for me if I want to go...I am so touched by the generosity and kindness of the Ticos and Ticas, and have nothing but love for them. Pura Vida! ...and thanks for the kind words, bros...it means a lot...Keep the Stoke, Live the Dream!
Nice, brother. Experiences like that are what we're all after - magic days that make up the milestones in our lives... things we'll remember forever.
