Planning a trip for Thanksgiving week this year and debating between northwest Puerto Rico and central/north pacific Costa Rica. Rico vs. Rica.....haha, sounds like a welter weight matchup! Both places will be awesome, but swell consistency is deciding factor. Costa will be during height of rain season and tail end of best swell season. PR will be at the beginning of peak swell season. Anyone's (and Mr. Swellinfo) input and/or experience is very appreciated. One huge pro for me going to PR is that I have family friends who recently moved to RINCON! Just waiting to see if they will stick around during the Holidays that week. Would be a big economical reason to go to PR. Flight prices are slightly more expensive to PR right now too.
Good time of year for PR, but you could still easily get unlucky and have it be flat your entire trip. It might not be the best time of year for CR, but you will have ridable waves. Take your gamble. Personally I only book for PR if I can see the swell coming.
end of november is pretty much the end of rainy season on CR's Central Pacific Coast. trust me i am down there every year for thanksgiving and then 2 weeks. it rained once for about 30 min this past year. you should have swell..its always fairly good there..just find the right spot. holler if you want a price quote..via email.
I would go with Cost Rica... Always swell and little or no crowds. I would say 99.9% chance of getting waves in Costa (November). If money is no matter, then go to Costa... It's awesome there... been there twice. The surf never dropped below 4 feet, but tapped out out at 10 feet. Plus there is much to see in Costa Rica; wildlife, volcanos, rainforest, fishing, golfing, etc.... I would go with Rico if your looking for a cheap surf trip, like to surfing reef breaks, like sea urchins and love surfing with a crowd (It will remind you of surfing on the east coast in the middle summer on a good swell.) I would say 50% chance of getting waves in Rico (November). There are many surf breaks to handle all swell and wind conditions, but you may get caught in a crowd.
i scored some in costa mid october... it is rain season, hit or miss. i lucked out, didnt rain much. glassy sessions most mornings... evenings were hit or miss. mostly shoulder-2ft overhead
hows puerto in the winter specifically january? im lookin to take a trip down there during winter break from school
i was in costa rica last november for a day. it wasn't too bad. of course better than the mid atlantic thats for sure. i have never been to puerto rico. i was supposed to go for 4 days, and it was supposed to be this week, but we had to scrap those plans. we supposed to go with my fiance just for a little vacation. we really don't wanna go to all those nice places during the summer, because why waste it for the days it's hot up here too right? she's teaching at a college part time, but she is only doing it for one more year. so we are limited on when we can go. she can only go in the summer, the 4 weeks between december, and january, and spring break. this spring we went to diamond head hawaii. she had never been there before, and i had once 11 years ago. i got two buddies i grew up with who really weren't too into surfing as they just relocated, and started a new business down the shore in jersey. they were into it, but not as into it as i was. living in north jersey their whole life, and not having as easy access to the ocean. the last few years they have been spending like 5 or 6 weeks in puerto rico in january/february. i was thinking maybe we could visit with them for one of the weeks they go, but my fiance has to start teaching again usually a week or two before they leave. they said it's great. one of them told me when fort monmouth closes he is considering moving down there full time. his girlfriend works there, and it's closing in 2011 or 2012 i think. i am really curious about puerto rico. i saw something on the fuel network a few months ago, and they were in puerto rico surfing. i forgot where it was as i only caught the last few minutes, but maybe someone else here saw it. looked really sick.
I took a surf trip to Puerto Rico back in February 2009. Most consider Puerto Rico as the Atlantic's Hawaii. We stayed in Aquadilla right next to airport. We caught a good swell, but winds killed most spots. (Surfers Beach, Wilderness Choppy NE winds 6-8ft), (Gas Chambers [protected spot] epic 6-10ft backdoor pipe), Downtown Aquadilla - Sand Pits was 6-8ft and perfect), (Tamarindo fun 4-6ft), (Marias 6-8ft semi-chop), (Tres Palms 10-15ft Plus and perfect for the Greg Knoll types), (Little Mailbu 3-4ft and fun, but very shallow on umbrella coral with a hint of fire coral), Overall it was a good trip except for the weather rainy with heavy NE winds and cool temps. The locals were great and even pointed out where to paddle out. Got to surf with Hector Santa Maria (http://www.ergophobia.com/blog/?tag=hector-santamaria) a teenage pro surfer, but very cocky. Here are some images from my trip. http://www.eastbreak.com/Photos/PR2009/PR2009Gallery.html
