In the Planning stages for a trip to Costa Rica. I would like to take my son but like everyone else , I'm on a budget. I would appreciate any help from previous experiences as far as where to stay to save money. Also what NOT to do to waste money. I just want to surf , eat, sleep. Planning to go in April 2015 to Nosara. Thanks...
Sick idea for a tread bro. Can't believe no one's ever posted bout how to do a CR trip best, let alone the rest of CenAm.
I think we've all posted a thread about some place we are going and wanting advice, not a big deal, the search function will assist you well on this topic, much better than what you will get here
since you already have the month and town picked out, not sure what other advice we could offer. go online, research the hotels, find something that fits your budget that is nice, do the same for a rental car.... what do you want us to do, make the reservation for you?
Hola Amigo....got a place in Jaco. 2 bedroom 2 bath cookie cutter place with pool and playground. Jaco has a bad rap but its not so bad if you don't go out after 12am. Lots of good surf breaks for beginners close by and world class breaks for the advanced as well. Let me know if you want more info...i've been here for 3 weeks and heading back to South Carolina on Thursday. Been coming here for over 10 years and love hooking people up in this awesome country. Anyone else that tells you CR sucks is full of ****.....................Hablas en esto semana mi amigo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pura Vida!!!!!
Aren't you glad you stopped by the SI Gladiator Forum for surf travel advice? Good luck with your trip.
Bro, the advice doesn't stop there. If you need life coaching, parenting advice, legal counsel, automotive help, and even fitness tips then you came to the right place. Full service here at SI.
Nosara - Playa Guiones - I was there in March this past year, for about 5 days. Seems like a great place for a family surf trip, our impression was that it seemed like an extension of North America— tons of gringos walking around, and prices were pretty high for accommodations, even for CR. Similar to Tamarindo, but less of a tico scene and more like 95% North Americans vacationing there and retiring there. Also, things are spread out, and it seems best to have a car. We did not have one so we just walked around a bit then eventually just rented a car and left to go looking for someplace else. I checked out Marbella for a few days then ended up down in Dominical for like 2 weeks and the place was much more my speed. While we were there in Nosara, we stayed at kaya sol surf hotel for a few nights. It's ok, we were puzzled about one thing: it seemed very expensive for no air conditioner. Most of the rooms were taken, so we got stuck with no AC. Still, in Costa Rica I believe that $75-85/night should get you an AC. The values are a bit skewed in this town because there's more people throwing money around. I think one cool place that we didn't get a chance to stay in was the "4you hostel" which is like a high-end hostel. We got really really sick from drinking a natural juice from "Go Juice" at the Gilded Iguana hotel. I'd recommend that you don't drink their juice or mess with their food at all. Unsanitary. Also, in late March and April you will want to watch out for something called "semana santa" and it's actually two weeks were tons of Ticos flood the beaches- kinda like our 4th of July. Anyway, google it, find out when that is and avoid that time of year. Although, maybe they don't go to Nosara.
Some one need parenting advice? Here's all you need to know. http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=beat
if you hate getting barreled then got to nosara if you love head high mushy waves that break 1/2 mile out you will be in heaven
surfcosta.com www.surfcosta.com Private lodging in Esterillos Oeste. 15 min from Jaco / 40 min from Manuel Antonio. Gated coommunity/gate property, multiple houses for rent, tour guide available, swim up pool bar/grill. for questions email rvb@surfcosta.com - glad to help even if you don't stay with us.
couldnt have said it better. The bottom at playa guiones is very weird in that the wave deceptively looks more performance oriented from the beach but when you surf it it flattens out and is really boring and mushy. Now, if you love to longboard and just cruise then you can have a lot of fun there. If you drive to playa ostional, you will find a very steep barreling wave similar to playa hermosa. Nosara is a great town, the wave there is just really unimpressive.
I'm a huge fan of Witch's Rock Surf Camp (witchsrocksurfcampdotcom) in Tamarindo, Guanacaste. Super friendly, safe, nice accomodations, great food, and wide variety of surf spots. Cost is minimal, especially during Sept-Oct. Don't let "green season" fool you, rarely get rained out. Unlike spots south, it's not overly commercialized, much more laid back. I will be going back in early Sept for the 9th time. Includes trip to Witch's Rock and Ollie's Point. Fly into Liberia CR Airport (LIR), airport transfers are even included. Check TripAdviser for other comments. Prices include boats, vans, guides/instructors, breakfast, transfers, accomodations.
Does anyone have recommendations for places to stay in Nosara? I've looked into Harbor Reef, Casa Tucan (can't find contact info), Blew Dogs (can't find contact info) and Casa Romantica.
I am building a house in Nosara, right next to the Harbor Reef Hotel...yes it is getting more expensive to stay and surf there. But you can still find a hotel that is reasonable. The surf that time of the year is very consistent and great for a longboard or shortboard. If you prefer a heavy wave, there are places close by. The town is laid back even if it does have its fair share of gringos. If you stayed at the Harbor Reef Hotel or Mama Rosas you don't need a car. I never get a car, but if you feel you need something you can rent a car in town. Don't waste your money on a car rental though unless you are going out of town...but again the surf is fun and can get big enough for even an advanced surfer. I have been to Jaco...not quite the same experience. Good luck and have fun!
I was in CR about 2 months ago in late April. 4 Days in Tamarindo and 5 days in Santa Teresa. Tamarindo was pretty much flat except for an evening swell which happened to occur every evening at 5:30pm right in front of our villa which was fantastic, the rest of the day was flat. But, Santa Teresa was.. amazing. I drove all the way from Tamarindo to Santa Teresa, we drove along the coast through Nosara. If you end up travelling further south (past Nosara) I highly recommend you make sure it is a SUV and a 4x4. I had to do 7 or so river crossings on the trip and it wasn't even the wet season yet! Actually I recommend an SUV no matter where you drive, the roads are awful. Money wise I have to admit, we were rather shocked at how expensive food was. North American prices everywhere we went, especially in Tamarindo (We just got shwarma plates one night with a few cokes and it cost about $30 USD for 2). For the stay I would recommend finding something on AirBnB and just cooking your own food, you can get some nice places there. I am not sure what you consider budget so I am not even going to get into that, but there is a very wide range on AirBNB and so far I have only had pleasant experiences. We booked both Santa Teresa and Tamarindo on AirBnB. In Santa Teresa we didn't even book anything until we arrived that night and just found a place quickly online that same night, which ended up being incredible.
My last two trips to Nosara, I stayed at http://www.nosaraparadiserentals.com/index.php. The Studio works out to $50 a night and you get a lot staying in their complex. Being able to cook in is key in Nosara because the Impuesto at the restaurants is a killer. I stayed a 4 you hostel too and it is great for around $20/night per person. It is still pretty new and the owners are there and on top of things and cool.
surf costa I've gotta second this. I stayed with surfcosta last November. All in all it was a great experience. I went down last super last minute when I found out I'd be able to pull a week off in between switching jobs. I wasn't sure how great it would be because I couldn't get any of my buddies to take off and fly down for a week on such last minute notice, but I ended up getting picked up at the airport by Bryan and chilled with him for the whole week. Super nice guy. The house I stayed in was huge (prob big enough for 8-10 people although I was the only one sleeping there,) has a nice pool, BBQ, friendly dogs, monkeys that come in little packs throughout the day.. all gated in and about a 5 minute drive from town and the beach. The surf was consistent. Everyday there were surfable waves and barely anyone out there. On the bigger days, you get a few locals out there but they were always friendly. If you really wanted to, you could drive about 10 mins south to another beach which was mostly deserted. Although the waves were always a good height, they weren't super fast but apparently there are other beaches in the area that had faster, more advanced waves. I can't really say enough good things about it. I'll definitely be trying to get back down there ASAP.
Wait...people don't go to Tamarindo to surf Tamarindo. You stayed there for 4 days and didn't surf the half dozen quality/ consistent breaks a couple minute car ride away?
