| The 30-Day Surf Intensive course is geared
towards advanced surfers. This course spends the majority of their time
in the Nicoya Peninsula, camping at Witch’s Rock and Avellana just
like the 15-Day Courses, but spends more time at each beach and travels
down the Central Pacific coast of Costa Rica to continually hit more surfing
spots. Located on the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica groups traditionally
set up base camps at both Playa Avellana and at the Witch’s Rock
expedition site for 8 to 10 days.
Avellana has a good beginner beach break with a sandy
bottom with a lot of safe whitewash. Further north of the beach break
there is an A-Frame (breaks both left and right) reef break at a river
mouth, which breaks over a shelf and picks up more than the beach break.
Surfing is best here at mid to high-tide. A little north of the river
mouth is a break called “Little Hawaii.” It is a predominant
right that breaks off a reef, which is best at low tide and picks up a
lot of swell, holding up to head and a half to double overhead.
Witch’s Rock is a very remote, now-famous surf
spot was a long time closely held secret by Costa Rican locals until it
was “discovered” in the surf movie Endless Summer 2. It has
a main beach break at the river mouth that breaks right. It also has a
beach break called “El Burro” (The Donkey), which is a peak
with a really good left. Predominant offshore winds hold up the waves,
so they’re really hollow. There are big tubes and great barrels
break both left and right. Since the beach is part of a National Park
with environmental protections, there is limited infrastructure making
it a hard hike in to the camp site.
Of course your total surf time will not just be spent at two beaches.
Depending on where the good surf is your group will decide where to take
day trips. From Avellana your group will have access to:
Playa Tamarindo, which has another good beginner beach break with slow
rollers.
Playa Negra, which has a strong hollow break over a
reef that is mostly a right, and it also has a nice beach break called
Sandies that is good for beginners.
Junquillal, which has a nice beach break and a solid
left off the rock point when the swell picks up.
Marbella, which has another nice beach break that breaks
with a good offshore wind.
Santa Teresa, which has a consistent beach break that
picks up a lot of swell and peaks with both lefts and rights with regular
head-high days.
The 30-Day Surf Intensive Course Itinerary has to be much more flexibility
in order to chase the best waves and has an added bonus of a Canopy Tour
and 2-Day rafting trip down the world famous Pacuare River
to break up the surf routine. That being said, it is definitely an Outward
Bound course, and students will be part of a self-sufficient group (setting
up camp, cooking meals, be part of group discussions) that will have holistic
instruction (learning about lunar phases, wave formations, coastal ecology,
mangroves, etc) and partake in some other non-surfing “downtime”
activities (which may include the Solo experience, Beach Olympics, Capoeira,
Yoga, Fitness Routines, Leadership Development and Group Dynamic Challenges,
Team Building Activities, etc)
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