Surfing and Enjoying the Jungle in Costa Rica
Every year, we go on a trip for our anniversary without our kids. Usually we go away for a weekend, but this time we decided to go a little bigger. Together with my sister and brother-in-law, who have an anniversary just a few days away from ours, we took an amazing trip to Costa Rica.
Our first Airbnb in Costa Rica
As you may know if you’ve read through the site, I did have the wonderful experience of living in Costa Rica when I was a teenager. Although I learned to surf growing up in California, Costa Rica is where surfing really clicked for me and I fell in love. With the incredibly friendly people, the host family that was kind enough to welcome me into their home for years, and the amazing nature, I’ve always felt at home in Costa Rica. And we were all super stoked to be there.
One of the things I love about Costa Rica is that it’s a relatively small country, so you can get around fairly easily. We flew into San Jose, rented a car through GetRentaCar.com, and drove about halfway down to Corcovado National Park. If you haven’t been, Corcovado is absolutely amazing. National Geographic described it as “the most biologically intense place on earth.”
Puerto Jimenez and Corcovado
Upon arriving in Puerto Jimenez, the town at the edge of the national park, we found a local surf shop, Lakos Surf and Skate. There wasn’t amazing surf at the time, and I felt pretty lucky to find a very similar Sweet Potato board to the one I ride in mushy waves back home. They rented me a board, I bought a shirt (super soft), and we hit some waves at a nearby beach called Matapalo (not the same as the more well-known Matapalo up north). Wasn’t a great session, a lot of mushy waves, but a bad day in the water is still a good fucking day for me.
Watchin the rain from the lodge balcony
We took a tour through the jungle with Selva Connections. Let me just say… that’s not an affiliate link, and they didn’t pay us to put that in there. I’ve known Luis, who works as a guide with them, for over 20 years now. He led us on countless tours when I lived there and is just an awesome, joyful human. His son Sagri now leads more tours than he does, but they’re both awesome. If you’re looking for a tour through Corcovado, hit them up and ask for Luis and Sagri!
We spent a few days in the jungle, watching monkeys and anteaters, finding tapirs, and exploring the jungle. It was awesome. If you’re down south anywhere in Costa Rica, Corcovado is a must-see in my book. It’s a bit of a trek to get in, but for real worth it. There’s no cell service, no sounds of cars or airplanes, just pure nature. A great way to unwind and connect and learn.
Uvita and Dominical
Cabin in Uvita
After our time in the park was up, we drove north a few hours to Uvita. I had driven by Uvita several times over the years, but never actually stopped by. We rented a little room at Arboura Eco-Cabins. It was definitely bare-bones, but perfect for us. The power went out in the storms a couple times, but we weren’t too bothered. The place had laundry, parking, and a rad little community that we had fun connecting with.
We rented boards literally around the corner, and got to surfing. The waves honestly weren’t amazing the first morning, and we were a bit disappointed. There wasn’t much wind, but it was rather choppy and peaky out there. I got a few good rides, but nothing long or smooth.
In the afternoon, however, the waves really cleaned up. The wind seemed to die down, which made the difference. It was still out there, but the swells still came in. Sitting out there looking back at just pure jungle up to the sea was really awesome. We surfed a few days in Uvita, then headed up for one day to Dominical.
Dominical had a much better wave rocking when we were there. The joy I had surfing that one afternoon in Uvita was completely overshadowed by surfing at the rivermouth in Dominical. The town was a bit more developed, a bit more of a “scene” but everyone was super nice. We surfed a morning session, had some lunch, took a nap, and went back for an afternoon session.
Atenas and Jacó
My tica sister and I having coffee
We then made our way up into the mountains a bit to Atenas, the town I lived in way back when. We hung out with my lovely host family, who I am still in contact with regularly, and stayed in a sweet little Airbnb in town. During the first day we explored things like Poas Volcano and a local sloth sanctuary. But then it was time to get back to some surfing.
Living there as a teen, I had surfed at Jacó several times. It’s definitely not the best surf spot in the country, and there are plenty of better spots super close, but it was what was accessible to us. It’s a popular spot because it’s not too hard to get to from San Jose, and there are plenty of rentals and surf camps.
The waves were a bit punchy and choppy, but we both caught some solid rides. One end of the beach has smaller waves, but still green, which were fun to mess around on a 7 foot board I rented. We then changed boards with the dude at the beach renting them, at no extra cost, and went to the other side of the beach to try to get some of the waves out back. I took a beating, but caught some sweet rides. Nothing huge, but they were breaking right down the line. Maybe I’m a better surfer than I used to be, or have better surf muscles, or maybe it was rocking that day, but I had a super good time. It was better than I had expected it would be for sure.
So that’s a wrap on our Costa Rica trip! We got to surf in 4 different spots this time, Matapalo, Uvita, Dominical, and Jacó. We’re hoping to go back and hit the northern spots and the Nicoya Peninsula next time so we can revisit Nosara and Tamarindo. But for now, our next destination is Guatemala!