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Surf Holiday Yeah!
Jaco, Costa Rica
June, 2005
Still following the path of the late great Christopher
Cook Gilmore. He came to Costa Rica last February and
March and stayed the whole time in Playa Hermosa.
Before I left, Anita Gilmore, the widow of Chris, gave
me some general suggestions that have helped me out.
I'm always a little nervous flying to a third world
country without hotel reservations when I don't speak
the language or even have an excat plan what to do,
but Costa Rica, like most places I have been, is quite
simple.
I arrived at the airport and found the info desk.
Anita had told me about a city near the airport called
Alajuela that was in the direction of the west coast.
I got a couple of Alajuela Hostel Flyers and chose one
randomly and got a cab. There is a cab desk just
outside baggage claim that you should use so you don't
get ripped off by the touts.
As I walked to the cab the touts all yelled for my
business. "Hey Gringo, where you going, I have best
price!" is all I heard as I exited the airport towards
the cab I hired.
I decided on X Hostel and it was only $2 for the taxi.
I showed up and met the guy who runs the place,
William, and he was way cool. There was no one staying
there so for $10, I got my own room with a Toilet.
Really cool guy and a nice clean place. He also
informed me that the first bus to the west coast, to a
town called Jaco, left at 8AM the next morning. He
explained how to get to the bus stop and I was
content.
Spent the evening relaxing after the long haul from
Stockholm through Madrid. Jet lag? Forget about it.
Just change your watch and go with it.
The next morning I got up early and asked William if I
could keep my big backpack there until I retured from
the coast. He said no problem so I put the essentials
in my little pack. You know, baggies, t-shirts, cotton
shorts and my mask and snorkel. In the tropics you
don't need anything and if you forget something
essential, hey, everything is very cheap.
When I arrived at the bus stop there were lots of
westerners waiting for the Jaco bound bus. The bus
arrived 10 minutes late and to my surprise all the
seats were already taken and there were 15 people
waiting to get on. No worries, when in doubt follow
the locals. I got on the bus with a buch of other
hispanic gentalmen and just stood. By the time
everyone got on the asile was packed. Two and a half
hours to the coast. No big deal, I have experienced
much worse conditions before in India and Sri Lanka.
Luckily, I found a place for my pack and guitar in the
overhead and all was cool.
It was a long time to stand, but the scenery was great
and the other people standing nearby were polite. One
local lady was in the aslie standing holding here 18
month old girl. That made the rest of us not feel to
sorry for ourselves. Wow, two and a half hours holding
a child. I About half way to Jaco, the little girl
started to get sick. This was difficult for all of us,
but luckily a kind gentleman offered her a seat and
the baby calmed down.
When I arrived in Jaco, I planned to catch the next
bus down to Queppos, and then another bus to
Dominical. I had seen a advert about a hotel in there
that rented surfboards and bikes and had room for $15
a night. Anita also told me that it was a cool town. I
heard that Jaco was a tourist trap and that it might
be nicer further down south.
The bus arrived in Jaco at 10:30AM. I asked the driver
when and where the bus to Queppos left from. He said,
"At 12:00PM anywhere on this street."
I began to wander around. Jaco is a small town mainly
filled with Restaurants, Hotels and Surf Shops. Not so
bad. After wandering on the strip for a couple blocks,
I went down and checked out the beach. It had black
sand and was about a mile long. There were surf spots
all along the mile. Lots of guys were out and it
looked pretty good.
I walked back to the strip and decided to check the
surf shops. There are about 8 shops in Jaco and they
are all filled with boards. I was really surprised. I
could get a used short board, perfect for the local
conditions for under $150. When I was in Walter's Surf
Shop the owner came up to me and started to chat. He
was about 50, wearing surf garb, but he didn't look
like he surfed. He was short and no very well built.
He first spoke to me in Spanish, but then swiched to
English when he could tell I didn't understand what he
was saying.
"What kind of board are you looking for?" He started.
"Around a 6'3", but not one of these really thin
boards, I like some meat to my board."
He started showing me some boards and I found a 6"2"
that would suit me fine, for $120, but I was planning
to go south.
"This one is cool, but I'm not really looking to buy a
board here, I'm planning to go south to Dominical."
"They have a good break there," He said, "But they
don't have any boards, and what they do have will be
twice as expensive as here. You should buy in Jaco and
bring the board with you. You can still sell the board
here for half when you come back north."
I really believed this guy. I was also thinking why go
6 hours further south when I could just stay here and
surf.
"Are there cheap places around here to stay?" I
inquired.
"Just up the street there are lots of places for $10 a
night."
I decided to take a look around. One place in Costa
Rica to me was the same as any other and if I could
get a cheap board and a cheap place to stay in Jaco,
why not remain. As I left the shop the man asked, "Do
you want the board?"
I smiled and said, "Not sure yet, I want to look at
the accomodations and look at the board in the other
shop before I decide."
"That's good." he replied, "Check out the shop next
door, they have lots of cheap boards too. The rest of
the shops are much more expensive."
"Thanks man. By the way, are you Walter?"
"That's me." he said with a big smile.
Walter did not guide me wrong. First I went up the
satreet and found a nice hotel room (ensuite, a double
and single bed, clean - no AC or TV) for $10 US a
night. Perfect. Then I went around to all the shops.
Walter was correct. Only his and the shop next door
had a wide range of cheap used boards. The rest had
mostly new boards and the used ones were in the $175
range.
I could have rented a board for $10 a day, but figured
that I would be surfing for 12 days and with half my
money back at the end it was a much better deal to
buy.
I finally decided on the board I origionally found at
Walter's. 6'2", swollow tail, thick and origionally
made for a girl. He even threw in a leash and a bar of
wax, all for $120. What a cool dude.
I couldn't believe it. I arrived in Jaco at 10:30AM
and by 12:00PM I was paddling out on a new board and
had a nice place to stay. Not half as easy in Bali or
Sri Lanka. Definatly the cheapest place anywhere.
Jaco beach only breaks good at high tide and lucky for
me high tide was at 1:00PM that day. I paddled out and
caught a couple waves before the leash box broke and I
saw my board going towards shore. "Crap!" I thought to
myself.
Luckily there was a guy on the shore that grabbed my
board and put it on land for me while I swam in. I was
kind of pissed. Only had the board for 15 minutes and
already a problem. I walked back to Walter's still wet
from the surf and showed him the problem.
"OK, OK, I will fix it and it will be ready by
5:00PM." he said.
"But by 5:00PM it will be low tide and I have been
told the beach closes out when it is low." I replied.
"OK, OK, you can use this board this afternoon."
handing me a rental. Walter was quite cool.
The waves at Jaco are quite the pounders. It's
overhead everyday and the waves crush you. I thought
is was powerful in Bali, but here, wow. When the wave
breaks, sometimes the white water pounds up 10 feet in
the air, as high as the wave was before it broke. Its
a real drag when one of those beasts breaks a few feet
in front of you when your paddleing out. You might as
well throw your board away and get ready for the Tumble
setting of the washing machine.
There are some great lefts and rights and in the
morning I have gotten some good barrels. Since I have
been here I have also surfed a couple time at Playa
Hermosa that is also powerful and good.
After being so longout of the water, this was a pure
surf holiday. Nothing better. If you are like me, and
you love the breakers, Costa Rica is a must.
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