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A busy, but organised border crossing was our first clue that Costa Rica was going to be very different. We had arranged for the TransNicca bus to drop us off in Liberia (about 3 hours short of San Jose) so we could grab a local bus over to the surf town of Tamarindo.
Arriving at Tamarindo was like a flash back of Utila but instead of diving shops littering the streets it was surf, surf, surf!! The consistent Pacific breeze and huge sandy beaches makes for the perfect surf to learn in and the breaks further out attract seasoned surfers from all around the globe. This has made Tamarindo a huge tourist destination. The Cancun of Costa Rica! High-Rise hotels, casinos and American sports bars are nestled between the Smoothie bars, beauty spas and surf shops. We stayed a short walk out of town at Tamarindo Backpackers which is a part of a chain of hostels throughout the country.
We had arrived in Costa Rica for the grand opening of 'Rainy Season' and boy does it know how to rain here! But luckily it tends to only last a few hours and only in the evening, leaving the rest of the day to bake in the sun. We had also been warned that Costa Rica might eat into our budget a little more than the rest of Central America. Sadly it's true which meant we had to cut back on the partying if we wanted to do the activities we had planned in other parts of 'Costa Morea'
We had chosen to come to Tamarindo for the sole reason of learning to surf so we shopped around for the best deal and booked for early the next day. We were sat on the beach by 9am and John (our instructor) briefly talked us through position on the board and 'popping up' before getting us in the water. After a about 30 minutes of falling and splashing we were both able to pop up (stand) and ride the surf for about 2 seconds but after an hour we had improved dramatically and I was now able to paddle out to the line up, stand, ride all the way back to the beach and even turning. I had often wondered why you see images of surfers all lined up, looking out to sea with their legs either side of the board. Why not just catch any old wave I thought. Now I know! The hardest part, for me anyway, was battling out past the surf out to the line up. With every wave you risk being sent back to where you started, on the beach. There is no way you want to do that just to catch a crappy little wave, wait for the big ones! After two hours I was totally drained, I barely had the strength to pop up anymore and that really annoyed me because now I had the balance and the ability but no energy! Good job it was the end of the lesson! I absolutely loved surfing and know it won't be my last try. After all I still have California, Hawaii, Fiji and Oz to practise!
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Em Uh oh! New water sport obsession alert!!! On the water, in the water, under the water! You'll devolve!! Surf's up bro x