Playa Negra de Nuevo

Playa Guiones, Feb. 23, 2012

First, I got really lucky after taking almost three whole days off from surfing to rest and help Catalina learn to surf. On February 23rd, in the evening, I scored some of the best waves of my life and the biggest beach break left I've ever surfed. The beach break at Playa Guiones is really amazing the way it holds almost any size wave and breaks at most tides as well. Many beaches in Costa Rica are very sensitive to the huge tidal swings of roughly 10 feet that are common here. Not Guiones, especially if the winds are blowing out to see, which they do most every morning and many evenings at this time of year. To get a sense of the waves that day, check out these photos taken that morning right where I was surfing. It picked up in size throughout the day so it was little bigger than most of these shots. I surfed near peak high tide which really helped make it more manageable and gave lots of time to drop in and get set up for your bottom turn:
http://www.surfingnosara.com/surfing-nosara/surf-reports/february-23rd-2012-overhead

I woke with some of the worst back and neck pain of my trip, but it was worth it. We left the next morning for the drive back to Playa Negra. Catalina hiked with me to town to help me pick up the rental SUV. We hiked everywhere for a few days. In the heat it quickly became obvious why we saw such a wild profusion of ways to get around: golf carts, bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs. No taxis, though. There's not a taxi in town. Weird.

Anyway, we were so early that the car wasn't there so we decided to go to Cafe de Paris and get croissants. Great fun with my little girl. We also read a history of Nosara together that was printed in both English and Spanish, though frankly I did most of the reading. I'm thrilled that I found it online for future reference. For those of you  who've ever dreamed of driving south to Central America and "buying a little piece of land" it'll be truly inspirational: http://www.nosararealestate.com/HistoryofNosara.pdf

Congrejo

On Thursday morning we visited the tide pools that appear on the lowest of tides near the south end of the beach. We saw a couple of interesting star fish, lots of crabs, and a number of fish. The sun and heat chased inside after less than an hour, but it was pleasant.

Beachcombers

We left at about 11:30 am and hit the dirty road. I'm really glad we went back to Playa Negra. I enjoy driving on the dirt and gravel roads in Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula is my new favorite part of Costa Rica. The towns are very small and development is quite limited, outside of Tamarindo, where the massive, unrestrained development depresses me. The air is so surprisingly dry at this time of year and breezes predominate from the east and blow out to sea. That makes it remarkably comfortable to be outside during most of the day, though I'd still avoid the period from about 1:30-3:30 unless you're a mad dog or an Englishman. These land breezes (the Trade Winds, really) also keep the ocean much cooler than I expected. My guess is that the ocean water was in the 70s in Playa Negra, much cooler than the 83 I'm used to further south. Of course I had to learn a new word, the Spanish word for dust - pulvo. As in "hay demasiado pulvo aqui" (there's too much dust here) or "dios mio, tan pulvo in mi cara" (my God there's a lot of dust in my face). All along the roads the trees and buildings are covered in the pulvo thrown up by passing cars and trucks and many of the motorcyclists wear bandannas across their mouths or have goggles to cover their eyes. This despite them rarely wearing helmets. We stopped at Marbella again, bu the surf was small and the wind was making of a mess of it, so we didn't stay there long. Instead we explored one of the many "investment opportunities" lining the road. This one was a massive 80 hectare plot for sale: "Perfect Oceanfront Hotel Site," read the sign in English. Like so many of these opportunities in Latin America, there was a huge, decaying, but elaborate gate and even a dilapidated guard shack. Nothing else but a series of roads scattered through a lovely coastal valley full of both deciduous and evergreen trees. The roads all led to a dark sand beach with scattered rocks and waves breaking on outer reefs. Someone had just planted a few tiny palms on the beach in a plot adjoining the potential hotel site. A small hand-painted sign on a tree read "Se Vende" and included a local phone number. An ingenious drip irrigation system utilizing an inverted drinking water bottle was in place next to each seedling palm. If you're looking for inexpensive beachfront property for you dream cabin, I think I know the place now. The area is beautiful, as-of-now undeveloped, and has fantastic weather at this time of year.nyway, as I'd hoped, the southwest swell was hitting Playa Negra really well and the offshore winds were blowing on Friday night when we arrived and also the next morning. Apparently the surf on Saturday morning was really large and David at Cafe Playa Negra "surfed for four hours." Despite my aching back, I paddled out that evening. The surf had dropped a bit, but that was better for me as I still haven't quite got the break figured out. Still, I caught three fantastic waves in about an hour and made the best front side, off-the-lip cut back I've ever managed to pull off. For those of you who don't know what that is, here's somebody doing it just right:

Playa Negra is my new favorite surf break. I'm fickle, though. Guiones is my new favorite beach break, after all and I just found both breaks this month.

One more thing. This time I got a photo of that great little Pentecostal church in Playa Negra. Remember, you can click on photos for a better look:

Hasta pronto! A post on our trip south to Playa Hermosa on Sunday is forthcoming.

Catalina Surfs! Sydney too, sort of...

Well, the surf has definitely dropped, but there are still occasional head-high or better waves now and then. Every day I say I'm going to take a break because my neck, shoulders, and ribs are sore and, yet, every day I paddle back out. Partly this is because Catalina and I have a rental contract with Coconut Harry's Surf Shop. For $120 a week we can take any board we want for as long as we want and swap it out for another whenever we like. Thus, Catalina has been learning to surf on a big foamy safety board and then I take out a small wave board or some other board I've been curious to learn about. More about that in the next post. First, Catalina managed to stand up and ride some waves on her second session and is all of the sudden "stoked' on surfing! Her little sister was jealous so she had to try it too. I think we'll call this PE class for today's homeschooling. Here are the pics. I'm sure there'll be more to come. Click on any pic for larger size slideshow view.

Check out that outside set!

No batteries required - Sydney and Catalina find their own toys!

These kids keep finding plenty of toys all around them:

Climate of the Nicoya Peninsula

Catalina's science and geography lessons this week are going to focus on the local landscape. As I've said in earlier posts it is remarkably dry here at this time of year. In fact, the town's water has stopped running twice this week. One time it was off for about 10 hours. Once the local tank fills, they turn the spigot back on. Clearly continuing growth and development is going to put real pressure on local water resources. They're already stretched thin.

I created two graphs based on data I downloaded from the National Meteorological Institute of Costa Rica (Instituto Meteorológico Nacional [IMN]). They make it pretty clear that the main seasonal difference in this part of Costa Rica has to do with rainfall and the disappearance of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in December and its reappearance in May. January and February each get as much rain as Los Angeles in a year, but January through March receive virtually no rain at all. And, of course, temperature changes little at any  time of year. Every night is in the low 70s and every day peaks in the mid to upper 90s.

Take a look:

Nicoya gets a little bit hotter during the day and a little bit colder during the night because its not right at the coast. Here's a map to help you locate both the town of Nicoya and our current location:


View Costa Rica 2012 in a larger map

More on Marbella, Playa Pelada, and Casa Arboles

Shane says that the Marbella waves look "perfect for barrel practice." Well, the pics make it look like just the right size and it was basically as you imagine, but I'm pretty frustrated about it nevertheless. First, it was heavier than it looks because it was breaking into about three feet of water and the size was highly variable. You could stand there waist deep and have an overhead barrel coming right at you. I duck-dived right into the sandy bottom a couple of times. Also, the bigger clean up sets were a foot or two bigger and were amazing. We watched it for an hour while we had lunch. The offshores were howling the whole time and a van load of pros from SoCal were getting long open barrels. I finally got stoked enough to give it a shot. It took about twenty minutes to get it wired. Then, within moments, the wind shifted to solid side-shore and all the magic evaporated. It went from all-time to choppy, shifting, and dangerous in about five minutes! Still, I dropped into three solid lefts and one heaving barrel, but the wind had shifted and it closed on my head. I wish to god I hadn't waited during lunch. Still, I'm proud of myself for giving it a shot. 

Playa Pelada - a tropical Leo Carrillo

Mommy and baby at La Luna, Pelada

I'm taking a bit of a break yesterday and today now that the surf has dropped to about 2-3 feet, with an occassional 4 footer. It's still pretty good because the offshores blow hard in the early morning and I've had some amazing rides on 3-4 foot waves. This Playa Guiones where we're staying is the most mellow beach break I've ever encountered. You invariably have a good long glide during the drop in and then a sloping shoulder to carve on. It's even easier to ride than Trestles. Strangely, it has just enough force and shape that I've been riding the Ludwig 6'4" successfully even as most of the other folks out there are now on eggs and longboards. Basically, it's mellow and fun and good practice, but not heavy at all. The locals say that when the surf is above 5 or 6 feet it gets hollow and barrels, but that happens more often on big summer south swells and then the wind can be onshore by early morning, like at home. Interestingly it will hold up to about 10 feet. The pictures are on the restaurant walls to prove it! I'll be back for sure. Between here and Marbella is about 40 minutes by 4x4 on dirt roads. It's another 40 minutes to Playa Negra, which is by far the best break around. It's then 10 more minutes to Avellanas, which is gorgeous and mellow. I also found a great little break that peels off a rock on a south swell. It's very much like Leo Carrillo minus the old guys! We were there for dinner so I didn't surf it and now I don't have a car and it's about a 30 minute hike from here. Still, the point is that this whole area has tons of surf, including miles of beach break and rocky offshore reefs I didn't even check out. It's still unpaved and relatively uncrowded. The weather is also blissfully drier and more comfortable than further south and during June. I'll be back for sure during a January school break, probably next year. 

Here are some shots of Playa Pelada where La Luna Restaurant and the little twin of Leo Carrillo surf break are both to be found: https://picasaweb.google.com/surfer.prof/PlayaPelada?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNvjw9Clwtr7MA&feat=directlink

I broke the nose of my board today on the back of my right hand during a wipe out! Yes it hurt as much as you might imagine, but seems to have done no permanent damage.That means the board has to dry for a couple days before I attack it with SolarRes repair goo. I'm glad I brought this board and not my new Becker. The extra thickness is great on Nosara's softer beach break and between the airline and my wipe outs I'm doing some serious cumulative damage to it. Anyway, my body hurts tons from so many sessions so it's probably a good thing that the surf has dropped .However, I'm a little worried that, at the moment, there's nothing really on the horizon. Still, it's a good opportunity to rent a longboard or big egg while the surf is small. The good thing about renting here is that they let you trade in the board endlessly as the conditions change so I'm going to rent a mini-Mal for a week for $90 and then switch to a different board if the surf pics up. For a trip of less than, say, two weeks there's really no reason to bring a board. Good rentals are everywhere, even in tiny Playa Negra (which we miss; that place is cool). 

Casa Arboles. We live downstairs.

The little house we rented, Casa Arboles, is very basic but is working great for us. It's amazing how we've adjusted to sitting around in 90+ degrees without any AC on (it's really just in the bedroom) and still feel completely comfortable. The kids play on the porch and hammock and chase bugs around for fun or play with pots and pans and water from the house. We're cooking a lot to save money.  I even made Gallo Pinto from scratch, including soaking the red beans and all that. Today we're hiking off to the Beach Dog Cafe for a tasty treat of familiar restaurant food for lunch, something we can't afford to do very often right now. Catalina was promised Mac 'n' Cheese and some ice cream.

Catalina in the Kitchen/Living Room/Kids' Bedroom

Hammock Heaven

Catalina in the Surf Racks

Catalina on 'Our' Street

Soon it's time to rest my muscles and teach Catalina a science lesson. After that we'll figure out dinner and use up some of the rice and beans. 

Finally, I'll be get some surf shots of Nosara/Guiones up here soon.