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.

Marbella is Marvelous! Time to Retire. Right now.

I finally got my laptop to connect to the Internet here in our little rental house, Casa Arboles so I can now send these notes I've been collecting. The kids are running in circles laughing, using the furniture as a playground. I hope nobody falls. Anyway, this is a great little rental house. Comfortable but not extravagant. We’re super comfortable and the price is amazing. I just bought coffee, eggs, campesino bread, oil, butter, spices, milk, pasta, etc. We're set! 

Dusty. It's very dry here. That's totally new to me. Every other trip to Costa Rica has been a sweltering inferno I suffered to handle emotionally and physically. I see why this is the high season. It's so much more comfortable when water actually evaporates off your body. 

The shrimp curry at Kon-Tiki, by the way, was outstanding, as was the Chilean wine and the conversation. Very pleasant place. They'll be getting a very solid Tripadvisor review soon. Also, I think I'm in love with Playa Negra. Anyone want to buy a piece of land with me? I'm ready to move. It's great. 

The beach break here in Nosara/Playa Guiones is huge, but a bit crowded on Friday nights. It's literally a mile long, though, so you can find a break nearly to yourself, it just may not be the best sand bar. I’m told dawn patrol is empty and that the reason it was crowded is the locals like to surf Friday night to see and be seen before parties. When thinking of Playa Guiones (this beach) think Huntington with 80 degree water and no need to hop. The wave breaks once, rolls in gently, but with power, and finally gets hollow near the beach. Fun and easy to surf.

Marbella at low tide on 3 foot swell

Anyway, more on this area to follow, but here is a name to remember: Marbella. It’s an insane beach break with hollow, dumping barrels on a huge black sand beach with terrifying outside reef breaks firing all over the place. I wouldn’t dare paddle out there without a couple buddies and maybe a medical evac team and a shark expert. Even better, there's a really finely built restaurant in a gorgeous setting. The whole beach area has only two or three houses and there are just waves and sand, backed by trees and mangroves everywhere. We're going back tomorrow or Sunday for lunch, even though it's 45 minutes on badly rutted dirt roads. We crossed three rivers today. Not a problem in the dry season, but in June we'd need a bigger truck than my little rented Daihatsu Bego. 

The Tiki Hut - Great Fish Tacos

There is so much untapped surf potential here it boggles the mind! If you’re willing to camp, you can score beaches and reefs to yourself. Most people, like me, just choose to be in town because that’s where the restaurants and comfortable rooms are found. Even a short drive outside of each town and the beaches are empty or have just a couple of guys! The water is much warmer here than in Playa Negra and Playa Avellanes. So far I think I like Playa Negra better. The beaches were surprisingly good for kids and the waves were perfect for Daddy. Next time we spend much of our time in Playa Negra.

Some photos follow and I’ll take many more now that we’re settled. We’re here in Casa Arboles for two weeks.

Photos of Marbella beach and the Tiki Hut: https://picasaweb.google.com/surfer.prof/Marbella?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMLI_ePXz5mOXQ&feat=directlink