Pura Vida in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is truly a place that you have to visit, to understand, appreciate and feel pure life; Pura Vida.

LIVE underwater volcano! All pics Jessie Stewart

As you step out of the airport and inhale a large lungful of the surprisingly unhumid and gloriously fresh air, you see that you are surrounded by the lungs of the earth; there’s rainforest all around surrounded by active Volcanos towering into the clouds extending as far as the horizon. It’s all pretty breathtaking stuff and you’re only in Alajuela, sweating in the Miami style sun with thirty Tico Taxi touts offering their services in Miami Vice accents. Usually being a budget conscious surf traveler you would wave off such hassle with your Lonely Planet Guide but there’s no need to be so dismissive, on the contrary, from the moment you step out of the plane, you are in welcome arms so enjoy the embrace. I’ve been in arrivals at San Jose Airport half a dozen times and every time used this genuine service of getting guided to a legit taxi from an enthusiastic Costa Rican who doesn’t even expect, let alone ask for a tip.

Now don’t get me wrong Costa Ricans can hustle and are seemingly pretty good at business as their country boasts the strongest economy in Central America, but they are also very helpful, kind and proud people who welcome responsible tourism, as the old saying (that I think one of my Errant brethren made up) goes; “act as a guest and you’ll be treated like a local” and to quote myself “master the vocals hang with the locals”, so welcome arms are always outstretched for respectful travelers.

I’ve been in contact (en Espanol) with the friends I made out there over the past year to ensure that the 2015 Surf & Yoga Adventure was the best it could be for our crew, whilst working with the local community and ensuring we put back into the local economy, meaning everyone’s happy. So we worked with four local surf coaches and hired boards from the local shop 360 instead of taking our own guys and gear and we rented apartments at the original Santa Teresa surf lodge. To be respectful of the worries the locals have on tourism growth, instead of selling to the masses and getting the margins high, we set a limited amount of spaces (just ten per trip) and only run one trip per year due to the airports proximity to the rainforest, thus giving a handful of Errant customers the true Pura Vida experience. With the demand for Costa Rica being so high, this may not make great business sense, but Costa Rica isn’t there to be exploited and we respect that.

Pura Vida is all about love; love to the land, the ocean, your environment, yourself and the people. To the whole Costa Rica 2015 crew there was a lot of love and I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved:

Yours truly with a firm grip on a pre-surf banana of course

Bert, thank you for the fables of your colourful life and well done on your progession with the surf and yoga; looking nimble and quick on your feet now mate.