So as summer winds down here in Europe, it is now that we start to look for warmer shores to run our Ticket to Ride Surf Adventures. South Africa, Mozambique and Portugal spring back to life throughout September and October and run through to Christmas which we use as our half time break down in Southern Africa.
Looking into the New Year we are are excited at the prospect of bringing Costa Rica back into our surf course calendar for 2014. We fist visited Costa Rica back in 2002, we then returned in 2008 before running our first ticket to ride course there in 2009.
In the early days we used to run 2 courses a year in Costa Rica. First off we ran courses from January – March and then we used to run another course season throughout July and August. Experience has shown us that whilst July and August are excellent months for surfing in Costa Rica, there is just a little bit too much rain around at that time of year. Having said this, our trip to Pavones back in July 2010 has to go down as one of my favourite ticket to ride road trips!
Anyway, here at Ticket to Ride, being at the right place at the right time is at the very centre of how we operate our trips. So it was decided that enough mud was enough and stopped running our Costa Rica courses in the rainy season.
January – March in contrast is dry season, and when i say dry season, I mean that it is very unlikely to rain throughout the entire course. Check out all our courses dates for Costa Rica Here
So what makes Costa Rica so special?
Aside from the fact that as a Central American country (Costa Rica is not an island by the way, we won't tell anyone if you thought it was) the weather is beautifully tropical, for me the best thing about Costa Rica is the way life is lived over there.
Helped by the heat, life is super relaxed and everything focuses on good living. The tropical wildlife and scenery in Costa Rica is amazing and the surfing in Costa Rica is super fun and really accessible to all levels. Costa Rica is adventurous, it is beautiful and the surf is amazing, you can't ask for much more than that. If I could change one thing it might be to turn the temperature down a bit at mid day. But most people take this time as perfect hammock time, so all good really.
A typical start to a day in Costa Rica….
0600 – you will wake up completely naturally (helped by the sound of howler monkeys) and with the sun shining through your windows, you will be up and into your surf gearr in a matter of minutes. Waking up is Costa Rica is just about the easiest thing in the world, straight away you are filled with a feeling of excitement about what the day has in store!
0615 you will be walking through the rainforest and on onto the beach (which just so happens to be the most beautiful beach known to man). Even at this time, the beach is already be buzzing with walkers, people doing yoga and of course other surfers looking to start their day in exactly the same way as you. There is a real enery to start to a new day in Costa Rica
0630 – 0830 you will be making the most of early morning glassy waves with an amazing tropical rainforest as your back drop. There really is nowhere better to start the day.
0900 Having bumped into some friendly faces either in the surf or on the beach you will head back to your house for a super healthy breakfast filled with fruit and general goodness. The coffee in Costa Rica is also amazing.
Now compare that to your routine at home. If you have set an alarm for 0600 it will usually smacked into 'sleep mode' for 5 more minutes before heading out to work. And if you are not working at the moment, it will be likely that you won't have even woken up by 0830-0900. Eitherway you have not had the same amazing start to the day that is simple routine in Costa Rica.
Tune in tomorrow for what the rest of a day in Costa Rica has in store!
Check out up and coming course dates here.