Off to the Pacific in search of waves

Trip Start Feb 14, 2005
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Trip End Jun 14, 2005


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Thursday, June 2, 2005

Having just about had our fill of bus journeys, we splurged when leaving San Jose by taking an air-conditioned transfer service all the way to Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula of the Pacific Coast. What a treat to sit back and not have to worry about connections or our luggage. We arrived in Montezuma around 3pm, checked into a hotel right on the water and went for a dip before sunset. Montezuma is a very cute town clustered together around 2 beaches, with several restaurants and bars within a few short blocks. We happened to be there on the weekend so the nightlife was rocking; we didn´t close the bars down but we did listen along all night since our hotel was right next door. Not much to do in town unless you join one of the many tours offered, but we did hike to a waterfall and heeded the warnings not to be stupid and try to jump off.

After spending a relaxing few days in Montezuma, we hopped on the school bus, er local bus and made our way to the western side of the peninsula tip to the town of Santa Teresa. It was here that we met up with our friends Chris and Oli, who were staying in Santa Teresa for a week playing surfer dudes. We lucked out with accommodations, found a room reasonably priced that came with a kitchenette and thank heavens, air-conditioning. I was under the impression that the Pacific side would be slightly drier than the humid Atlantic side but my impressions were wrong, it is the rainy season after all. We took a short walk toward the town of Malpais but after 30 minutes could not take anymore of the sauna type heat and had to retreat to the comforts of our climatized room. a) Beach at Montezuma
a) Beach at Montezuma
 That night we had the guys over for dinner, they cooked up a feast and we planned our attack of the waves for the following day.

Being beginners in the surfing arena, we decided to rent one surfboard and one boogie board. The beaches at Santa Teresa and nearby Malpais are known for there surfing waves, and as we discovered were a bit scary to the beginner. The waves break constantly, one right after the other and not in sets like we were both accustomed to. That means that there are several walls of whitewater that must be paddled through to get out to the breaking waves. Not that we were interested in getting out that far, what are we supposed to do on a 3-5 foot wave having never surfed before? It turns out that this is no easy task, as we discovered watching Chris and Oli try for an hour to get past the break. Lowering our sites, we paddled around in the whitewater and did our best to try to stand up. It wasn´t so much a day of surfing as it was a day of paddling but it was fun trying. Perhaps we´ll get another chance to try our hand at surfing if we can find a beach with less hectic waves.

We have been very lucky with the weather here in Central America, considering it is the rainy season. Most days are sunny with the rain coming overnight, if at all. Luckily so, because it is not much fun walking around the streets during heavy rains as they turn to mud. The night prior to leaving Santa Teresa, the rains fell in the early evening and we were to meet Chris and Oli at their place to make plans for our departure the following day. We put on our swim wear to make the 3 minute journey, and when we arrived discovered that their glorified shack was leaking water. They were invited to sleep on our floor, which turned out to be there best sleep in a week, and we all awoke at 4am to make our bus journey to see the Arenal volcano. I know, more buses, but we only have a couple more places to visit so I think we will manage. We´ll keep you posted...
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