Surfing Costa Rica North Pacific Coast

This is the second article about Costa Rica surfing spots for

Travel Blog Costa Rica. The surfing spots described in this article will be for the Costa Rica North Pacific Coast. The last article about surfing spots in Costa Rica included recommendations for surfing the Caribbean Coast with descriptions of surfing beaches such as: Salsa Brava in Puerto Viejo Beach, Manzanillo Beach, Cahuita Beach, Westfalia Beach, Isla Uvita Beach, and Playa Bonita. Due to the fact there is a great number of Costa Rica beaches that are spectacular surfing spots; this other article contains the remaining surfing beaches on the North Pacific Coast. When surfing the awesome Costa Rica North Pacific Coast the main recommendation is to surf beaches during high tides as you will have the best surfing conditions. Some of the greatest Costa Rica surfing spots in the North Pacific Coast are: Ollie’s Point, Witch’s Rock, Playa Grande, Tamarindo Beach, Avellanas Beach, Playa Negra, Nosara Beach, Mal País Beach, and Santa Teresa Beach.

Ollie’s Point Beach (a.k.a. Potrero Grande Beach) is a great Costa Rica beach for surfing with fast hollow right point breaks. The swell at Ollie´s Point is excellent in almost any direction, but it goes off with the strong northwest winds in the dry season. The best way to get to Ollie´s Point is by chartering a boat from Playa del Coco, Tamarindo Beach, or Ocotal Beach. Ollie’s Point is located next to Witches Rock.

Witch’s Rock Beach (a.k.a Playa Naranjo) is one of the top ten Costa Rica surfing spots with fabulous breaks. Witch’s Rock Beach has strong offshore winds from December to March. There are no facilities at Witch’s Rock Beach so if you want to go surfing there you either have to arrive by boat or camp at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp. Witch’s Rock is located next to Santa Rosa National Park. There is a big rock with a whole inside that makes a strange noise when the wind blows strong, thus the name. The best break at Witch’s Rock is right in front of the rock itself. Fast hollow rights and smaller good lefts during small swells is what you can find at Witch’s Rock Beach.

The next Costa Rica beach that you want to head for surfing some of Costa Rica best waves is Playa Avellanas. Playa Avellanas is a white sand beach that can be reached from either Tamarindo Beach or from Santa Cruz. The great thing about Playa Avellanas is that this incredible beach has about eight different left and right surf breaks. Playa Avellanas offshore swells can reach up to eighteen feet making it just a great spot for surfing. At Playa Avellanas you can find perfect tubes when the tide is high enough. Playa Avellanas is a Costa Rica beach for the expert and pro surfers, but the beginner surfer can find a beginner surf break beach with a sandy bottom with enough whitewash.

Playa Grande is another recommended Costa Rica surfing spot with beach break that you should visit. You can find Playa Grande just 25 miles away from Tamarindo Beach. Playa Grande asset is that it has bigger waves with better shape than the ones you can find in Tamarindo Beach. The downside of Playa Grande is that its asset is known by quite a large crowd of surfers so it is usually crowded. Playa Grande can offer either big close outs or perfect barrels. Overall Playa Grande has consistent beach break with perfect left and right peaks and it is fun decent waves for surfing at almost any time of the year.

Tamarindo Beach offers outstanding surfing conditions but is almost always crowded. Some of the most coveted breaks you can find at Tamarindo Beach will be at Pico Pequeño river mouth, El Estuario, and Langosta which has the biggest waves of the three. El Estuario at Tamarindo Beach has great river mouth breaks. Mid tide is the best time for surfing at Tamarindo Beach. Tamarindo Beach has long perfect lefts and rights which are better when waves are a couple of feet overhead. Langosta Beach provides left and right point break curl off the mouth of the small river that is located about one kilometer away from Tamarindo Beach.

Playa Negra is a black sand beach located in the Northwestern region of Guanacaste which has been cataloged as part of the top ten list of beach breaks in Costa Rica. Playa Negra offers fast waves with hollow right point reef breaks. One of the main features of Playa Negra are its consistent waves and surf break almost all year round. Playa Negra is a great beach for either the beginner surfer or the expert surfer. Playa Negra used to be an uncrowded Costa Rica beach for surfing, unfortunately word has spread out about this great surfer spot and currently it can get pretty crowded with surfers, none the less if you are able to catch a good swell it is worth the trouble of it being crowded. The good side of Playa Negra being a well known surfer destination is that it is easy to find budget lodgings especially designed for the surfer crowd. The best time to surf at Playa Negra is at dawn when there is less surfers and you can catch surfable fast drop and perfect right tubes.

Surfing Nosara Beach will provide you with beach breaks with left and rights.

And last in the Costa Rica North Pacific Coast the remaining recommended beaches for surfing are: Coyote Beach, Manzanillo Beach in Guanacaste, Santa Teresa Beach, and Mal País Beach which all offer good beach breaks with consistent left and rights at a few points.