Surf's Up, I'm Falling Down

Having had such a lousy day on the fishing boat yesterday, we weren't very enthusiastic about getting up at 6 AM to go surfing.  We also weren't crazy about missing breakfast either and having to eat cheese sandwiches again.  However, the timing for our surfing lessons was dependent on the tides.  And the tides told us to get our butts out of bed way too early for being on vacation.

Growing up, I never found surfing interesting.  I never understood the whole surf culture.  I never saw Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in Point Break.  Living over 1,500 miles away from the nearest surfing destination didn't help either.  However, since we would be spending a couple of days along the Pacific coast, we figured we would give it a try.  A lot of folks make the journey down to Costa Rica to surf.  Unlike California, the water is warm enough so that wet suits are not needed.

Unfortunately, we also freaked The Girl out prior to our trip by watching The Amazing Race.  One of the contestants was Bethany Hamilton, the girl who got her arm bit off while surfing.  Although we intentionally avoided having her watch Soul Surfer, The Girl still developed a new-found distrust of the ocean.

After perusing the internet, we decided to contact Point Break Surf to schedule some surfing lessons.  It's not the oldest or most distinguished surf school in the Guanacaste area.  That wouldn't matter since we were approaching this activity with some skepticism and trepidation already.  The main reason that we went with Point Break is that they seemed friendly for families with kids.

   

Many surfers in Guanacaste stay in the Tamarindo area so that they can surf within walking distance of their hotel.  The folks at Point Break highly recommended that we take lessons at Playa Grande, a more secluded beach within a national park (it's a sea turtle nesting site).  Their reasoning is that the waves are more manageable for novices and the beach is less crowded.  It didn't matter to us either way since we had a car.

With my overly-aggressive driving, we were able to make it to Playa Grande in less than 30 minutes.  We were met by Mike and Michelle, the owners of Point Break Surf.  They quit their jobs in Toronto and moved with their daughter down to Costa Rica about two years ago.  Mike had previously visited the country several times on surfing trips.  Michelle had never even been to Costa Rica nor surfed before they made the decision to move.  It was quite a leap of faith.  On this day, they were also accompanied by three of their Tico surf instructors, all young guys with some serious six pack abs.

 

We were glad that we went to Playa Grande.  The sand is soft and white with absolutely no rocks to hurt when wiping out.  There are no rip tides either.  Furthermore, the slope of the beach is so gradual that even 50 yards into the surf, the water is still shallow enough for The Kids to stand up.  Plus, there are a bunch of pretty little shells that litter the beach. (Note: it is illegal to take seashells in Costa Rica...not like anybody is checking).

Nary a soul can be seen on this beach.

The instructors set up the boards for the day's lesson.

White spiral-shaped shells compose the majority of those found on Playa Grande.

We were given a safety lesson followed by instructions on how to surf.  We practiced on the boards while they were still on dry land.  It seemed pretty straight-forward.  How hard could it be to stand up on a flat piece of fiberglass, 2 feet wide and 10 feet long?

Paddle, paddle, paddle...

Now stand up!

We took turns in groups of three with an instructor.  He would push us out into the water and line us up for a good wave.  Then he would tell us when to paddle and give the board a push when the wave arrived.  The instructor would then tell us when to stand up while he simultaneously steadied the surfboard.  We did this for an hour, took a 15 minute break for water and fresh pineapple, and practiced for a second hour.  With this method, I was able to stand up and surf more than 80% of the time.  What a piece of cake!  It took a little bit of nudging to get The Girl out there.  But with an instructor, she felt perfectly safe.  The Kids and even The Wife, who struggled initially, had a great time with the surfing lessons. 

When the lesson was over, we jumped back in the car and headed towards Tamarindo.  The Wife had decided that she wanted to try some pottery lessons since we had plenty of free time for the next few days.  She made arrangements for the four of us to take two days of lessons at the Guatil Pottery Studio.

While the journey to Tamarindo didn't take very long from Playa Grande, we weren't prepared for the horrible traffic once we arrived.  There is one main road that goes into Tamarindo.  It has two lanes, but the shoulders are occupied by parked cars.  Sedans and even SUV's have no problems driving on this road.  However, the issue lies in the large over-sized vehicles that take up more than their own lane.  Since Tamarindo is such a major destination, full-sized passenger buses try to navigate the road to dump off tourists.  Large trucks are used to deliver food and supplies to the many hotels along the road.  When these big buses and trucks lumber through, traffic comes to a standstill.  With it being the holiday season, the area was even more packed than usual.  It took forever to get to our destination and another 2,000 collones to pay a local watchman to park in a free parking zone. 

All the traffic through Tamarindo had to traverse this single road.

When we arrived at the Guatil Pottery Studio, we were met by Arbin, the owner and local artist.  He hails from a small village where both his parents were potters.  He spoke perfect English and had at one point lived in Los Angeles.  Instead of teaching students how to throw pottery using modern techniques, he shows people how pottery has been made in Costa Rica since pre-Columbian times.

The pottery studio is located in a very modest looking hut.

Arbin has many of his pieces on display for sale.

We all picked a shape of ceramic to emulate.  The Girl and I chose small vases, The Boy a mug, and the Wife a large platter.  We were given a wad of clay and shaped it into a pinch pot.  Modern pottery uses wheels that are either foot-powered or electric.  People use both hands to smooth out the clay and make it symmetrical.   In the traditional Tico method, we turned the wheel with our non-dominant hand while simultaneously using a corn cob to shape the bowl into the correct shape. 

Arbin shows The Kids how to elevate their pinch pot into a vase.

Integral pieces of pottery making equipment.

The Kids had never done any real pottery before.  Arbin was very good at instructing them on exactly what to do.  Once we were done shaping our pieces, we had to let it dry for the next three to four hours.

We wandered over to the Copacabana Restaurant and Beach Bar.  Just like most of the restaurants that we have tried in Costa Rica, the food was fine.  It was nothing spectacular.  The restaurant's best attribute is that it faces the beach. 

Hamburger from the kid's menu

Spaghetti from the kid's menu

Jumbo shrimp exotica

Copacabana Mahi Mahi

After seeing the rocks on Tamarindo, I was even more happy that we went surfing at Playa Grande.

After lunch, we followed The Wife as she shopped at the many boutique stores on the main street.

This store specializes in leather products
made with the hides of sea critters.

There were wallets, purses, and belts made from the skins of sharks, rays, tilapia, and sea snakes.

The helpful owner of Papaya con leche designs the bikinis on sale at her shop.

We also stopped by the Point Break Surf store.  Mike explained that they had just finished purchasing and renovating the shop three weeks ago.  Just in time for the holiday crunch.  We bought some of their T-shirts as souvenirs.  The Boy had to use their bathroom, and he ended up clogging it up.  I guess Americans crap bigger than Canadians too. 

This surf shop is one of the first stores visitors encounter when entering Tamarindo. 

At 4 PM, we went back to Guanil Pottery Studio to paint the undercoat for our pieces.

Since none of us were very hungry nor very impressed with the restaurants in Costa Rica, we stopped at the Auto Mercado and bought some pastries, bread, and chicken for dinner.  The Wife and I enjoyed listening to the waves crashing on the beach as we dined on our hotel balcony.  The Kids, however, were too busy watching the endless string of Simpsons reruns.

*****

Sunday, December 28

High tide would be an hour later than it was the previous day.  Therefore, we had time to enjoy a quick breakfast at our hotel. 

Fresh fruit and toast

Pancakes

Typical Tico breakfast

We drove back to Playa Grande for our second day of surfing lessons.  

While the instructors taught some new students...

...The Kids frolicked in the water.

It was great to see that The Girl no longer had any fear of the ocean.  I guess she finally figured out that no sharks were going to get her near shore.  However, it was a little worrisome as she and The Boy wandered pretty far out into the surf.

The Wife and The Kids kept surfing with assistance.  After another easy run with an instructor, I wanted to see if I could do it by myself.  It seemed fairly easy enough.  For the next hour, I tried to surf on some pretty small waves to no avail.  It was one new problem after another.  First, I was paddling too hard before the wave got there.  Second, I wasn't getting enough speed for my board when I tried to stand up, thus causing me to flip forward.  Third, I regressed and had poor positioning on my surfboard.

I'm surfing!

I'm surfing!

Nope.

The part that I found most tiring was trying to get into position to catch a decent wave.  It took a lot of energy paddling against the endless number of waves.  By the time I was ready to try and surf, I was already fatigued.  I'm guessing that there are not a lot of overweight, out-of-shape, middle-aged men on the professional surfing circuit.  It's definitely a lot easier when there is an instructor pushing you into position and telling you exactly what to do.

After taking a halftime break, I went back out there with the first surfboard I saw.  After a couple of embarrassing episodes of slipping off the board while merely laying on it, I realized that this old surfboard had lost all of its traction making it completely slippery.  I replaced it with a new version which really helped. 

As our surfing session was nearing its end and my frustration was reaching its peak, I picked a small wave to try.  Somehow, the stars were all aligned correctly, and I was able get enough speed and stand up without falling.  I was finally surfing!  It lasted only a few seconds as the wave died near the shore, but the experience was exhilarating.  I looked around...and nobody was watching.  The Wife and The Kids were all busy doing something else.  There was no audience for my moment of glory.

After the lessons were over, we stuck around for another hour so that The Kids could play on the beach. 

This nearby iguana got just about as much lift as I got.

We headed back to Tamarindo to finish painting our pottery.  The traffic still sucked on a Sunday afternoon.  At the studio, Arbin instructed us on the next couple of steps to finish our pieces.  

The Wife smooths our her dish using a small strip of leather.

Once the pieces were smooth, we used the provided colors to paint designs on our pottery.

As an homage to our time in Monteverde, I painted...

...a white capuchin monkey and a blue butterfly.

The Wife put a toucan on her plate.

The Boy painted some flowers and butterflies on his mug.

The Girl painted...I really don't know.

Afterwards, we stopped next door at the Surf Shack.  

This joint mainly sells burgers and wings to the North American crowds.

A couple of TV's showed NFL games and some surfing content.

They make a mean milkshake--especially the PB and chocolate.

Western burger

We finally had something spicy in CR, on a burger no less.

The Tico burger with fries

After lunch, we drove north to check out Playa Conchal.  It's a highly touted beach with a unique characteristic that instead of sand, it is composed of broken sea shells.  Access to the beach is limited.  There is an entrance for guests staying at the all-inclusive Westin Resort.  By law a second entrance was created but it is much harder.  It requires crossing the neighboring Playa Brasalito and going through a narrow, single-lane road cut through a hill.  Luckily, we had 4-wheel drive.

With many SUV's driving across the beach, it's probably inadvisable to sunbathe at Playa Brasilito.

Since it is such a pain in the butt to get to this beach, I figured it would be nice and quiet.  Boy was I wrong.  The place was packed.  The parking lot was so full that we had to pay a watchman to guide us to a parking spot.  There were several tents with vendors hawking food and cheap souvenirs.  There was shade underneath some underbrush, but every spot was taken by local families.  It seemed that most of them had packed their entire house with them to come to the beach. 

Hardly the quaint, quiet beach that we were hoping for.

While the broken shells were kind of interesting for about five minutes, we learned to dislike the beach pretty fast.   Unlike Playa Grande, the drop-off from the surf was pretty steep for small kids.  The waves were really strong compared to the other beaches we had visited.  And it was just too damn crowded.

To make things worse, The Girl announced that she really had to go number 2 badly.  There were no bathroom facilities anywhere on the beach, and she wouldn't last before we could get her back to town.  Since she couldn't wait, The Wife decided to try the nearby Westin to see if they would let her use the bathroom.  After several minutes imploring five different security people at the gate, she was turned away.  The Girl started crying because she was about to have an accident.  I took her back there and begged the guards again.  They refused without showing any signs of compassion.  It was a sad sight to see adults treat a child like that.  As I argued with them in exasperation, a really nice family staying at the resort overheard us and offered to take The Girl inside to use the bathroom.  It was great to see that there are still some friendly people out there.  Those asinine guards couldn't refuse a paying guest. 

After that crisis was averted, we left the disappointing Playa Conchal and made it back to our hotel.  We watched the sunset while wading in the calmer and friendlier waters of Playa Potrero.  It was a perfect way to finish our last day at the beach.  Afterwards, we ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant.

A traditional casado with fish

Seafood rice

The catch of the day (mahi mahi)