South Pacific Costa Rica

This southern area of Costa Rica, extending right down to the Panama border, is a mix of tropical rainforests, mountains, marine reserves, fruit trees and palm plantations. Tropical means year-round rain showers with downpours lasting more than half the day and all night in the rainiest weeks (some areas receive nearly 300 inches of rain per year!). The rivers feed new sandbars, forming grinding barrels at lower tides.

Just south of the largest mangrove in Central America and Drake’s Bay is the Osa Peninsula and the Golfo Dulce, home of Matapalo, a wild right-hander and Pavones, one of the most spectacular left pointbreaks in the world. These spots are the most crowded when swell is running, but the drift keeps the riders spread out down the line. While you’re waiting for a set to come your way you can pick out scarlet macaws and howler monkeys in the trees, making this place magical.

There is an airport in Golfito, with regular flights running from San Jose, cutting down seriously on driving time if you’re bound for the southern region. Once in Golfito there are car rentals, buses and other travelers to get you the various breaks. Read more

Surfing Pavones

From Surftherenow.com

I first read about Pavones in “Searching for Captain Zero.” Writer, Allan Weisbecker , makes a surf road trip to Costa Rica to find a lost childhood friend. He ended the trip at this epic wave described as the world’s second longest (behind Chicama, Peru). I made my first trip to Costa Rica last May and when a real swell hit, I packed up my rental car and motored 12 hours down the coast from the North to Pavones. The wave lived up to every description of it. Sure, it’s crowded, but that’s to be expected of any epic wave with land access. There will be drop-ins but for the most part everyone including the locals respect the line-up. It’s entirely possible to grab waves out at Pavones and probably grab some of the best waves of your life. Considering how close it is the U.S. and how cheap it is to get there, it’s definitely worth a trip to surf. The area of Southern Costa Rica surrounding Pavones is pristine and stunning. The locals are friendly and the small town at Pavones has a chill laid back vibe. Check out our guide to getting to and surfing Pavones below (more photos and video)

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