We are heading down to CR in the beginning of June and staying in Playa Grande. We are planning on exploring out a little bit and trying to get up to Witch’s but will mainly just be hanging around in Playa Grande. I found alot of info on other places in Costa Rica in the archives, but not a whole lot on Playa Grande other than it’s usually just alittle bigger and juicier than Tamarindo. What should I expect for this time of year? What boards should I bring (I can only bring 2).
I was planning on bringing my 6’1" thruster (short, wide, and thick made for small to medium waves) and a 6’10" thruster if it gets bigger (also alittle wider and thicker, great travel board).
Other boards I could bring:
5’10" Old school fish (my shape)
6’0" New school fish
6’4 thruster
6’6" singlefin (also my shape)
7’2" egg
Also if there’s any suggestions of places to check out in the area, or non surfing activites that I should give a go I’d love to hear em!
I stayed at Hotel Tortugas 6 years ago. Playa grande is a pretty thick wave relative to Tamarindo. While I was there I saw boards ranging from 6’1 potato chips to 9’6 noseriders. The sets were about head high. Peaks all over.
Howzit chadapoamus, Playa Grande has good fun juicy waves but they are tide fickle. What got me was about 1/2 an hour before the tide would be right at least 30-40 surfers would converge on the spot. If you are staying at Tortuga don't mind the orange and black crabs that are every where ( even in your room ) since they are harmless. aloha,Kokua
Thanks for the responses. Ha, yeah we are staying at Tortugas also. Are there breaks in the surrounding area that aren’t so sensitive to tide? I don’t know if we will have a car or not, but maybe we should consider getting one. We’ll have our girlfriends with us so it’s going to be hard to take off and surf ALL day (it will happen though, just not everyday). Does the crowd really get that bad or is it pretty spread out.
It might be good that you are bringing your girlfriends:
They can hang out at Tortugas bar and swimming pool.
They can hang on the beach and watch your extra boards on the beach, if you want to swap them.
They can watch your stuff and protect it from the thieves, which always seem to get me at one time or another in CR. Last time I went, I only had a pair of flip flops stolen.
Tamarindo and several other Playa "-----" Breaks are on the other side of the rivermouth. Worth checking out.
Did you buy the brown paperback copy of “The Surfer’s Guide to Costa Rica”? Good description of breaks.
It’s widely available in surf shops and is pretty nuts and bolts accurate.
I took the family there for Christmas this year.Offshore winds blew day & night. Swell ranged from knee high to overhead the 9 days we stayed. Playa Grande was fun but crowded, even by Virginia Beach standards. If you rent a car you can get to Langosta on the south side of town which breaks 2-4 feet bigger than Tamarindo proper on any given day or you can drive south thru a big water hole ( the road goes thru the middle of it) and thru a river ( road goes in one side , comes out the other) to Playa Negra - great waves/ hamburgers and Avellenas ( home of Lola the pig who must weigh 600 lbs but let the kids sit on her for a photo op) where my son and I had 5-6 foot offshore perfection all to ourselves. Great waves to be had. Whatever works for you in the 3-6 ft range you should bring. We stayed at Best Western Vista Villas - great place and great staff, very friendly and helpful plus it overlooks the Tamarindo rivermouth.