Nosara, Costa Rica (lots of photos!)

[sisforsurfing]

Here's a small sample of photos I took on vacation in Costa Rica. We got unbelievably consistent waves, not one day wasn't overhead! The days would generally be; wake up, breakfast, surf, lunch, nap/read/pool, surf, out for dinner, sleep. Unreal!

Lots of these are straight out-of-camera JPEGS, some lightly edited, a few are processed RAW files. Constructive criticism definitely encouraged! Hope you enjoy.
Kind of documentary style. Everything with a D700 and 35/1.4 AI-S unless it looks tele, a few are 80-200 AF-S.

People

Aunt & Uncle


Cousin relaxing
















And I didn't take these last two since I'm in them, but think they're rad.

[sisforsurfing]

Food!

Fresh guac every night


Fresh fish every night




And lots of Imperial

[sisforsurfing]

Driving around Nosara;




We couldn't cross this, too deep;




Landscape






Crazy rivermouth!




Night walk back from the beach, I felt like I was on LOST


Our place;


Our place during the rain

[Blue_gsx23]

My friend went there last year. Real nice place from what he told me. Great shots!

[djb5118]

good call on the Imperial! Looks like you had a kick-ass time!

[grimm]

looks fantastic! man i need to go there.
Great photos!

[Kerplunk105]

That looks like an awesome place! Great shots.

[gtsiawd96]

So awesome, extremely jealous!

[sisforsurfing]

Thanks everyone. It's a great place to go down and spend time with family or friends (and surf your brain out.) Cheap, great food and really friendly people.

I just loaded this page at work and it took foreverrrr, sorry about that!

[djb5118]

Originally Posted by sisforsurfing

Thanks everyone. It's a great place to go down and spend time with family or friends (and surf your brain out.) Cheap, great food and really friendly people.

I just loaded this page at work and it took foreverrrr, sorry about that!

i agree, i couldnt sing the praises of Costa Rica any more. I am going to NZ in the spring, but after that, I will be back in CR for sure!

[Kerplunk105]

Kinda off topic, but where did you go? Is this a safe place for vacations?

[sisforsurfing]

Super safe. I've had a few people ask me that since I got back and my initial reaction was "umm, of course," but I guess it's a legitimate question since it's a third-world country.

If you're looking for a place to go and relax, unplug, get great weather (in the right season), eat lots of fresh food and just generally be in a tropical locale you cannot beat it! Nosara is a bit off the beaten track (an hour+ of bumpy dirt roads to get there), but somewhere like Tamarindo is much more of a town and an easier transition. It's not a place for resort people. There are resorts (I hate resorts), but Costa Rica is better to experience a little culture as the locals are very friendly... coming back to New Jersey is always a treat after getting used to the kindness, haha.

I never once felt unsafe or anything. Common sense applies, but as far as third world countries go it's regarded as the friendliest. Lots of Americans and English speaking natives. They don't even have an army! Really a refreshing place to unplug and spend some time with people you love.

****, their tourism board needs to hire me or something.

[Kerplunk105]

Originally Posted by sisforsurfing

Super safe. I've had a few people ask me that since I got back and my initial reaction was "umm, of course," but I guess it's a legitimate question since it's a third-world country.

If you're looking for a place to go and relax, unplug, get great weather (in the right season), eat lots of fresh food and just generally be in a tropical locale you cannot beat it! Nosara is a bit off the beaten track (an hour+ of bumpy dirt roads to get there), but somewhere like Tamarindo is much more of a town and an easier transition. It's not a place for resort people. There are resorts (I hate resorts), but Costa Rica is better to experience a little culture as the locals are very friendly... coming back to New Jersey is always a treat after getting used to the kindness, haha.

I never once felt unsafe or anything. Common sense applies, but as far as third world countries go it's regarded as the friendliest. Lots of Americans and English speaking natives. They don't even have an army! Really a refreshing place to unplug and spend some time with people you love.

****, their tourism board needs to hire me or something.

I only asked about the safe factor b/c after seeing this thread I was looking up vacation spots and I noticed how a lot of the ads talked about how safe the area was and how they had security and bars on the windows

[sisforsurfing]

ohh, yeah, they have metal bars on lots of the big windows because of the wildlife. For example, one morning we walked down the path to the beach and there were 2 wild horses just chilling about 50 yards from the house. Don't want one of them just crashing through! haha.

[djb5118]

Originally Posted by Kerplunk105

I only asked about the safe factor b/c after seeing this thread I was looking up vacation spots and I noticed how a lot of the ads talked about how safe the area was and how they had security and bars on the windows

Yea, I was just there in May also. We stayed in Jaco which is on the pacific coast. Your initial reaction will most likely be shock because it is a third world country and the standard of living is completely different than that of the US (tin roof houses, lots of barbed wire fence, etc). But! the place is one of the most laid back I have ever been, and I believe a recent study showed the people of Costa Rica to be the "happiest" in the world.

So to someone who is used to a plush resort and whatnot, they do exhist, but you wont get the flavor of the locals at all...which I think is the whole point of going to CR to begin with.

Example of the local friendliness:

My parents were looking for the local cigar factory, and the map had it positioned a bit off of the main road. So they are wandering around this area looking for it, and it turned out to be a residential area. The waiter that we had the night before apparently lived nearby and was walking to his car...sees my parents and genuinely goes "Oh Hello! How are you? Did you enjoy dinner?" etc. He was able to steer my parents in the right direction (turned out the factory was long gone). That kind of stuff would never happen here in the States for sure.

The only thing you have to get used to is the dudes riding by you on bicycles asking if you want drugs, but if you just ignore them its no problem at all...

[AristoSan]

I've heard nothing but great things about Costa Rica. I have dated a couple too and ummm nuff said great times. Nice shots

[YellowMSP]

looks like a great place to get away from everything and take a vacation. nice shots too

[ASIAN JUL]

what the hellllllll? between you and yellowmsp, I'm really jealous




That shot is amaaaaaazing.

[Kaleo55]

I was hoping to see some shots of the daily overheads you were referring to. How was the quality of the breaks, lefts, right? Did you basically stay in one area? and were there locals surfing too? I know in Hawaii, especially on the south shore it's pretty territorial and can get touchy if you're an out of towner in a local's spot.

When you say overhead what are talking about 6-7 ft? Post pics if you have em...

[sisforsurfing]

Originally Posted by ASIAN JUL

That shot is amaaaaaazing.

Thanks!! That's one of my favorites from the trip.

Originally Posted by Kaleo55

I was hoping to see some shots of the daily overheads you were referring to. How was the quality of the breaks, lefts, right? Did you basically stay in one area? and were there locals surfing too? I know in Hawaii, especially on the south shore it's pretty territorial and can get touchy if you're an out of towner in a local's spot.

When you say overhead what are talking about 6-7 ft? Post pics if you have em...

Yeah I know, I'm surprised youre the first that said this. Thing is, the waves were so good every day I didn't want to spend surfing time taking pictures. The break was also very, very far out for a beach break, it felt like paddling to a reef. If you got caught inside by a set (or three) it could be a verrrry long paddle out.

The locals are unbelievably friendly, and there are so many waves that it doesn't even matter.
I hate saying waves are a certain height in feet because everyone has a different definition, but this is a photo from a day we were there;



This is the blog post from that day if you want to get a better feel for what waves are like at Playa Guiones (the break) http://www.surfingnosara.com/index.p.../997-june-30th

That site has a daily surf report if you're interested. It's almost painful to look at, the waves are so consistent it makes me sick!