**Surfing courses are very popular. Book early to guarantee enrollment**

Costa Rica is known to have some of the most consistent waves in the world. With its diverse topography and coastal winds, there are waves for every surfer. Add to that the year round heat and warm ocean and there is never a bad time to pick up a board and head to the beach. The areas of Montezuma and nearby Mal Pais provide all sorts of breaks to choose from. Depending on your skill level, our instructors will bring you to the appropriate location. Generally each class will last 2 hours (Monday-Friday), but that may depend on your endurance as surfing is a rigorous and, often times, tiring, sport. Either way you'll find 2 hours to be more than enough to be ripping in no time.

To give you an idea how much i loved it at this school, here is my story. After my 3 weeks were over, I packed my things, checked out, and got on the bus towards San Jose. One hour into the trip I decided to turn back, it just felt wrong to leave. When getting to the ferry i got on the first bus to Montezuma by noon i was back and spent another amazing week here. Careful, it is very difficult to leave this place! :)"

On day one for beginners, you'll go over the safety and technical introduction on land. You'll spend the rest of your two hours in the water practicing your balance on the board, getting a feel for the waves and learning the basic techniques of how to stand up and paddle effectively. These lessons will introduce you to surfing and give you the tools for what often becomes a lifelong passion. For intermediates, you will have a chance to hone your skills on a relatively unknown and empty beach. Those of you from California know how much of a privilege that can be!

Our beginner/intermediate beach, Playa Grande, may be the best surf beach for learning in all of Costa Rica! There are two main reasons for this:

When much of the country is pounded by large and powerful waves (exactly why the professionals like it!), those who don't know how to handle those waves can easily get hurt. Because of our unique geographical location, our beach is protected from the open ocean and waves are generally a foot smaller than everywhere else (which makes a bigger difference than you may realize). Check wetsand.com or similar websites for current swell conditions and you will see the difference. At the same time, waves come as consistently as they do in any beach in the world throughout the year.

If you're in good shape, Playa Grande is a 20 minute walk from the edge of town. If you consider yourself a "slow walker" or if you think you are one to stop and admire the rain forest, natural pools on the beach and howling monkeys, it may take you longer. Either way, we recommend bringing the right shoes: hiking sandals or running shoes work best. This walk is one of the keys to making our surfing beach so good. No one wants to walk with a heavy surf board out to the beach. Luckily for us, we have a surfing cabina there, so you won't have to either. What does this mean for you? There's no crowd. No one fights for waves. You don't have to be embarrassed to fall because hardly anyone but our students and instructors are watching. There are less people to crash into and hurt yourself. To top it off, you have a place to keep your valuables safe while surfing.

More reasons why Playa Grande may be the best beginner surf beach in all of Costa Rica:

On other beaches which more commonly have deeper shore lines, it may feel like you're part of a wash cycle when you wipe out. When you finally do come up for air, you're pounded by another wave. Kind of sucks the fun out of it. Here, when you wipe out, the bottom is not too deep, meaning you can easily find which way is up and pop right out of the water.

There are no rocks, other than one boulder, way off shore which provides nice right hand waves. No hitting feet, knees, heads!, etc. on rocks when you fall. Our beach has a soft sandy bottom, keeping you out of harm's way.

The walk to Playa Grande takes you through an absolute nature reserve along the beach and through shaded jungle passes. It's a great chance to see wildlife every day; families of howler and white faced monkeys, neon orange and purple crabs (they don't bite, don't worry), beautiful birds, etc. There's not a single house or building for most of the walk, but there is a small river with waterfalls and a natural swimming pool on the beach along the way. It's absolutely beautiful. If Costa Rica calls you because of its natural beauty, it's here where you'll find it.

One of the cooler features of our surf cabina is that it forms part of a complex aimed at protecting endangered giant sea turtles. That means that part of your program fee, goes toward helping fund the project to save these amazing creatures. If you time it right, you may see baby turtles hatching and racing out for their first swim!

At our cabina, you can choose from any of our 20 board selection (max 15 students; 5 students per instructor). Ranging in size from 7'2" to 12', there's a perfect board for everyone. As your balance gets better and you want to carve more, you will move from larger to smaller boards.

There's no better place to learn how to surf!!

Intermediate and Advanced Surfers: Costa Rican Surfing Safari

In our intermediate and advanced level, Surfing Safari, Mauricio, is your guide for the best waves and conditions in the area. Each day, he will take you by jeep (4x4) to the best break possible. He will mix it up for you or bring you back to a specific break, day after day, if you love it that much.

We have 5 surf spots in the area that are top notch. They include beach breaks, point breaks and river mouths, lefts, rights, and great waves for both bigger and smaller conditions. Incredibly, as much as Costa Rica has been in the limelight for surfing, our nearby beaches are still relatively unknown (aside from Mal Pais, of course)! That means world class waves and none of the hassle of a crowded beach.

Our breaks include Playa Grande (beach break; lefts; rights), Mal Pais/Santa Teresa (beach breaks; rights; lefts), and 3 secret locations so as to keep them uncrowded: Secret Break #1 (point break; left), Secret Break #2 (river mouth; right), Secret Break #3 (point break; right). Excuse the secrecy, but these are the gems of our surfing scene and we want them to stay that way!!

There is a maximum of 4 surfers for this special package and requirements that you have previous surfing experience (at least an intermediate level) and fairly strong swimming skills.

For intermediate and advanced surfers, this is the ultimate Costa Rican surfing experience!! Our Costa Rican Surfing Safari is compatible with Spanish, Yoga and Poi lessons but is not compatible with our Scuba Certification course. Due to the exclusive nature of this program, classes are kept small and are subject to availability. Please inquire before applying.

Classes involving yoga, poi and surfing, excluding combinations with Spanish or Scuba, can be taken beginning on almost any Sunday (see schedule for vacation dates). For combinations including Spanish or Scuba classes please see our "Rates and Dates" page for schedules.

Please note: Safety is our number 1 concern. Always. La Escuela Del Sol will do everything in its power to give you 5 classes per week, M-F, but as we all know, weather and conditions can change without notice. La Escuela Del Sol reserves the right to cancel any class for safety reasons at any time. Alternate activities will be provided in such cases. Also note that on average we cancel 5-6 classes per year. Chances are slim it will happen on your trip.

Here's a look at what you can expect from our surfing or our surfing combination programs:

The following articles were written by friends but are of little importance for the prospective participant. Read at your own risk!:

Experience an Eco Adventure at Costa Rica Surf School Costa Rica Surf and Yoga