Costa Rica Day 7: Surfing & Beach Camping

For our second and last day at the beach we headed a few kilometers north just below Playa Tamarindo to Playa Avellanas for a little surfing and a lotta lounging and good food.

When we arrived at the beach house we made a new friend, Scott, an american who was house sitting next door. We all had dinner together and he offered to take us to the best surfing beach and to Lola’s, a beachfront restaurant and bar with fantastic food and drinks. So first thing we strapped the boards to the top of the car and headed up to the beach. A parking attendant in the public lot told us we had to tip him or the car would be broken into…so Ryan gave him a few bucks and I tried to not look back.

We got a beachside table at Lola’s, ordered a round of pina coladas, Imperials and tuna ceviche, and watched the surfers catch the waves. The food at Lola’s is incredible – super fresh fish and organic vegetables, Asian-Mexican fusion with a touch of California. I was in food heaven. And so were all the other gringos there – of which there were many. Not the most authentic place but it was really great to just sit out, relax and enjoy the beach with a good plate of nosh. Also, Lola’s keeps a big pig in the yard. I squatted down with my camera and talked to her for a while, trying to get her to smile. She was really sweet, blue-eyed, and loved having her nose scratched.

The kids and I waded into the ocean, trying to body surf and stay above the six-foot tall waves that crashed over our heads. Ryan headed down the beach to catch some waves on his surf board. I didn’t catch any on film but he did an awesome job riding all the way into the beach!

After a glorious day at the beach we headed back to the house to watch the sunset and stick our toes into the black sand. The day before I stepped on one of these thorns on the beach (ouch!).

We set up camp the night before in the beach dunes near the house and put the rain fly on, but not before we all got totally soaked and frustrated and eaten by bugs. This night we got lucky, though. The sky cleared up perfectly as the sun began to set and we didn’t have a drop of rain all night. Without the rain fly my tent is almost completely mesh and the view of the stars was great.

We spent the last daylight moments basking in the glow of the setting sun admiring our adventure and discussing our return travel plans. If only we could extend our tickets and stay for another week, the rest of the crew was going to go further south to explore more beaches. But I had planned on taking a class the day after we got back (more on that soon!), so we prepared our departure and hunkered down in the tent for one last night of listening to the surf rising and the crabs scuttling and the palms rustling in the slow breeze.