Time to leave surfing behind in Costa Rica

The signs were there, at least so I said to myself. I was running out of wax for my board, my muscles had grown few millimeters, I had lost some weight from my belly, and finally I broke my board while hitting my friends board with it. The sum of all this made me think it’s time to move on. I think I was surfing here in Playa Carmen for 2 weeks or so. I’m not sure since I wasn’t really counting.

The good thing about breaking my board is that it does give me a perfect excuse to continue my travels (even I have difficulties believing that phrase). This whole surfing thing was just too much fun and at the same time I know that at some point I would definitely break something in my body (the lame logic continues). So far my surfing accidents have been minor: small cuts, bruises, moments of breathlessness and general physical fatigue.

Most irritating issue during the last weeks by the beach was by far a Finnish Cosmopolitan magazine. I tried reading it couple of times and severe irritation and anxiety hit me every time after few minutes of reading. Really, who reads that stuff? If in my next life I decide to become a millionaire I’m going to start publishing men’s and women’s magazines and telling them how to live their lives and how to please the opposite sex.

If you like surfing and you have your 2 weeks winter vacation and don’t want any extra hazle and culture shocks, you should probably come to Costa Rica. It’s the easiest country to travel and you don’t have to speak spanish at all (which sucks). Luckily I did meet a really nice person from israel in the hostel to whom I could speak spanish. She didn’t have the “school” accent that almost every single European and American traveler usually has. Sometimes it feels like a job to talk spanish with “those” people. Sorry.

I probably took my surfing project a bit seriously since I hardly saw anything except the beach and the hostel. Then again, now I feel like my (brain)batteries are charged and I’m ready for new challenges (Don’t believe that phrase either).

One thing is for sure. I’m going to miss surfing.

Little bit about the surf spot at Playa Carmen:
The place is chilled. ATV’s and pick-ups roam the narrow beach road. There are no high buildings and the place is surrounded by green. It all feels natural. The ferry you have to take to get to the peninsula slows down the development just enough so the place will hopefully stay easy going for some years to come.

At least at this time of the year there are waves all the time. One of the reasons why it’s a great place to come for your holidays. You don’t have to worry about tides here since the waves work all the time. This place has lefts and rights. Somedays it gets big and it takes 5-15 minutes to paddle out and somedays when the sea is calm you get there in few minutes. My personal enemy number one was the sun. I could only surf early in the morning and late in the evening. It can get crowded but only for an hour or so around 8 a.m and 5 p.m.

San Jose
Now I’m in San Jose for couple of days. It was suppose to be a one night layover but I found a camera cleaning service so I have to wait a day to get it back. Next stop is probably Panama. I’m sure Costa Rica is an amazing country but I’m trying to convince myself to believe that this country has nothing new to offer after all the other Central American countries. Besides you spend double the amount of money here compared to for example Nicaragua which has half the amount of tourism.

San Jose didn’t impress me that much after 2 hours of walking. Active city with people selling lots of things on the streets but hardly the kind of metropolitan like Guadalajara in Mexico. For window shopper like me the stores are full of exported stuff from US and on every second corner you can find a McDonaldDucks.

Next
If you know anything worth checking out in Panama before Panama City, please let me know. I’m tired of reading other peoples guide books and traveling on the Gringo-path.

Disclaimer of the day
I apologise for putting the photos always as a one group. It’s just too much clicking if I was to put all the photos to their proper places. I think I spend enough time infront of this fake world as it is. Besides there is always an other story within the photos if you look carefully.