Around The World In 80 Waves

My car is not really suited to the beach roads around here so Dave offers to give me a lift on the back of his quad bike to the beaches at the next town along the coast.

It is ok though because as well as my board shorts I have my flip flops for protection whilst balancing side saddle on the back with my 7’10” under my arm trying to avoid oncoming traffic on the main road.

We get to the beach unscathed and Dave is happy to hang around while I notch up the forty seventh break of my trip. 

There are a few people in the water but I quickly notch up a handfull of rides going left and right in the shoulder high waves.

Aware that Dave is waiting to give me a lift back and conscious of all the tourists piling into the water on the shore as the sun gets lower in the sky I catch one more ride in to the beach very pleased with my little afternoon session. 

The only other thing to report is that some toe rag nicked my flip flops from the beach when Dave’s back was turned.

This meant I had to ride back to The Green Rooms barefooted on the back of the quad bike.

I hope they like my flip flops, but in all honesty knowing my own feet even I wouldn’t want them second hand!!!

The Howler Monkeys were back again today making a right racket when they climbed through the trees looking for berries and fruit.

Sometimes they start their howling several hours before dawn, which although annoying is a great alarm call that those down in town miss out on. This allows us the chance to get up and be in the water before everybody else is up.

The monkeys come so close to the house you can almost touch them from the balcony of the main building here at The Green Rooms.

You have to watch out below though because they dont have any reason to care where they defacate or urinate!

I am awake early and after enjoying a lovely coffee that had already been brewed for me by my host Dave, I stroll barefoot down the hill to the beach.

The sun is coming up and because it is the morning after the big night of the Easter weekend the beach is very quite at 6.30am. I paddle out on the peak directly in front of the path, where there is only one guy in the water. 

I had a brilliant session catching loads of rides in the early morning sun.

I caught more waves than I could remember taking them left and right having a really fun time in the water, whooping and hollering the whole time as I charged down the line.

There are so many pictures from his morning’s session it is hard to identify the best one.

However I have added a selection to give you an idea of what it was like.

There were loads of little fish in the water, which I was trying to shoo away, conscious that the food chain would be following them, but didn’t see anything which might worry me.

Woooo-hooo wave 46 and there is going to be swell here all week.

Looking forward to an afternoon session already.

I have based myself at The Green Rooms in Mal Pais for a few days (www.the-green-rooms.com ) based on a great recommendation from Esther back in the UK.

It is set in the hills above the madness and dust of town, and is run by Dave whose home break was The Witterings on the south coast of England.

I have my own room in this fantastic bungalow, but after being shown around the area today by Dave I am spending most of my time in the communal living area under the main building, where there is a huge table which everybody sits around talking about the waves today, different breaks and who might make the next beer run down the hill.

As usual it is boiling hot here and apart from occasionally cooling off in the pool I have decided to take a day off everything to recharge my batteries because I have been getting grumpy of late due to all the tech problems I am experiencing. Top marks to Dave on this because the house is set up with everything you might need including an uninteruptable power supply and wi-fi which works brilliantly.

We are visited by Howler monkeys in the afternoon. No pictures of them to share yet, but by all accounts they visit daily and I should have something for you to look at soon.

I had to an awful lot of driving along dirt roads today at times wondering if it was the right move in the car.

This loose shale surface kicks up so much dust which means you get a lung full every time a car passes. The road you se here is flat but the coast road towards Cobano was at times really steep so it is necessary to stop at the bottom, try to pick a line less bumpy than the rest and just gun the car as fast as you can to make it up the hill.

The view was at times spectacular, and thankfully the further down the Nicoya Peninsula you go the wind which has been howling for days subsided.

I rolled into Mal Pais in a car that looked like somebody had sprinkled a bag of cement over it and then tried to ring the British run hostel I had selected to get directions. Of course my phone doesn’t work when I need it, so I am then stuck on the main road between Playa Carmen and Playa Santa Theresa just as all the locals are heading home from a day at the beach. There is so much dust being kicked up it is at times choking. Not big on patience after another day in the heat I drive around in the darkeness but eventually find it. There are loads of great people there upon arrival so it is time for a few beers me thinks.

I have done a few trips with perhaps one too many boards on the roof but saw this leaving Tamarindo.

It is quite the most ridiculous stack of boards I have ever seen and it was actually driving down the road!

After the latest round of days wasted sweltering in the heat trying to sort out the sort of crap IT problems I came on this trip to escape from, I have sorted another local SIM card for my phone.

The number should you want to ring or text me is +506-8498-0952.

Hopefully I can get on with having more fun for at least a few weeks now, but I’m not holding my breath because my phone and computer seem to just take it in turns to disappoint me, are now completely unwilling to communicate with one and other, which is just putting me in a bad mood all the time. It is too boring to detail but I came close to jacking in the blog a few days ago after having had enough of it.

(I’m not really expecting much in the way of sympathy on this by the way!)

Tamarindo is as much a party town as it is a surf town, but I haven’t been out apart from the first night here because I have been so tired after two surf sessions each day and the on-going IT battle in between.

As you can see here there is much to keep a gentleman amused, so I am even more annoyed by the IT battle which is taking up so much of my time.

I finally make it out on Thursday only to find that the town is not serving booze because it is Holy Week.

Doh!!!

There are no shortage of bikinis on the beach either!

Walking around would easily put a huge a grin on my face were it not for the howling wind blowing so much dust into the air that I would be eating grit if I dared show my teeth.

I have enjoyed my stay here bagging a few great waves at the various beaches I have visited.

Access to a fridge in my little cabana has been a blessing too, even if there was no air conditioning to keep me cool.

However as ever it is time to move on again and I am heading south down the peninsula. Not before I make myself a cheeky fry up though!

Late in the afternoon I take the family over to Playa Grande from Tamarindo. We take the option of the 40 minute drive there as opposed to the one minute paddle across a crocodile infested river mouth followed by a 20 minute stroll down the beach you see here. I paddle straight out and catch two great shoulder high waves, one left and right. However when I paddle back out I am faced by a frothing mouthed local youth who is going bezerk. I’m not easily intimidated and being my size helps, but this kid is seriously pissed apparently because I caught something he felt he should have had, which was bullshit by the way.

He is raving right in my face, yelling that I don’t show enough respect, shoving my board, throwing water in my face and stating that he is now going to prevent me catching anything else there. This may sound quite intimidating but like most Central Americans he is tiny so the scene is like a Jack Russell terrier trying to pick a fight with a Grizzly Bear, all of which I find quite amusing and am grinning in his face telling him he needs to grow up. However this only serves to send him into orbit like some sort of Tazmanian Devil and he is doing everything bar swinging a punch. (Wisely I hasten to add – I was just going to sit on him in the water and see how he coped without air!)

This is going on for about 10 minutes and I later discover that everyone is laughing at the scene behind me, as he is suggesting we go into the beach to get into a ruck. Tempting as this was I declined pointing out his immaturity once more, but was glad when Doren had exchanged child minding duties and paddled out alongside me albeit completely unaware of what was going on because it gave me a bit of support. The kid still took one last opportunity to surf directly at my head before wisely retreating. Despite the ravings of this local loon I still caught a few more and had a great time there before driving the family back to Tamarindo after the sun had set.

I am up early and meet up with an American surfer called Harry I had met here and went off on a surf safari to try and find some bigger waves. Our route took us 18km along a dirt road towards Playa Avellana, which was at the limit of where I am comfortable with in the little green surf machine these days. Along the way we get a shakedown at a police road block and they are licking their lips when they discover I am not carrying my driver’s license (I had left it locked in my cabana rather than risk it getting nicked from an unsecured car while I was in the water) or my temporary importation documentation. Despite many threats of massive fines and the car getting confiscated, which are clearly attempts to exact a bribe, we stonewall them. They say they are phoning the traffic police to come and really cause us some trouble but I can see the ‘telephoner’ miming into his telephone so still don’t offer anything saying I will pay the fine if it is necessary at the police station. Reluctantly and empty handed they let us pass, but NEXT TIME…!

After all that we rock up at the beach only to find it is looking very naff. We paddle in more in hope than expectation at the only peek we can make out along the huge sandy beach. However I am pleasantly surprised by what we score though and catch a hat full of fun rides going left and right on the chest high waves that the howling offshore wind is still doing everything it can to spoil. The water is surprisingly cold, but I am staggered to see locals joining us in the water wearing wetsuits. One paddles up to me to ask why I am not cold in my shorts but I can only offer that the water in Wales never gets close to being this warm! Personally I can’t figure out how he could bare to be in neoprene in this relentless heat.

After a quick drive to Tamarindo, I help the family move hotels before diving in with round eight of the latest battle with my failing IT. I am getting so ticked off with it in this heat that I was about to jack it all in so that I can just focus on my holiday rather than this never ending frustration which keeps putting me in a bad mood. That I am typing this means I won another short term victory in this on-going war!