by Elizabeth King

Created on: April 02, 2009

The staff at Witch's Rock Surf Camp in Tamarindo know all the right spots - the beginner spots, the gnarly spots, and the "secret" spots - for surfers of all levels.

The camp, which houses about a dozen, features small group lessons, often a pair per instructor, or even one-on-one. Lessons consist of 20 minute preparation on the beach, basically stretching and getting the hang of getting up on the board before venturing out into the ocean.

Each morning, there is a surf seminar, usually around the infinity pool or the attached restaurant (Eat @ Joe's), where an instructor teaches surf etiquette, safety in the water, types of waves, breaks, currents and tides, and even about alligators and sharks! The actual in-water surf lessons last about two hours, and the instructor follows the students into the water and teaches them how to pick out surfable waves, how to catch them, how to stand up on the board, and how to turn.

The beginner/intermediate surf program primarily surfs Playa Tamarindo, which is right in front of the camp. The beachbreak there is great for beginners because it's not too intimidating and has a sand bottom. They would take us out on mid-to-high tide, when the waves were best, but the rivermouth has lefts and rights and can be good on any tide. The instructors usually start students out on a foam board, because they aren't as dangerous when they pop-up and bonk you on the head. But you are free to switch up your board at any point, and try out short boards, fun boards, and fish boards... the camp has them all.

The more advanced surfers took "surf tours" to Witch's Rock, a beachbreak with really strong offshore winds, making for big barrels, lefts and rights; Ollie's Point, a pointbreak that is only accessible by boat and has big, hollow waves; Playa Grande, which is dominated by shortboards, due to the fun, rippable waves; Marbella, which is definitely for advanced surfers, because it's really heavy, huge barrels like the ones you see in "the Endless Summer"; and Playa Avellanas, a beach town about 30 minutes south that has multiple breaks that work from low to high tide. It's a sand-bottom beachbreak and has a rivermouth with some reef. There's actually a spot nicknamed "Little Hawaii" because these are the kind of waves you see in the movies.

The rainy season in Tamarindo is approximately when summer in the US is, but rain does not dampen these surf trips. The rain barely lasts an hour, at most, each day, and after it rains, the waves usually swell up pretty big! The weather ranges from 70-80 degrees, the water is always in the 80s and the wind blows predominantly offshore. Even though Tamarindo is increasingly becoming a tourist hot-spot, and even has the nickname "Tamagringo," there are plenty of surf spots without crowds and the friendly locals, known as Ticos, are more than willing to help with your surfing skills, as well as your Spanish.

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