We’ve now returned to Santa Teresa after a good week up the coast exploring other beaches. We spent 5 nights at Tamarindo which was made famous for being the first stop on the infamous Endless Summer 2 movie in the early 90s. Since then the town has developed to probably Costa Rica’s most popular beach resort, and surf mecca. The town is littered with great waves, and lively bars and what was once full of solely surfers has now become a mass market perfect for the week in the sun. The small cabina’s and beach huts have been replaced with huge developments and high rise hotels, giving the guys a clear show of how different the Costa Rican towns can be.

We had the luxury of our air conditioned apartment with swimming pool, so there were no complaints from our camp! We made friends with the couple above, who very kindly shared their fresh fish with us giving us a real tropical treat, so a big thank you to Ted and Xeyanna!

Every day we got up at around 6am to go and check the waves. Taking advantage of the 4x4 we were able to scope out a few more spots. We would either surf in Tamarindo at a popular break called “Rivermouth” as it breaks right at the mouth of a river. The way the sand lies under the water means that the wave breaks very consistently, in a very similar way to a reef break but without the worry of rocks below! This was a very popular wave with the guys with them all catching their longest waves of the trip.

Slightly further North is another beach called “Playa Grande” (literally translated as “Big Beach”) which is either a scorching 45 minute beach walk from Tamarindo (starting with a paddle across the river), or a 40 minute drive as you need to drive around the reserve which the beach lies on, given the air conditioning in the car we opted for the lazier option! Playa Grande is not only famous for it’s waves (see the pictures attached), but is also a breeding ground for the famous leatherback turtles, although sadly it was out of season for them.

Our 5 hour drive back to Santa Teresa yesterday was slightly lengthened due to a flat tyre, whilst Anna slept in the back the boys got to work. Toby and Loukas had never had to change a wheel before, but George went straight back to his army days and went into auto pilot changing it with ease, and hopefully teaching the boys a thing or two along the way!

So it’s back to the slow pace of life here, and the time has flown by for everyone. The trip officially finished on Thursday, but with early flights we need Wednesday to get to San Jose, which means only two full days left here, so we’re going to make sure we make the most of them! Apart from surfing until our arms fall off we’ve got a fishing trip and a morning’s snorkelling to look forward to.

When I started to write this I was sitting in a small hotel in San Jose with Loukas and Toby, enjoying the final few hours of Costa Rican sunshine before heading to the airport in one hours time to make the journey back to the United Kingdom, however I am now sitting at Atlanta having said goodbye to the group, and awaiting my connecting flight to London Heathrow.

The past few days have been very busy. Lots of travelling whilst making sure that we squeeze the final few hours of Costa Rican paradise as hard as we can. We have been cramming in as much surfing as possible with a long two hours in the morning, and a sneaky hour as the sun sets down, very often staying in the water right down to the last few orange rays give the water a unique oily sheen.

Everyone’s surfing has developed so much over the past six weeks, Loukas is dropping in and whizzing across the faces of the biggest waves of the day (see picture attached), Toby has the confidence to paddle out through anything, and is not afraid to take on the drops of the bigger waves and will always have a high wave count and a constant smile on his face, while Anna ploughs through the heavy waves and when out back paddles for each and every wave and can very happily pop up at the top of the wave, drop down the face and ride it all the way to the beach. It’s great to see everyone at such a good standard after six weeks, and I’m confident that this will simply be the start of a life of enjoying the truly exhilarating sport of surfing and all the different opportunities it offers.

Tuesday saw us head to a secluded secret spot that George knew of, where we spent a few hours snorkelling around the lagoon reef, and simply enjoying the beautiful beach before we headed off with one of the local fisherman to catch the last suppers bounty (or so we thought!) Fishing is one of those sports that cannot simply be understood in a one off experience, one of those sports that you never know what to expect. You could go out one day and have the catch of your life, or you could head out and catch absolutely nothing, and we experienced the latter. Apart from one that slipped Loukas’ line at the last minute (it was a monster for sure) the only bite we got was from one of the local sea gulls, but don't worry we didn't havethat for supper, it flew away safely. Still, an afternoon cruising around the Pacific ocean with the sun shining on your backs and fishing rods in your hands is never a bad thing!

Seeing that we landed empty handed the fisherman took pity on us and gave us a bag of “Groppa” (excuse the spelling) which is a local fish, and was ample for our feast. We had stuck a deal with the chef at the Funky Monkey that he could have all of our fish if he cooked us supper, so this meant that we didn’t return with an empty cool box, and he happily prepared us a feast to remember. George, Linea and Annie (their Nanny) joined us aswell and it was a truly memorable meal made by the generosity of the local fisherman, a big gathering and the perfect way to cap off a great trip.

Yesterday we had to travel to San Jose which involved a 6 hour coach journey including a quick ferry crossing over the Nicoya Gulf, we were accompanied by George and family who are also heading up to Nicaragua with Anna. Here the fellowship was broken with everyone heading off in their different directions, and the goodbyes started with the three of us continuing the journey to San Jose whilst the others headed North.

The Costa Rican lifestyle is truly unique, and to spend an extended period of time out here puts life into a different perspective, it takes the pace and hustle out of the lifestyle and lets you enjoy the simple things in life, and out here then come by the bucket load. George has taken the guys on a journey over the past six weeks in both senses of the word. As this trip ends Anna is off starting a new adventure and continuing her travels in Central America continuing the search, while Toby and Loukas are returning home not only with healthy tans but a wisened outlook and a small case of catching the surfing/travelling bug. At Ticket to Ride we aim to share our love and passion for surfing and travelling, and in Costa Rica we have got an absolute gem. These three intrepid Amigo’s are the first to share the Costa Rican experience with us, and so we will always hold fond memories of them all.

Pura Vida.