Cabo Matapalo · Costa Rica
Surfing Backwash
A right point in Cabo Matapalo, Costa Rica, for intermediate and advanced surfers.
Backwash is the middle of the three right points at Cabo Matapalo. It's usually a bit smaller than Hog Hole, with fast, hollow sections, and it works best from low to mid tide on a solid south-west swell.
It's a little easier than Hog Hole but still a reef wave, with rocks and cobbles on the inside. Like the rest of Matapalo, it's at the end of a jungle road on the Osa Peninsula, with few people around.
It's best from low to mid tide on a solid south-west swell, in the green season. The lodges at Cabo Matapalo are a short walk through the jungle, and you'll often see monkeys and scarlet macaws on the way.
When to surf
Backwash
Backwash is at its best from April to October. Conditions it likes: S-SW swell, low-mid tide.
April to June: Good
Season building, S-SW swell arriving, lush and quiet, roads still passable
July to September: Prime
Peak S-SW power, Pavones at its best, but the wettest, road-washing months
Oct: Good
Still firing, crowds thinning, very wet
November to March: Quiet
Dry but smaller. Pavones needs a big south swell, so it's often flat
The year across Golfo Dulce
Waves near Backwash
Hog Hole
3 kmCabo Matapalo · Right Point · Advanced
Pan Dulce
4 kmCabo Matapalo · Right Point · Beginner / Intermediate
Punta Banco
17 kmPavones & the south · Left & Right Reef · Beginner / Intermediate
Straight-line distances. By road it is usually further.
Getting there
Where to stay: Cabo Matapalo is roadless-remote, expensive jungle eco-lodges only, reached by 4x4 that floods in the wet season. Puerto Jiménez (30-40min) is the practical base with supplies and cheaper rooms. Bring cash; there's no ATM at the cape. The three rights are private-ish and less crowded than Pavones.
Transport, costs, where to stay and the rest of the waves in the area are in the Cabo Matapalo guide.
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