Surfing Nosara & the south

Right Reef · Best Dec-Apr · 2-8 ft · Crowd 3/5

SW swell, mid tide

Playa Avellana is a long beach south of Tamarindo in Guanacaste, with a right reef nicknamed Little Hawaii, beach-break peaks and a rivermouth. The reef gets hollow and holds size, while the sand peaks are easier.

It's best on a clean south-west swell at mid tide. The reef draws a good local crowd on the better days, so give them space and watch the shallow inside at low tide.

It's a quiet, rural beach with forest behind it and a couple of beach restaurants. Lola, the pig that lived on the beach for years, made it famous with visitors.

Right Reef · Best Dec-Apr · 2-8 ft · Crowd 3/5

SW swell, mid tide

Playa Negra is a right over a shelf of dark rock at the north end of the beach. It's the wave from The Endless Summer II, and on a good south-west swell it throws fast, hollow walls that are a clear step up from the sand-bottom beaches further north.

Mid tide on the push is best. At low tide the reef gets shallow and the takeoff zone is small, so the surfers who know where to sit get most of the waves. Watch the rocks on the inside.

There are places to stay right behind the break, so it's easy to surf it several times a day as the tide moves through.

Beach Break · Best Dec-Apr · 2-6 ft · Crowd 2/5

Swell SW

Ostional is a long, quiet beach north of Nosara with easy beach-break peaks and few surfers. It works on a south-west swell at most tides and suits beginners and improvers.

The beach is a wildlife refuge, best known for the arribadas, when thousands of olive ridley turtles come ashore to nest at certain times of year, and there's very little building. As along the rest of this coast, don't leave valuables on the beach.

The dry season, from December to April, brings clean conditions and offshore mornings. Nosara, about twenty minutes south, has the places to stay and eat.

Beach Break · Best Dec-Apr · 2-5 ft · Crowd 3/5

Swell SW

Playa Nosara is the long beach north of Guiones, with soft, consistent beach-break peaks that suit beginners. There's almost always something to ride, and the peaks along the sand spread the crowd out.

The town sits back from the beach in the forest, so the shoreline still feels natural despite all the surf schools and yoga studios nearby, and the water is warm enough for boardshorts all year. It's best on a south-west swell with a light morning offshore. Don't leave valuables on the beach: petty theft is common along this coast.

Beach Break · Best Dec-Apr · 2-6 ft · Crowd 3/5

Swell SW, all tides

Playa Guiones is the main beach in Nosara, with consistent, well-shaped beach-break peaks that work at all tides. At the north end there's a right over sand and reef that gets better as the swell picks up.

It's one of the most popular places in Costa Rica for improvers, with surf schools, cafés and board rental, but no high-rises: the town sits back in the forest along dirt roads. It's best on a south-west swell. Don't leave valuables on the beach.

The dry season, from December to April, brings the cleanest mornings, and the green season brings bigger swells.