INSIDE PEAK- HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SAFARI SURF!!

All of us at Safari Surf look forward to this New Year, full of waves, smiles, and personal growth. The opening of Olas Verdes Sustainable Surf Resort will certainly be a highlight. Scheduled to open its doors in June or July of this year, the resort plans to have a “soft opening”, with a Gala Grand Opening slated for November 2015. Olas Verdes will fill a needed niche in Nosara providing upscale accommodations with a soulful surf atmosphere! Stay tuned to the Safari website (www.safarisurfschool.com) for updates.

Thanks and Pura Vida to all the great folks who spent the holidays with us. When I travel north to Orlando, Florida the planes are full of Costa Rican families taking their dream vacation to Disney World. Most of the Southbound passengers, however, are coming to Costa Rica to explore its natural attractions: surfing, fishing, kayaking, yoga, hiking, ziplining and passionate, fun-loving people. We had a mob of good folks descend upon us over Christmas; families, kids, solo trekkers, nature buffs, young professionals, and aging soul surfers. To see the joy and exhilaration surfing brings to all guests is priceless. Surfing your ‘own wave’ brings a sense of accomplishment in an atmosphere of camaraderie and instructional support. It doesn’t take long for this group of strangers becomes a tight-knit family, a dynamic that always fascinates me.

Laura and John Guitar share a wave at sunset

New Crew

Safari Surf School is stoked to have recruited four new instructors who proved themselves “up to the calling” over the holidays. It was not unusual for an instructor to teach up to five lessons per day, emerging from the water with wrinkle-skin, crow’s-feet, and salt-reddened eyes! Thanks and Welcome Aboard to our new team members.

Kevin

Marlon

Jordani

Erich

Families Families Families!

The best part of Christmas vacations are the families who come and experience Costa Rica together. When is the last time you sat around the dinner table with everyone in your family enjoying the art of conversation and just catching up? If you are feeling distanced from your family due to your crazy-busy life – take a surfing vacation at Safari Surf – we will fix it! Many thanks to the Curley, McCaulley, MaGrann, Panagos, Patch, Robison, Guitar, Chandler, Wasserman, Goldstein, and Wagner families – you guys made our Christmas memorable! And Keep Surfing wherever life takes you this year….

Kids, Kids, Kids!

Families That Play Together……..

I’ve gotta say that being amongst all these families somehow made me feel “connected” to something larger than myself. In Hawaii it is called OHANA, or extended family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. The concept emphasizes that families are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another. In the larger picture, we are all one big family. Sharing waves with family is an indescribable joy. The Chandler family of Sandy Hook, New Jersey gets the “Leave it to Beaver/Father Knows Best Nuclear Family Award”! They would play dominoes every morning at breakfast, surf together twice a day, and enjoy many a great meal around the dinner table. Last time The Chandlers were here I was lamenting that I didn’t have many pictures of them surfing. I remember telling them “but this will change”. Here’s proof: