Hello again, Inside Peak followers.
Yet another week has passed down here in Guiones at Safari Surf School, Costa Rica´s premier surf academy. As we march through the month of April there is still no sign of the first rains of the wet season. We have experienced two or three days that were tantalizingly close to opening up, but it seems that every time the clouds pass over the mountains and head towards the coast they lose their mojo. With the water levels at dangerously low levels for some rural parts of Nosara, the rains really cannot come soon enough.
However, a crack team of SSS Instructors, (led by our resident Englishman Owen who hails from the witch capital of the world, Cornwall) have been performing nightly rain dances in the hopes of enticing the storm gods to release their bounty, so we expect to see some results soon. I wonder if a “Sustainability through Paganism” initiative could take off?
While the weather gods have been uncooperative in the precipitation department, they surely have been smiling on us when it comes to the surf! It seems like every week I am writing something along of the lines of “…and the swell just keeps on coming at Playa Guiones” because, well, the swell DOES just keeps on coming at Playa Guiones! Storm cells in the South Pacific – which produce the strong southerly swells have been experiencing – have been particularly active. We are entering week four of continuous quality swell, and it still shows no real signs of abating.
As always our clients have been right in the thick of it, with beginners to intermediates to advanced all giving their best – and having the times of their lives in the process. While some of the extra big days have made conditions hazardous at certain times and tides, we have made sure that our lessons have been situated at the optimal hours for client safety. And if moving your lesson to 6:30AM means that you get to catch the sun rise while you surf, it is really a small price to pay!
Check out a few of our more recent client shots below:
Our Kids Camp has continued in full swing, with the eager little grommies absolutely eating up the fun conditions on the inside break.
On top of these great photos, you can check out this video put together exclusively for Safari Surf School showcasing some of our students and instructors in the second half of March:
As I mentioned last week, some of our instructors, and more advanced students, have been taking some trips up and down the coast to search out some of the other quality set ups in this area. I have personally surfed two breaks here in the past week that I never knew existed, and have scored some absolutely world class waves in the process. I will post a few teasers below, but keep your eyes out in the next week or so for some quality photos and footage. The surprises this place can throw up never cease to amaze me!
And on that note, that is a wrap for this week. As I said, be sure to follow our Facebook and Instagram accounts for more exclusive photos and footage, as well as all the latest happenings from SSS.
Peace!
On Saturday, Ryan said he a needed a day to himself without any distractions (construction, hardware store visits, miscellaneous hotel issues) to finish testing and making the first batch of biodiesel the old fashioned way before we start to add the “innovative” parts to the system. Ryan tested the water heater and the pump with a 5 gallon pechinga of WVO and wrote 5, 10, 15…30 gallon marks on the tube that feeds into the water heater tank so we know how much WVO is being mixed with the ethoxide before we start pedaling the greasercycle.
On Tuesday, we measured the size of the shelter and began digging the 2 foot deep post holes.
After placing the six teak posts in the ground and securing them by compressing dirt and rocks in each hole, Ryan and I went to Kaya Sol to collect 15 gallons of used cooking grease! Thanks Jorge and everyone at Kaya Sol!
