Surfing!

I took my first surf lesson yesterday, and judging by how sore and bruised I am today, likely to be my last for this leg of my trip. I don't have any pictures because I am traveling alone, so there wasn't anyone to capture the brief seconds I was on the board. The photos I do have on my site are of my friend Rachel during her lesson in Nosara. I think she was able to stay standing longer than me!

The lesson I took was offered through the hostel I am staying at which is also a surf shop and school called Blue Trailz Surf Camp. (It's a great hostel for the price, by the way!) I took a group lesson with a young Swiss couple and the surf instructor was really good, helping us by giving us a push head start and only on the waves worth trying for our level.

I wasn't really nervous about the water aspect because Tamarindo beach is really shallow for quite a ways out. At any time I could put my feet down, but I was often happy to float around having the security of the board. The feeling of catching a wave (I'm talking teeny waves) and then being able to stand up is amazing. I would definitely like to try it again, but would prefer to do it with a group of friends, not just solo.

The most frustrating part for me was battling all the waves that I wasn't going to catch. Having to dunk under or jump over so many forceful waves got tiring, and got seawater in my nose, ears, eyes, etc. I also didn't realise until later that night and today how bruised up I got! Apparently having a large surfboard band against your body again and again leaves its marks!

I did yoga the night before, which didn't impair my ability to try surfing, but the combination of the two left me very sore the last 36 hours, so much so that I wasn't able to go to a yoga class I had planned for today. Oh well! I also slept a ridiculous amount last night and today (10 hours last night and a 3 hour nap today). I'm not saying that's surfing's fault, but it's a bit odd nonetheless.

I leave Tamarindo on Friday, and I'm starting to notice the full tourist season kicking in (high season is considered to start 1 Dec but the week of Thanksgiving is also notoriously bad for all kinds of reservations). I am taking a more expensive shuttle to La Fortuna than I had planned, because the one I wanted was full, and finding accommodation on the Caribbean Coast has proved very difficult!

There are no hostels available and I wasn't able to find anything reasonable in Bocas del Toro, the Panama islands I wanted to explore, so I'm going to skip that and just stay in the town of Puerto Viejo for a total of 8 nights before heading back to San Jose for two nights in a hostel. I'm paying between $42-70/night, trying out 3 different hotels. The price is much higher than my budget allowed, but oh well. That's what I get for not planning far enough in advance. I was happy to have the flexibility of staying in Tamarindo all week, and I wasn't even sure if I was going to the Caribbean side, so in the end, having flexibility outweighed the need to lock things in too early.

All three hotels have pools, breakfast included, and two of them are right on the beach, so I've done well. I'll know Puerto Viejo inside and out by the end of the week, and I will probably take a few days trips up to Cahuita (another beach town where I wasn't able to find any lodging), possibly requiring a rental car for a day or two.

Now that I have my remaining 5 hotels/hostels booked, I just have to worry about getting to them every couple of days!