Costa Rica's Weekly Surf Report for November 18, 1999

Costa Rica's Weekly Surf Report
Volume 2, Issue 40
November 18, 1999

Brought to you each Thursday by local surf businesses throughout Costa Rica. See http://www.crsurf.com/links.html for pics., forecast links, and tide charts.

FEATURES
National Stats:
Tides
Swell Direction
Area Reports:
Wave Heights & Conditions
Forecasts & Best Spot
Upcoming Events / Contests

SPONSORS by Area

1) Patti at Best Western - Vista Villas & The Monkey Bar "Guanacaste's Surf Connection" (653-0114) in Tamarindo - tamvv@sol.racsa.co.cr

Louis at Hotel Las Tortugas (653-0458) in Playa Grande - nela@cool.co.cr

2) Thierry at Hotel Café de Paris in Nosara cafepari@sol.racsa.co.cr

3) Steve at Tropicos Latino (640-0062) in Playa Santa Teresa troplat@sol.racsa.co.cr

4) Allan at Terraza del Pacifico in Jaco (643-3222 fax: 643-3424) jacowave@sol.racsa.co.cr

5) Tommy at Hotel Fuego del Sol in Hermosa (643-3737)
cybersurfer@fuegodelsol.com

6) Todd at Alacran Surf Tours in Manuel Antonio (777-1721)
alacran@sol.racsa.co.cr

7) From David at Escuela D'Amore (777-1143) in Manuel Antonio - damore@sol.racsa.co.cr

8) Paco at Hotel Rio Lindo in Dominical (787-0078) hotelriolindo@costarica.net

TIDES (for Puntarenas) - Mareas
** Full Moon - Tuesday - Nov. 23 **
High tide (Friday) - Marea alta (viernes)
11:11 a.m @ 7.4 ft. - 226 cm.
Low tide - Marea baja
5:10 a.m. @ 1.4 ft. - 43 cm.

SWELL DIRECTION -- DIRECIÓN DEL SWELL

Pacific - The SW swell will be fading out through the weekend. Expect smaller surf all next week, around head high or less in most areas by Monday. However, next Thursday morning will be the HIGHEST high tide of the year - at 10.6 feet. So that might generate an incoming tide push. The "dry season" is a time of the year when the best surf will be had four or five days after a full or new moon. See the tide chart above.
Caribbean - Hurricane Lenny stirred up some salsa in the Caribbean but the surf has since dropped off greatly. There will be a slight E swell, but nothing over head high.
AREA REPORTS

NICOYA (N)

(1) From Patti at the Best Western Vista Villas in Tamarindo: AREA WAVE HEIGHTS AND CONDITIONS: Glassy, overhead + 1'- 2'. All SW breaks. Ollie's glassy, offshore at overhead plus. WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND (weather and waves): Summer weather with offshore winds in the am and late night glass off. Should pick up on SW through the weekend. Winds may turn westerly during the day. NW swell moving down with a sight edge coming to shore. BEST PLACE TO SURF THIS WEEKEND IN YOUR AREA: Playa Avellanes overhead, glassy. Playa Grande early afternoon for surf. T Bay crowded but glassy overhead on the offshore switch in the pm. NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS: Surf contest in Playa Tamarindo Dec. 11th & 12th. Details to follow.Wingnut and Robert August will be around all weekend for a legends surf...

(2) From Hotel Café de Paris in Nosara- AREA WAVE HEIGHTS AND CONDITIONS: This morning it looks great the water is clearer then the last week. It's about 4 - 5 feet nice swell, small but really pleasant to surf WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND (weather and waves): It will be about the same for the rest fo the week. BEST PLACE TO SURF THIS WEEKEND IN YOUR AREA: Guiones will be the best right now.

(3) From Steve at Tropicos Latinos in Santa Teresa (next to Mal Pais) - AREA WAVE HEIGHTS & CONDITIONS: The surf is starting to clean up after last week's big storm. There is a powerful 5' SW swell, a bit straight on and disorganised but with some good rights among the close outs in front of the hotel. Mar Azul is small and mushy.WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND: Expect this swell to clean up and sort itself out. Weather is clear, so looks like we could have fun conditions this weekend. BEST PLACE TO SURF THIS WEEKEND: The incoming morning tide should suit Santa Teresas early on and Carmen later in the a.m.

JACO & HERMOSA (JH)
(2) From Juan at Terraza del Pacifico in Hermosa - Surf: Olas de 5 a 6 pies por la mañana consistente, sin viento, de rápidas secciones tubulares, el oleaje se presenta un poco desordenado. Picos se levantan por todas partes a lo largo de Kiler Reef, pero siempre nuestra clásica ola derecha. Tiempo -El clima se presenta nublado todo el día con lluvias parciales por la tarde.

(3) From Tommy at Hotel Fuego del Sol in Hermosa - AREA WAVE HEIGHTS AND CONDITIONS: We currently have a Southwest swell running 6 feet along Playa Hermosa's beaches.

(4) From Chuck at Chosita del Surf in Jaco - NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS: Nov. 27th surf contest at terraza! Juniors in the day and open at nite, great prizes and good times !

QUEPOS & MANUEL ANTONIO (QMA)
(6) From Alacran Tours in Manuel Antonio - AREA WAVE HEIGHTS AND CONDITIONS: This past week the swell has picked up...increasing size Monday morning creating clean conditions due to offshore breeze. Good early morning sessions on Teusday as well w/ offshore winds and no rain in shoulder high to overhead sets with some tube sections. Swell still present on Thursday however shifts in the sandbar made for akward waves.WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND (weather and waves): We are expecting the swell to stick around (yet diminish) for the next few days creating waist - shoulder high sets in the best areas and waist high in less exposed areas. BEST PLACE TO SURF THIS WEEKEND IN YOUR AREA: As usual, the best place to surf this weekend will be Playitas starting about 2 hrs before high tide until 1 hr after. For those looking for more challenging sets, try Bejuco to the north or El Rey to the south. NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS: In the beginning of January, I will be personally guiding a representative from SURFER magazine who will be down here to research the country for their new publication, SURFER TRAVEL GUIDES. I will be taking him to several areas checking out the hotels that we work with as well as doing some photo shoots, surf sessions, etc...if anyone is interested in participating in this new edition, contact me (Todd) at 777-1721 or email me at alacran@sol.racsa.co.cr. Thanks and be safe out there! Surf Report by "JOTA"

(7) From David at La Escuela D'Amore in Quepos - 1-Tamaño y consistencia de las olas esta semana en: Playa Playitas; fuertes, agresivas, limpias, tranquilas, consitentes y algunas han estado rompiendo en secciones. Su tamaño ha estado entre 4 y 4,30 piess en marea alta. Playa Espadilla; fuertes, poco agresivas, limpias, tranquilas, excelente consistencia, pero un pco lenta. Su tamaño ha estado entre 2,50 y 3 pies en marea alta. 2-Para este fin de semana creemos que va a haver un poquito de lluvia por la mañana y tal vez por la noche. Pero con respecto a las ola estamos seguros que estarán super buenas. Así que ustedes quedan cordialmente invitados. 3-Si quieres pasarla bien junto a tus amigos y talba de surf; tienes que visitar las dos playas más populares del área de Manuel Antonio, que son Playa Espadilla y Playa Playitas. Estas playas han tenido tan buenas olas que todos los surfeadores desean visitarlas; por lo cual algunas playas han perdido su popularidad como por ejemplo : Isla Damas. Esperamos que ustedes no se pierdan de estas olas. 4-/Tengo que decirles qu eno, no hay noticias nuevas; pero esperamos que esto no sea un motivo para no nos visiten. Todo lo contrario esperamos que vengan pronto.

DOMINICAL & SOUTHERN PACIFIC (D)
(8) From Hotel Rio Lindo in Dominical - AREA WAVE HEIGHTS AND CONDITIONS & WHAT TO EXPECT THIS WEEKEND: Things here are sweeeet. The waves the last couple of days have been awesome. Some sets 5-6 ft and barrelling (for a short time of course!) the swell is still here but it was closing out fully this afternoon at dominical beach. The point was alright though - some nice lefts - was out there with Alan. Lots of surfers in town now following the swell. 40-50 guys out. previously only a handful. Take it easy Rob (a kiwi in CR)

CARRIBEAN (C)
see national report