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Kai Surfs Costa Rica: Making It to Mal Pais

Where: Costa Rica
January 12, 2012 at 4:33 PM | by | Comments (0)

Kai MacMahon had lost himself to the urban life in NYC, taking up running but putting down the surfboard. That is, until recently when he bit the bullet and flew himself to Costa Rica to drive, sleep and surf wherever he damn well pleased. All this week, Kai will share his experiences on the beaches and the breaks, and how he made it happen.

Yesterday: Playa Negra and the rush of hitting the waves.

Mal Pais is a sleepy little surf down at the bottom of the Nicoya Peninsula. It’s about five hours' drive from Tamarindo (taking the sensible road), or many more hours drive than that taking the silly, but very picturesque coastal road. I say silly because the above is what sometimes passes for a road in Costa Rica.

Note that the photo was taken during the dry season. In wet season (May to November), or any time it’s been raining, roads like this become impassable to all but the sturdiest SUVs. You'll find that towns in Costa Rica usually have an old man who magically knows the conditions of every river within 20 miles of his location, but as I was not in possession of one of these wrinkly oracles in my passenger seat and didn’t feel like getting my SUV stuck in a river, I elected to take the boring, safer route.

Once I arrived in Mal Pais, the first thing I noticed was, well, not a whole lot really. Not much happens here, and that’s exactly what’s so great about the place. There are a couple of bars (that’s a couple more than when I was first there ten years ago), plus other mild activities like yoga, zip-line tours and so on, but the truth is you come to Mal Pais for one reason: to surf.

Mal Pais (and the town to the north, Santa Teresa) is really a sprawling collection of houses and hotels that run the length of the beach, set back about half a mile from the water. It is a classic surf economy: just about every business here is, in some way, surfing-related; you can buy or rent boards, grab surf lessons and pick up supplies in one of the half dozen or so shops that have sprung up in recent years. Though not as developed as Tamarindo, there’s still a pretty good trade in used boards here, so if you want to buy or sell it’s relatively easy to do so.

My base for the time I was here was Mal Pais Surf Camp. It's something of an institution, and Doug and the team are all surfers who know every last detail about the area. Being around folks like this makes a huge difference; they understand why you’re tracking sand and salt water around the place after a surf session, and nobody cares when your alarm goes off at 5.30am. It’s expected, even. Go to them before the guidebooks when it comes to learning about the breaks. Oh, and can't forget to note that the food portion are appropriately surfer-large.

Which brings us back to the actual surfing. It's mile after mile of stunning breaks, some of the most consistent you’ll find anywhere in the world. Even when it’s bad (by local standards), it’s still good.

After my Tamarindo experience, I decided to give a long board a try (the longer the board, the easier it is). This turned out to be a brilliant risk, as I quickly found myself back in my old groove—horribly rusty and out of practice, yes, but able to see my improvement from day to day.

Surfing is the ultimate "one more go" sport. Just as you start to get tired or annoyed with yourself, you catch a wave and all is forgiven. Longboarding for me remains a classic art form; it's graceful and elegant and there’s a smoothness about a good longboarder that is just beautiful to watch. I was anything but, let’s be honest; regardless, it was nice to change it up a little.

I adore Mal Pais. There’s only one road in or out so there’s no through traffic, and the rugged natural beauty of the surrounding area is simply breathtaking. Its remoteness and the fact that it’s relatively difficult to reach means the ton has an almost zen-like atmosphere. In short, the trek to reach Mal Pais is absolutely worth the effort.

Tomorrow: Some facts and figures for making such a surf trip happen.

[Photos: Kai MacMahon]

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