====== Costa Rica Surfski ======

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===== Intro =====

The primary limitation for surfski paddling in Costa Rica as it will be for many locations around the world is going to be the [[:rental|availability of surfskis]]. Although surfski downwinding is a rapidly growing sport around the world, the initial financial outlay is relatively expensive, particularly in remote locations that might only wish to order/ship a small number of surfskis. There is probably no lack of excellent ocean and freshwater locations for good paddling in Costa Rica. For example **Lake Arenal** is world famous for its winds and wind sports, but may as yet (2020) not have a single resident surfski.(??)

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===== Downwind =====

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==== Pacific Coast ====

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  * **Epic Kayaks**<WRAP indent>
As of 2020 (started around 2017-2018?) there is one well established surfski trainer in Costa Rica, **Dale Ponsford**, who is an Epic representative. He and his family split seasons between winter in Costa Rica and summers in Hawaii. [[https://www.epickayaks.com/post/epic-costa-rica|Epic Kayaks Description]]

  * [[https://epickayakscostarica.pro/|Epic Kayak Costa Rica Website]] new website 2024
  * [[https://www.instagram.com/epickayakscostarica/?hl=en|Epic Kayak Costa Rica Instagram]]
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**Photos from 2019 Lessons With Dale**

{{gallery>locales:costarica?3&120x120&lightbox}}

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**Greg Redman Video with Dale**

{{youtube>qs9v_IGeA5U}}

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  * **Cabo Blanco ** [[https://youtu.be/keXC14OoXBg|video]]
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===== Surf =====

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Costa Rica has plenty of good surfing. So if you do figure out how to find/get a surfski in Costa Rica you should be able to find reasonable [[:surf|surf breaks and/or surfing days for surfskis]]. However, given the difficulty and expense of getting a surfski to Costa Rica, if you plan to do much surfing or to get onto waves of much size at all, a [[:plastic_surfskis|plastic]] or [[:terminology#boat_classifications|spec ski]] might be worth considering.

  * **Pavones **one of the longer surfing waves in the world, is it possible to surf with a surfski farther out on the waves or earlier on the swell before the break where you can avoid the crowd of surfers?
  * [[https://thesurfatlas.com/costa-rica-surf/|Surf Atlas Guide to Costa Rica]]
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===== Video =====

  * [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuykg4We5c_APrTAtIzqoSyHM9dDJKul7|Surfski TV Central & South America Youtube Playlist]]
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