2010 has brought many positive changes for the surf traveler coming to Costa Rica. For the adventurous surf traveler there are still parts of Costa Rica that require four-wheel drive vehicles to get to your surf destination. However, much more of the country is now accessible by good paved highways. If you are coming in the rainy season between May and November, it no longer means the surf traveler is cut-off from great surf beaches like Dominical Beach.
There have been two big changes this year; for over 30 years the various governments have been promising a new highway from San Jose to the Central Pacific. Under the administration of President Oscar Arias, the highway was finally completed. It is now possible to drive from San Jose to the Costa Rican beach town of Jaco in an hour. Over the past year, the road crews worked hard to complete the paved road between Manuel Antonio and Dominical. In April, the highway was finished and now the drive between the two towns in only half an hour without any potholes.
And here is more good news; a brand new bridge has replaced the old ferry that was required to get to Pavones. You can now drive from Playa Dominical to Playa Pavones in three hours. That means one of the longest “left” point surf breaks in the world is at your fingertips. Rides of two minutes or more are possible when Pavones is really firing.
You can still find remote surf beaches in the Guanacaste and on the Caribbean side, where you will encounter bridge washouts and potholes capable of swallowing your car. However the roads to the Central/South Pacific Coast are brand new and the surf beaches are waiting for you. It’s a surf traveler’s dream come true.