Here we are at Una Ola in Costa Rica.
We travelled for something like 22 hours in total, flying with Continental from Heathrow to Houston and then getting a flight down to Liberia in northern Costa Rica. The flight from Heathrow was great - it was the first time I'd flown with Continental but the service was good and they've got all kinds of whizzy games on board by which to wile away the time. The transfer at Houston was a bit hectic and we were fairly strung out by the time we eventually arrived at about 10.00 pm Costa Rican time on Saturday night. It was also my 43rd birthday and my beloved elder son, Harry (he who has come out of January and February surfing retirement) gave me an excellent gift with which to start the trip, a stinking cold. I'm not sure that I'd recommend flying half way around the world with an evil bug from hell, aka your 13-year-old son, as an ideal way to celebrate a birthday, but we're here now and after a couple of days of sunshine and waves, life is a whole lot better.
The set up at Una Ola is superb. Despite the unbelievable heat here, the comfortable rooms are cool with the property built in traditional Spanish courtyard style. They look down on a pool, which is perfect for apres-surf or just a cooling dip. Karen and Elliot have been enjoying this a lot and there are also some great cycle trails on Una Ola's doorstep.
Una Ola is run by Colin Briers, a Californian surfer with Irish ancestry, with his business partner Justin Chitman. Colin is an interesting bloke - he's steeped in surf culture (George Freeth, unsurprisingly, is his hero), knows his way round a boxing ring and, like Tom Anderson, formerly worked as a private investigator. He grew up surfing the breaks near LA but quit his job in search of a better life two and a half years ago. I reckon he's found it. Una Ola is 200 yards from the main peak at Playa Grande, a quality, punchy beachbreak which reminds me of both Hossegor and dear old Porthcurno. It's not a spot for longboarding and is a place where you need to make a quick, angled takeoff and a keep a fairly high line, otherwise you'll be bottom turning into a closeout. Harry and I have been feeling our way into the line up (friendly, with a lot of Americans) and have got two good surfs under our belt, with a trip to a nearby rivermouth break in the offing later today. There are heaps of boards at Colin and Justin's place - Harry's riding a 6"0' roundtail Kaos while I'm on a 7"2' Surftech Takayama egg. Here I am about to hit the water at 6.20 this morning (yes, I was up that early - shocking but true).
And here's the kind of wave that Harry and I paddled out into.
PS Thanks to all for birthday wishes on Facebook. I haven't been able to access FB yet but hope to reply soon. Meanwhile, Vaya con dios (Future Primitive ends with this line but they genuinely say it in these parts).
Happy birthday old man. Watch out for that 'I'm not wearing a wetsuit' rash on your inner thighs...
Posted by: penfold | March 31, 2009 at 12:14 AM