I'm travelling to Costa Rica in June and plan to go windsurfing. Any
recommendations. I will not be bringing my board with me - must
rent.
Thanks!
-David
It's a wonderful, charming area. We stayed at Villas Alpinas on the north
side of the lake. Highly recommended. Very quiet, views, romantic. The
proprietor is a crazy Dutchman with a heart of gold.
Norman, the owner/operator of the place just west of there will try to
sell you property. His spot is good too, a bit more action.
Hotel Tilawa on the south side of the lake is the deluxe hotel on Lake
Arenal
, a bit sterile and overpriced in my opinion. Nice views though.
Costa Rica is an interesting, if somewhat overrated destination. Be clear
about "ecotourism," it's an industry. You are the buyer of the product.
First off, this is the "rainy" season. I didn't rain much while
we were there, but that's just luck. Second, since it's at the
end of the "dry" season, the lake was really (about 50') low.
Made it tougher to launch, but I wasn't there to launch, I was
there to sail. Now THAT was a "best ever" time.
Jean Paul... (young gringo that built the place) does it right.
He has 1995 equipment, HiFly boards and North Sails, and the
rental includes all the board and sail changes you want! Half
day (noon - night) was $32.
Room was the cheapest we found on the trip (of the kind of
places my wife would stay). $42.50 (off season) and the food
was outstanding. Breakfast (American or local) was about $2,
other meals were in the $3-6 range, and excellent. The beer
was about $.80, and the views were fabulous.
The wind in the morning was blowing the bark off the trees,
but about lunch time I got out on a 4.7 with a 102 l. HiFly.
The sail was a bit much for the conditions and board (at my
experience level) but it was definitely good. Waves were
about 1-2', wind steady.
Lot's more to tell.
Colin Murphy
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