Costa Rica News – Among young people worldwide, the idea of embarking on a gap year is rising in popularity. Often, a gap year is filled with activities such as backpacking, volunteering, or working and studying abroad. A great way to spend a gap year is to combine having fun and learning new skills. Learning Spanish and learning how to surf are both great skills to learn, and which place in the world is a better place to do this than Costa Rica?
With its two coast lines and warm waters, the Costa Rican beaches provide excellent conditions to learn how to surf. With the Costa Rican people, the Ticos, having a very clear and understandable way of speaking Spanish, Costa Rica is also a great country to learn how to speak Spanish. Moreover, the small size of the country ensures that most interesting sights are within a reasonable distance if you want to explore the country. But where to go in Costa Rica to get the best out of the experience? www.surfawhile.com/en listed four surf towns where Spanish language schools exist, and therefore offer excellent opportunities to spend an amazing, active, and instructive gap year in this beautiful country.
1) Playa Tamarindo
Once a sleepy fishing village, after the movie The Endless Summer II the town of Tamarindo started to attract surf tourists from all over the world. Tamarindo is located at the Pacific coast, on the Nicoya peninsula. Both Playa Tamarindo and Playa Grande offer good possibilities for learning how to surf. Furthermore, Tamarindo serves as a surfing hub as Playa Avellanas, and the surf breaks of Witches’ Rock and Ollies Point (for more experienced surfers) are close by. Multiple language schools of different price classes are located in Tamarindo as well as a good selection of restaurants, bars and night clubs.
2) Nosara & Playa Guiones
Nosara is located around 30 km south of Tamarindo, also on the Nicoya peninsula. One of the first things that stand out about Nosara is yoga. Wherever you drive, you will see yoga resorts and yoga schools. Over the years, Nosara has developed into a community around health, spirituality and fitness. The Nosara yoga institute has been training yoga teachers since a long time. Playa Guiones, the beach of Nosara, is an excellent surfing beach. There are plenty of surf schools around, which are very happy to teach you how to surf. Including the Spanish language schools, Nosara makes for a great destination where you can combine learning Spanish, do yoga and learning how to surf. If you want to connect with nature, you can walk in the jungle or go turtle watching.
3) Mal País & Santa Teresa
Drive more to the south on the Nicoya peninsula and you will find the beach towns of Mal País and Santa Teresa. Santa Teresa has developed itself in a bustling surf town, with bars, restaurants and hostels. This doesn’t come to a surprise as the surroundings are beautiful and the vast sandy beach offers consistent waves year-
round. The town of Mal País has kept its sleepy, laid back vibe. The beaches of Mal País are rockier than those of Santa Teresa, and is more suitable for
experienced surfers. The surroundings are picturesque, with the nearby beach of Playa del Carmen attracting world class surfers from all over the world. With the Cabo Blanco national park around the corner, the village also attracts nature lovers from all over the world. Santa Teresa is home to some Spanish schools, which makes this location an excellent choice to learn how to surf and learn Spanish.
4) Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is the only town on this list that is located on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, close to the border with Panama and Panamas archipelago of Bocas del Toro. If you travelled to other parts of Costa Rica, you will notice that the culture of the Caribbean side of the country is distinct from the culture in other parts of Costa Rica. You will experience this with all your senses, as you will hear reggae music everywhere and you will come to taste the richly spiced Caribbean dishes of this part of Costa Rica. Whereas most surfing is located on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo offers some great surf as well. The main surf break of the town is more suitable for experienced surfers, but the nearby beach of Playa Cocles definitely has options for beginners with a lot of surf schools willing to give surf lessons. Furthermore, two Spanish language schools are located in the town.
The article above was brought to you by http://www.surfawhile.com , an international online travel agency specialized in surf-related travelling to best surf destinations around the world.
