The Harmony Hotel

Surf

SURF

The Harmony is a stone's throw from the best break on Playa Guiones, home to the best surf in Nosara and for that matter, some of the most consistent year-round waves in the world.

 

Straight off the Harmony path is a beach break with lefts and rights. Warm air and offshore breezes make for great conditions. Swells vary throughout the day from waist high to double-overhead. This break works on all tides but shapes up best at high tide. Even though it's becoming a popular longboard spot, it is good for short boards and great for fun boards.

Heed the howler monkey wakeup call for a quiet, early morning session. The most popular time is sunset. No wonder. The waves get glassy late afternoon and the colors are mind expanding as the sun dips.

Adventurers will have fun exploring other local surf spots: Playa Pelada for a reef break that's best with a north swell at incoming high tide and Playa Nosara for a beach break with peaks and shallow lefts that get barreling with a large south or southwest swell. For more info on these and nearby Playa Ostional, visit www.surf-costarica.com.

The air and water are 80ish degrees all year in Nosara, so board shorts and warm water wax are the sum requirements other than a board. The small planes that fly to the local cow field which serves as an air strip do not allow long boards, and getting a short board to Nosara doesn't guarantee space for it on your return flight. Surf rentals near the hotel abound and generally range from $15 - $25 per day for short and long. No need to reserve ahead.

There are several surf schools in Nosara. The Harmony can set up lessons upon arrival. Or, check them out online. Our friend Rick runs an outfit nearby-- Corky Carroll's Surf School. Learn more at www.surfschool.net/costa_rica/.

For the differences between the dry and wet season, take Rick's word:

DRY SEASON CONDITIONS
(mid November to mid April)
  • Generally 3ft to 8ft
  • North, northwest, south, southwest swells.
  • Consistent weather and temperatures of 80 to 90 degrees during day and 75ish degrees at night.
  • Sunrise - 10:30am / 11:00am offshore wind, and then it will lay down for about an hour.
  • 12:00pm - 3:00pm onshore wind that generally does not blow hard enough to cause white caps
  • 4:00pm it glasses off
  • It's the tropics so weather can change fast

 

WET SEASON CONDITIONS
(late April to early November)
  • Less predictable weather, larger swells, significantly less surfers
  • May and June it may rain in the afternoons and at night.
  • July can produce the Indian Summer and it may not rain at all
  • August can go pretty much like July.

To learn how to keep our oceans healthy and beautiful, visit www.surfrider.org.