Happy Easter from Costa Rica!

I've been meaning to drop a note for a while but... we'll, been surfin' and stuff. Finally getting a handle on this break, though its not all been a day at the beach. Day 1 was pretty hilarious. We wanted to squeeze in a Friday morning session before a really big swell that was due to arrive late afternoon landed. Having spent far more time paddling for our lives last year than actually surfing, we had a healthy respect for this break with a big swell on it.

The paddle out wasn't so bad, which was a pleasant change of pace. But we hadn't been in the water 15 minutes before a huge clean up set rolled through the outside. I mean huge and we were caught right in the impact zone. I ditched by board and dove as deep as I could. I was severely pummeled and when I finally got to the surface realized my leash has snapped. Then I got two more on the head.Really violent beatings. Chris, meanwhile, had been pounded so deep he actually hit bottom. I don't know how far down that would be, but in any event, no bueno. We both had the same reaction when the set had finished with us. "Game over." Conditions were way above our pay grade. Chris headed in and I had to swam back. Retrieved board. Decided to try again for some dumb reason--I just wanted to score at least one wave before giving in. Paddling back out, I duck dived a wave. Into a swarm of jellyfish. Stung on face, arms, legs etc. Turns out the swell has brought in a jellyfish storm and people where getting nailed all up and down the beach. Nice. That was that for day one. Saturday was huge. Mammoth double overhead slabs--paddling out was not even a consideration. A nice guy we met suggested we try a nearby break that normally didn't really fire but might be working with this much swell. He had a car so we headed over to check it out. It turned out to be really fun. Good sized waves breaking over a rock reef, so they were more predictable that the all-over-the-place nature of Nosara. And it was just the three of us the whole time. I was stung many many times by the jelly swarms, but all in all a fun day. That night, we watched the sun go down as 4 hardy souls got a sunset surf in front of the place we're staying. The waves were just enormous. And then probably the biggest set I've every seen live came in. It was 10 or 11 monsters that broke so far outside that the four guys had no chance. They just got pounded. They had all been together and by the time it was over, they were scattered over the distance of a a football field or two. Two of them bellied in on their boards to escape. Another guy I never saw again. But one guy stayed out there, waiting... waiting... and in the last moments of light (the sun had already set) got hooked up with an insane bomb he must have ridden for 300 yards. You can see pics of the day here (though what you can't tell from the photos is the long paddle out through insane white water inside): http://www.surfingnosara.com/surfing-nosara/surf-reports/march-30-2012-biggest-day-so-far

Thankfully after the weekend things quieted down. We've had solid surf for the past week, but not panic-inducing. Days have consisted of getting up at down for the morning session, reading all day and then paddling out for sunset. Last night was a "one of those sessions," a magical sunset surf with perfect clean conditions and head high waves. Chris and I both had really good rides with a beautiful sunset for backdrop. I got back on the beach with the final bits of light draining out on the horizon. My body is totally cooked from a steady diet of double sessions. And boy do you work for your waves here. Lotsa current, waves hitting from all kinds of different angles so you can really never let your guard down--you're always paddling. I almost didn't go out this morning, but motivated to provide Chris moral support. Glad I did... got the best wave I've had here. Hardly anyone was out with the holiday. Anyway, I think its time for a massage.