Nicaragua

I must apologize for not updating this blog more, but have been super busy working on new projects and part of this work entails writing...so writing even more hasn’t been at all appealing.  Alas, I digress.

A couple of weeks ago, a few of us went to San Juan del Sur Nicaragua for four nights and stayed in a two bedroom house overlooking Playa Maderas complete with dining room, full kitchen, satellite TV (so I could watch my CNN) and of course, hammocks! 

I like Nicaragua.  The people are friendly, the rum is cheap ($5.00 a bottle) and the surf breaks were empty.   The whole atmosphere was very chill, but everyone seemed to be working diligently and no one seemed to be slacking about...unlike some other Latin American countries that I have visited.

There are a lot of options for eating in San Juan del Sur, and there is a great Irish Pub with Guinness on tap!    We visited the market every day for fresh fruit and veggies, and bought seafood right off the boats.  Yummeee!  I think the only complaint we has was that we couldn’t find a decent bottle of wine anywhere...so we drank come pretty gnarly table wine with dinners.

Back to reality and Tamarindo.  I am looking forward the the southern hemi’s hitting us now, and last week we had some really excellent conditions.  This weekend is looking outstanding again, and I am doing my daily crunches so I can last at least three hours out there every day.

Surf hard!

March 8 Surf Forecast Tamarindo and Northern Costa Rica

Well, I am getting a little better at this surf forecasting and am trying to get a better understanding of the winds and swell.

This week is looking pretty good with a swell coming in on Wednesday and peaking on Saturday. I would be looking at the swell to rotate back to a SSW after the weird WSW.

Last week, the surf reports all called for a small swell to hit with waves no bigger than 4 feet. Well...let me tell you...the swell brought in average waves of 6’, with rogue sets of 8’ to 10’ coming in on Thursday.

This week, I think we will see more of the same big waves. I would be looking for overhead for most breaks by Wednesday.

The winds have been brutally strong, but at least they have been offshore. One thing though is that they have pushed the warm surface water out and it has been replaced by a cold upwelling current that has brought Jelly fish and sharks close to shore. So, make sure you wear a wetsuit, or at minimum, a long sleeved rash guard.
I am heading to Nicaragua this weekend...taking lots of photos and surfing my ass off!

Costa Rica shoots itself in the foot by denying long term tourism

When the new immigration law goes into effect March 1 tourists here will still be able to renew their visa by going to and returning from a nearby country. But the rules are changing.

Mario Zamora, the director general de Migración y Extranjería, said Thursday that a tourist will not be able to go to the same country twice and that after two trips to renew a visa a tourist will have to stay out of Costa Rica for a minimum of 15 days.

The new law seeks to crack down on perpetual tourists. What Zamora said is not in the law. These new rules are in the regulations that soon will be published in the La Gaceta official newspaper.

In lieu of going to another country to renew a tourist visa, a foreigner also can show up at any immigration location and renew the right to stay here for 90 more days for $100, Zamora noted. That procedure is in the law, but the new information from Zamora is that the renewal process will be available at immigration offices at international airports, at border posts, ports, marinas and any other location where immigration officers work. There had been concern that the renewals could only be done in San José.

In order to renew a visa that way, the tourist will have to establish financial responsibility and show that they have the means to support themselves for 90 more days. For those who do not have the money, such as students, a procedure is being set up so that the $100 can be waived by the Ministerio de Hacienda, said Zamora.

The rule that a tourist cannot renew a visa by traveling to the same adjacent country twice is a new concept. That means a perpetual tourist living near the Nicaraguan border can visit that country once. But the next visa renewal will have to be at some other country.

And after two visa renewals the tourist will have to leave Costa Rica for a minimum of 15 days, according to Zamora. The idea is to encourage perpetual tourists to seek another form of residency.

Tourists are not supposed to work in Costa Rica, but many do. They run the risk of losing their
possessions and holdings if they are grabbed and expelled by immigration police.

Zamora was among other officials who met to discuss the new immigration law at the Hotel Radisson in Barrio Tournon Thursday afternoon. The new law was outlined in general terms. The law was reported in depth when it was passed last Sept. 1 and signed into law. HERE!

The major changes for expats are:

• They need to join the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social. Still unclear is if membership in a similar program in another country would be sufficient for the Costa Rican requirement. The exact system to enroll expats has not been made clear but they will have to show that they have Caja membership when they renew their cédulas..

• Tourists who overstay their visas will pay a larger fine when leaving, and they will be prohibited from reentering Costa Rica for three times the period that they were illegally in the country.

• Many more categories are created for persons who seek to work or stay in Costa Rica. Work permits traditionally have been difficult to get here unless the applicant is a large company.

• Pensionados approved under the new law must show a monthly income from a certified pension of at least $1,000 a month, up from $600. That amount also covers foreign spouses and minor children. Rentistas have to show that they have a continuing monthly income of at least $2,500, up from $1,000.

• Innkeepers and hotel operators will have to keep a registry of persons staying in their facilities for inspection by the immigration police.

The broad law creates an immigration police that is composed of Fuerza Pública officers. It criminalizes trafficking in persons. It creates an immigration council to issue visas to citizens of restricted countries and takes that job away from the immigration director.

The measure also gives the president the power to grant residency by decree. A.M. Costa Rica has reported that this creates the possibility of immigration amnesties of the type that were mandated twice in the 1990s.

A Tale of Two Cities

Some of the juxtapositions of my little town of Tamarindo are glaringly obvious.  I just had to share some of the reality of what goes on here.

This is the new government installed telecommunication tower located right smack-dab in the middle of a residential area.  They put it up over the weekend.  This is funny because no one knew about it and it flies in the face of the Ministry of Environment’s ruling that no construction is supposed to take place within 500 meters of the National Park, Las Bulas.  (The tower is within that 500 meter zone)

The other real eye sore is the garbage dump in Tamarindo.  Funny, because we don’t actually have a dump here.  Over the past six or so months, this piece of private property has become a place for people to dump all sorts of trash from construction materials to appliances to general waste.  It always seems to be a few ‘workers’ with dump trucks and pick up that are soiling the view.  I never see any of the ‘locals’ (read ex-pats) who create the havoc.

In fact, it was ex pats who got the recycling going in Tamarindo in the first place.

Tamarindo Surfing

Well, it's a new year and the season started off with a bang!  Surfing was excellent for the first few days of 2010 before the usual flat period that seems to settle in during the first part of January.

It's really windy as the annual Papagayo winds have arrived.

This is the time of the year that I usually take my fishing rod with me to the beach...

Going to have lots of photos of my Ireland trip up soon - keep checking back!

Christmas In Tamarindo

If you are lucky enough to be here on Christmas, then rent a car!  Things usually get very busy with tourists from San Jose (Costa Rican's); many of who have 2 weeks paid vacation as well as an annual bonus equal to one month's pay.  (It's the law here)

You'll find that the quieter breaks will be south of Avellanas towards Nosara.  Make sure you know how to change a flat tire, and for Pete's sake, be careful crossing some of those streams because the currents can be stronger than you think.

The Papagayo winds have begun. The Papagayo wind is a north to northeasterly wind which periodically blows through the gap in the mountain ranges of Central America in which Lake Nicaragua is located. It is named for the Gulf of Papagayo on the Pacific coast in this region. The wind is stronger than the trade winds which normally blow here. It is notable for causing a pronounced increase in upwelling of cooler, nutrient-rich waters on the Pacific coast which in turn supports an abundance of sea life. The wind and upwelling are together referred to as a Papagayo event.

The Papagayo is caused by a surge of cooler, drier air originating from the North American continent. Such surges are more common in the winter, but may occur at other times of the year as well. This air is denser than the tropical air mass normally present in the region, thus a strong pressure gradient is established which induces the wind. The wind is further accelerated by the funneling effect of the mountain gap between the Caribbean and the Pacific coastlines. The same conditions are the cause of the Tehuano wind in southern Mexico and the Panama wind to the south.

What does this mean to you?  Colder water and jellyfish.  Wear a wetsuit and/or long sleeve rashguard!

The Papagayo winds shriek across Nicaragua, pulling dust out over the Pacific Ocean in this true-color image acquired by the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) on March 19, 2004.


Merry Christmas!  I'll be in Ireland hunting waves!

Surf Forecast December 2 Tamarindo

Even though the surf forecasts don't show it, waves have been pretty decent on many of the local beaches. The best places have been in front of the Diria and river mouth. Playa Grande has been good, but super busy and other favorites like Avellanas have had a lot of beginners on the mains breaks.

According to Wetsand.com, a sizable system in the SW Pacific off the coast of New Zealand recently has kicked up a surfable swell for the end of next weekend into the week.  The angle on the swell looks like it will be around 220-221 degrees filling in with 18-second periods Sunday and Monday. 

Paddle boarders have been an issue lately, and have been really pissing people off here. If you are a paddle boarder please remember:

a) Because you can take every wave, you shouldn't. There is a thing called a line up. That means if you are last to the break, you need to wait until everyone else has either taken a wave or bowed out.

b) If you cannot control your board, then you have no right being on the water. yesterday I was on a wave and a Paddle Boarder jumped in front of me. His excuse was that he found it difficult to back off the wave. NO Excuse! He shouldn't have been on my wave in the first place.

c) Stay of breaks that are dominated by short boarders and beginners. Since you can paddle, go to remote breaks where you won't be a danger to other people.

Anyways, 'nuff said on that topic.

See you out on the surf and remember, "Surfing Comes First"