SUP Travel // Costa Rica with Brittany Slater
Got the travel bug? Read below as PIF Ambassador Brittany Slater gives tips on prime SUP spots in Costa Rica!
For the past couple of months I have been living and teaching yoga at AmaTierra Wellness and Retreat Center in Costa Rica. It’s been an amazing experience and one that has certainly changed my life forever. As a SUP enthusiast, I searched the central pacific coast for ideal SUP conditions and came across two great places! If you find yourself traveling around the central pacific region in Costa Rica and love SUP, be sure to check these spots out!
Playa Blanca & Playa Mantas located in the private hotel & beach club, Punta Leona
Playa Blanca SUP has boards ready to rent right on the beach and a wonderful SUP instructor named Rolando! The beach does have a small break but there is an area that is generally wave free. It’s great being able to paddle out off the beach and quickly be in relatively calm waters. You can paddle across Playa Blanca to Playa Mantas, which is the next little cove. There are some tricky rocks you have to SUP through carefully or you can paddle all the way around the rocks. I would only recommend going through the rocks if you are a pretty legit paddler and make sure to get tips or guidance from the instructors there.
Paddle 9 in Quepos/Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
The guys at Paddle 9 are great instructors and offer SUP core fitness classes weekly. The group meets at a little cove and the initial paddle out is off some rocks, but the water is generally mild and it’s pretty easy to get out. You then paddle down along the tree-lined coast toward the Manuel Antonio area. The cliffs along the water are absolutely beautiful!
I’m sure there are tons more amazing places to paddle in Costa Rica and maybe over my lifetime I will get to explore many others, but for now I just thought I would share two good spots that I was grateful to come across! Happy SUPing!
– Brittany
Brittany is a Paddle Into Fitness certification instructor at our Sunset Beach/Huntington Harbor location and will be returning from Costa Rica to teach this summer on Saturdays at 8AM starting June 15, 2013. For more blogs about Brittany’s Costa Rica trip and her eco-friendly paddleboard company, PureSUP Yoga, check out her blog, Eco SUP Yogi!
To become a Paddle Into Fitness Ambassador, join one of our teacher trainings this summer! SUP YOGA TEACHER TRAINING