I have this vision of a specific surfing vacation in my mind.

May 30, 2012 11:40 AM

I have this vision of a specific surfing vacation in my mind. Help me make it a reality?

What I am picturing is: I rent a little house just steps from the water. Every morning I go outside and surf (the surf should be beginner-friendly as I am a novice). In the afternoon I cook and drink beer and chill out and maybe surf again. There doesn't need to be much of a nightlife scene or anything.

Is there a place I can do this that isn't super pricey?

posted by malhouse to travel & transportation (12 answers total)

What's super-pricey? Tamarindo, CR is probably what you're looking for vibe-wise. Not a whole lot going on downtown except for some bars and restaurants. I remember seeing signs for this place, which appears to have some weekly package things going on.
posted by jquinby at 11:48 AM on May 30, 2012

Sayulitas is a great little surfing town in Mexico. Pretty cheap, lots of beer to drink (and stuff to do at night), and very affordable to rent a little apt. with a terrace to grill on.
I rented a lovely rooftop studio apt. complete with two little terraces for $70 a night about a 3 minute walk to the beach in January of this year. I'm sure there are probably casitas/apts. right near the beach as well.
posted by newpotato at 12:01 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, and the way the beach is formed creates two distinct surf areas, a right break for beginners and a break on the left for more advanced surfers.
posted by newpotato at 12:05 PM on May 30, 2012

Santa Cruz, CA.

The Dream Inn has been there forever, short walk to the beach, et voila!

There are ton of little beachy motels though, The Sea and Sand Inn gets high marks at Trip Advisor.

I love the Boardwalk and all the funky shops. It's a college town, so it should empty out a bit during the summer. When I lived in San Jose, I used to jump in the car and drive down in the evenings for a slice of pizza, a ride on the roller coaster and to sit on that grassy knoll in Capitola and watch the moon over the ocean.

You can also rent beach houses, but they can get a bit spendy. I've been wracking my brains trying to find this little clutch of houses right on Capitola Beach. I've always wanted to stay there.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:18 PM on May 30, 2012

Check out Cabo Matapalo - best place I've been... nice point break.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Cabo_Matapalo

Santa Theresa is sweet too - you could stay with the great folk at Villas Hermosas and head right out the front door to surf.

http://www.villashermosas.com/

I hear portimao is amazing and relatively cheap also:

http://www.portimaouncovered.com/

or you could just head to San Diego - get a place in La Jolla and have great time?

http://www.airbnb.com/search?location=la+jolla

I'd recommend Cabo Matapalo... you wont regret, BIG adventure.
posted by specialk420 at 1:13 PM on May 30, 2012

If you dont have any problem going out side of the United States, I would highly recommend a town in northern Peru called Mancora. You can very easily and extremely cheaply rent a small cabin on the beach (maybe like $15-20 a night tops). Super kicked back, but with just enough of a night life / youth scene to be fun and interesting. Food and accommodation weren't 1st world, but the people are friendly and the surf is up. There was actually just enough of an expat community that there were some amazingly good restaurants in a town of like 500 people.
posted by KeSetAffinityThread at 2:11 PM on May 30, 2012 [1 favorite]

@ketset - A buddy of mine was there this winter... spoke highly of the place.
posted by specialk420 at 2:21 PM on May 30, 2012

The Nicoya peninsula and Malpais in Costa Rica are options to consider. I found CR surfers to be less territorial than Sayulita, but you mileage may vary.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 2:35 PM on May 30, 2012

Rincon, Puerto Rico.
posted by Alpenglow at 2:51 PM on May 30, 2012

Where do you live, and how far are you willing to travel?
What time of year would you like to take your trip?
Are you looking for warm water, or are you OK with a wetsuit?
Do you have your own board and travel bag for it?

Stateside, I like specialk420's suggestion for San Diego + airbnb. Lots of breaks suited to a variety of skill level. SD is nice: if the surf is flat, or if your arms feel like they're ready to fall off, you'll have plenty of other non-surf things to do.
posted by quivering_fantods at 4:39 PM on May 30, 2012

The first two suggestions, sayulita and tamarindo are tried and true beginner-intermediate surfing destinations that also have the benefit of being warm and relaxing places to stay. I live in Santa Cruz, so I'd find it hard to recommend as a vacation destination for a few reasons: the water's cold, it's crowded, beach houses are expensive to rent.

It really depends on where you are now and what counts as "super pricey".
posted by tylerkaraszewski at 8:01 PM on May 30, 2012

Seconding Sayulita, which was pretty much just like that when I was there. But that was 10 years ago and things might have changed. (One thing I bet has remained: stingrays.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:06 PM on May 31, 2012