Surfing in Nosara

January 27^th-28^th, 2015

The drive to Nosara was almost all dirt roads and included one small river crossing which was fun in the little Nissan rental car.  Nosara struck us as a bit of an odd place.  Contrary to Samara it was set back from the beach in a series of parallel roads and although it was rough roads to reach it, there was some serious money in the area with big fancy houses, resorts and even the couple hostels we checked out were fancy schmancy.  In the end we opted to take a little bungalow that had a single and a double bed for $95 at a place called Casa Rosada which also had a nice little pool.

Nearby to our hotel was a restaurant simply named “Burgers and Beers” and they meant it!  Not only did they have craft beers from a brewery that sent Pat to the moon (this man has a couple of taps right in his kitchen counter sink back home in Squamish so he knows his beers), but the burgers were to die for.  Danielle claimed that it was the best burger she had ever had and I have to admit it was in my top 5 with a super thick patty, an awesome bun and fresh veggies and super yummy potato wedges.  Pat and I had the IPA beer and he thought that the hops must be sourced from the Pacific Northwest and we found out he was correct, with them coming from Yakima, Washington, just 20 miles from his guess.  There was a super cute dog hanging around and why wouldn’t he, there’s great beef being served up with sympathetic foreigners giving him the odd table scrap.  He followed us to the nearby store and we noticed that a luggage tag was attached to his collar with a business card of a hotel in it, which turned out to be ours so he followed us back to Casa Rosada.  We later found out that the originally German, now Canadian owner of both the hotel and the dog had called him Hundt (a close derivative of the German word “hund” which means dog).  Pat and Danielle have a dog at home and are as big, if not bigger dog lovers than I am so Hundt received a lot of attention from our cabin so he frequently visited during our stay.

The amazing burger:

The only trouble is how to wrap one's mouth around it:

Pat and Hundt:

After the kickass lunch we lounged by the pool and then rented a long board to head down to the beach and try our hand at surfing.  Danielle was our first contestant and she did quite well.  Pat was next and then I had a short session.  I hadn’t surfed in over 10 years and have only really attempted it twice before, once in Canada at Tofino on Vancouver Island and the other in Mexico.  I was quickly reintroduces to how strenuous surfing is, just paddling out while busting through the incoming waves.  I kinda sorta stood up once or twice but only for mere seconds but thankfully Pat is a good photographer with a wicked camera and was able to catch a pic of me looking like I’m surfing like a boss…thanks Pat!

That's me coming in on the right...even the beach babes are checkin' me out (actually she was photographing her boyfriend on the left):

But I still look like a boss!

Danielle and Pat heading out for a session:

The next day Pat and Danielle had another go in the surf while I was happy to watch as I felt a bit beat up from the previous day’s session.  Danielle’s quite the trooper, hitting the waves three times.  During this time Pat and I talked more in depth about a crazy event that occurred to him five years ago…he was buried alive in an avalanche!  He and Danielle are avid back country adventurers and lately one of their passions is to chuck their mountain bikes and a minimal amount of camping gear into a float plane and head out to a remote area where they ride all the way back. 

Tamarindo Beach in the hot sun:

Over the years they have done a lot of back country skiing and have lots of avalanche training and knowledge in testing the snow pack, sussing out the conditions and in rescue techniques.  Well this day Pat’s luck was not on his side.  An avalanche broke and he and another friend were swept down the slope and breakneck speeds, actually it was break teeth and skull speeds.  Pat’s teeth were knocked out and he sustained a fractured skull as he was slammed into tree trunks that were snapping like twigs as he was washed down the mountain before being buried.  Luckily his friends were able to dig him out before it was too late but then their other friend was still missing.  The group were searching lower than where they found Pat and even with the injuries he’d received and the fact that he had just looked Death right in the face, he was able to join in the hunt and even reorganize the skiers to look further uphill and I fact it was Pat who located his friend with his transceiver.  They dug him out but more than twenty minutes had passed at this point but amazingly they were able to revive him!

Thankfully Danielle wasn’t there to witness this traumatic incident.  Pat had to visit the hospital every week for a year to slowly put his body, specifically his mouth, back together.  He received a bone graft from his hip in order to make an upper jaw to secure his new titanium teeth to.  Surprisingly he told me that he thought my ordeal in India was worse than his since so much of mine was not in my control…I dunno Pat, I think I’d take being stuck on a beach than buried in snow if I had to choose again.  My hat is off to you though my friend, you are a survivor!