Overview

Location

When people refer to Nosara, they actually mean Playa Guiones (pronounced gee-yawn-ez). Nosara is a rather unremarkable small town about 20 minutes inland. Playa Guiones on the other hand is quite simply the best place to learn to surf anywhere in the world. It’s an early to bed, early to rise kind of town and is one of the nicest places to hang out in the area...

The area surrounding Playa Guiones is a protected nature reserve. Today this means while you’re surfing it’s just you, the ocean, the jungle and a few monkeys and turtles. Tucked discreetly behind the trees is a smattering of cafes, restaurants, hotels, villas, and rentals that create an ambiance that The Lonely Planet describes as “sophisticated jungle living”. Given there is even a french patisserie, I guess this is an accurate comment!

The Surf Simply resort is nestled in the trees 800 yards back from the waters edge. You can stroll along the paths through the trees and stumble upon all kinds of cool little shops, cafes and restaurants without ever feeling like you’re stepping out of the jungle. The locals and foreigners that have moved here are all a pretty friendly bunch and it’s not uncommon for our guests to ask us why people keep smiling and waving at them.

The beach is a 5 minute walk through the trees but for your surf lessons we will drive you down in our golf buggy. You will have use of the ‘beach cruiser’ bicycles the rest of the time if you fancy exploring.

The Surf

Nosara/Playa Guiones, is the perfect classroom – consistent, fun waves year round.

We chose Nosara to become the home of Surf Simply for a different reason. We chose Nosara simply because it is the best place to learn to surf anywhere in the world. The beach here has over 350 surfable days a year with 90% of them offering clean waist high to head high waves, even places like Hawaii don’t come close to that kind of consistency. This means that even if you only have a weeks vacation, the chances are high that you’ll have ideal conditions what ever level of surfer you are.

Accommodation

The Surf Simply Boutique resort consists of 3 Chalets, each with 2 bedrooms and one bathroom.

All the rooms have WiFi and air conditioning. The chalets also have a kitchen (although you will not need to use it unless you choose to ) and a private terrace. You can either share a chalet, share a room or have a private chalet all to yourself.

Careful thought has been given to every aspect of the resort from the art on the wall of your bedroom to the integrated lighting which lights up the palms from underneath when you swim in the pool at night. The poolside dining room and lounge double as the perfect classroom for teaching surf theory and doing video feedback sessions.

A few steps from your front door you will find the deep, secluded swimming pool and pool side lounge with WiFi. This is where we will gather for your post surf video analysis whilst enjoying a post surf brunch, your contest judging lessons, demonstrative analysis and oceanography sessions on the HD widescreen TV. We’ll make sure all of this is done whilst sipping cool fruit smoothies on the large, comfortable pool-side sofas.

Packages

The Surf Simply resort offers you All-Inclusive Surf Coaching Packages.

We can strip out certain aspects of the package, if you feel they aren't what you need. Items that are optional include the daily yoga / massage, the day off activity, and the airport transfers.

ALL INCLUSIVE SURF COACHING PACKAGE

INCLUDED:
- Transfers to and from the airport (Liberia or San Jose).
- 7 nights accommodation (Sat to Sat) in your shared or private surf chalet.
- 10 x 90 minutes of in water surf coaching with the world’s best.
-  Your own mini surf movie.
- 5 x 30 minutes class room sessions on surf theory and video feedback.
- A well-earned mid week full body massage.
OR a course of 5 yoga classes with Jessie.
- A pre-surf continental breakfast early in the morning
- a post-surf big brunch, late morning.
- In the evening we will visit a different local restaurant every night
OR enjoy a BBQ on the beach as the sun goes down.
- Wednesday is all yours to relax and/or take advantage of one of the complimentary activities on offer. There’s the zip line jungle canopy tour, try out an SUP session, kayak adventure, horseback riding or a yoga class. All included !
- We’ll give you a rashguard to use and take home, hand made from the highest quality lycra here in Costa Rica.
- We’ll also provide you with sunblock and even zinc for your lips and nose, so you can stay young and beautiful even after hours in the sun.

NOT INCLUDED:
- Your flights to Costa Rica
- Wednesday Meals...

Facilities

Daily yoga classes
Massages
Airport transfers
In resort transport
Continental breakfast
Hot brunches
Dinners out at local culinary hotspots
All refreshments, beer and wine
Swimming pool
Wifi
Free t-shirt
Free rashguard
Welcome basket
Bath towels
Beach towels
Your own surf movie and photos

...

Surf Coaching

You’ll have 2 x 90 minute surf lessons each day with one of the BSA, ISA, RLSS and ILS certified surf simply coaches. The unique methodology at Surf Simply takes all the mystical voodoo out of surfing. Instead we clearly communicate the concepts and body movements which make surfing fun and accessible to everyone. Beginners will enjoy our confidence building lessons while more experienced surfers will love our video coaching and skill specific drills.

WHAT WE DO

We take a logical, analytical approach. We have broken surfing down into specific skill sets. We then teach them so that each new skill forms a basis for the next. We have found this approach demystifies surfing, accelerates progress, and builds confidence. It allows people of all ages and abilities to get into the sport of surfing and helps experienced surfers to develop greater speed, power and flow.

We go with the ‘teach a man to fish rather than give him a fish’ approach. In every lesson you’ll learn a specific skill and know why you are learning it, as well as how it fits into the bigger picture. We lay down a clear road map from the first day you set foot in the ocean. We will make sure you understand which are the important skill sets for you to focus on and what mastering those skills will then allow you to do. The idea is that you can coach yourself right up to performing committed maneuvers in the critical part of the wave. After all, the faster you improve, the more fun you have. This is the scientific discipline of having fun in waves.

USING VIDEO ANALYSES

Things always feel very different to how they look, so one of our best teaching tools is the video camera. Video coaching enables us to show you exactly what you need to do to progress your surfing to the next level. We film from the beach or even mount a camera on your surfboard to get the footage which is most helpful to you. Every level, from beginners to competitive surfers all benefit greatly from the video coaching experience, it’s great fun too!

Afterwards, we cut the footage together and make you your own mini surf movie.

THE MONEY SHOT

All of us, young or old, even the most humble among us, would love to have a great photo of ourselves surfing. So we make sure we head down one morning, when the light is good and the waves are glassy, with the biggest zoom lens we can lay our hands on and snap away...

More Info

MEALS
We provide a light early breakfast, a huge late brunch, afternoon tea and a delicious evening meal every night.  Some nights we will visit local restaurants with stunning views over the jungle and coast line or eat by a roaring on the beach fire a few feet from the surf. Each villa also has its own kitchen giving you the freedom to do your own thing if the mood takes you.

YOGA OR MASSAGE
You also have included in your package a choice of either 5 yoga classes with Jessie or a well earned full body massage with Crystal, our qualified massage therapist. Jessie, our in-house yoga guru, trained as a yoga instructor in India,  will talk to you about what experience you have had and what type of classes most appeal to you.

LAZY DAYS
On wednesday we have a day off from surfing and you can have a well-earned lie in. Wednesday is the only day where you will need to arrange your own meals. You can visit the local store and rustle something up in the kitchen in your chalet or visit one of the cafes or restaurants nestling in the jungle a short walk from your door.

OTHER FUN STUFF
At no extra cost you can take a zip line jungle canopy tour, go horse riding, take a boat tour up the river, a stand up paddle tour of the coast, train with a former world women’s boxing champ or just lounge around in the pool. You can also go sport fishing, which is awesome but does cost a little extra depending on how many people are in your group.

TRANSFERS & TRANSPORT
Our chauffeur will meet you off the plane in an Air Conditioned SUV and bring you the 2.5 hours from Liberia (or 5.5 hours from San Jose) through the jungle to Nosara. Once you’re here the resort golf buggy will take you the 800 yards through the nature reserve to the beach, twice a day, for your surfs. If you decide to do a little exploring as well, or visit the beach for some solitude, a stroll or just to sunbathe, the resort’s beach cruisers (bicycles) are available to you all day too.

EQUIPMENT & GOODIES
We have over 50 new surfboards this season and we’ll provide you with the perfect board to make great progress on. We use NSPs, SurfTechs and Al Merricks (if it’s good enough for Kelly Slater it’s good enough for us). We’ll also give you with a rashguard hand made out of the highest quality lycra to protect you from the sun and any chaffing while you surf.  We’ll even give you sun cream and zinc so you can stay young and beautiful even after hours in the surf.

Reviews

Rates

RATES Full Surf Coaching Package for 7 nights ( Sat to Sat )
See 'Packages' for info on what's included and not...

SINGLE OCCUPANCY
1 single bed in a shared twin room: $ 2200
1 person in a private room (in a shared chalet): $ 2700
1 person in a Private Chalet: $ 3500

DOUBLE OCCUPANCY
2 people in a private room (in a shared chalet): $ 2200 pp
2 people in a Private Chalet: $ 2700 pp

TRIPLE OCCUPANCY
3 people in a Private Chalet: $ 2350 pp

GROUP OF FOUR
4 people in a Private Chalet: $ 1950 pp