Sticking out like a spare limb into the temperate waters of the Pacific, Nicoya has a myriad of unspoiled beaches where the breakers roll in consistently offering great surfing for all levels of ability whether you're a pale rookie paddling out for the first time or a sun-gnarled veteran. It is this variety that makes the area perfect for one of the world's fastest growing sports and the region has had a fantastic reputation in the worldwide surfing community. A few years ago villages such as Santa Teresa were no more than a few fishing huts clustered together but with the boom of tourism in the area numerous services are now provided by locals offering the dusty streets a ramshackle charm - a perfect setting for the laid-back surfers and the ever-growing community of young visitors. For those just wishing to hang out then there a numerous beach restaurants and beer shacks where laid back tunes and chilled cerveza set the tone for the after hours entertainment.

Further to the South lies Dominical, probably Costa Rica's most famous surfing grounds. It's slightly less isolated than the Nicoya region offering easy access to the surrounding national parks and also the nation's capital, San José. The area is famed for its "surf camps" where surfing,

There are even language schools opening to cater for the influx of young travellers (an excellent example of this is http://www.babylon-idiomas.com/ with a great presence in mainland Spain and Latin America) - no longer solely the domain of evening classes in your home country, learning a second language these days is all about cultural immersion. The message is "why not learn Spanish whilst you're learning to surf or dive?" and with much of Central and South America now more open to tourism there's no better time to learn the skills to make yourself understood whilst enjoying the more obvious pursuits open to travellers.
About the Author

For the last five years Mike McDougall has been working as a travel writer and marketeer. He's currently working for a Spanish language School (http://www.babylon-idiomas.com/) to provide additional cultural and travel related material on Spain and Latin America. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/uk/