Uncover the Pura Vida Lifestyle on a Surf Journey to Tamarindo

If there are simply two phrases you’ll hear in Costa Rica, time and again, they’re “pura vida”. This is the nation’s unofficial slogan, used as a pleasant greeting and a approach of claiming “life is good.” For all of us Ticos, and particularly in Tamarindo, pura vida is greater than phrases: it’s a way of life. From laid-back surf periods and sundown chats with neighbors to sluggish lunches with good mates and simply taking a second to get pleasure from a very breathtaking sundown. The pura vida life-style shapes what we do and the way we stay.

Wondering how one can absorb just a little of the pura vida life-style? Join us on a journey round Tamarindo to take a look at the folks, locations, and rhythms that deliver these two easy phrases to life in our little nook of Costa Rican paradise.

What Pura Vida Really Means

In Costa Rica, pura vida is shorthand for kindness, optimism, and life-balance. You will hear it as each a hi there and a goodbye, and even as optimistic reassurance when one thing goes unsuitable. Someone runs late? “Pura vida.” The financial institution was presupposed to be open, nevertheless it isn’t. “Ah, pura vida!” The waves are excellent, and also you’re heading out for a session? “Pura vida!” It’s a very easy however fantastic reminder that life is to be loved, and that issues all the time work out, it doesn’t matter what. 

In a nutshell, pura vida means “LIFE IS GOOD, WHATEVER COMES!”

The Tamarindo Way of Starting Your Day? That’s Pura Vida!

Being such an epic surf city, it isn’t shocking to study that life in Tamarindo revolves across the solar, the tide, and that first cup of robust Costa Rican espresso. Most days begin early, as we love heading to the seashore earlier than the warmth of the day units in.

“Catching that first wave early sets the mood for the rest of the day. Because when your day starts that well, nothing can possibly ruin in!” Kurt, teacher @ Iguana Surf 

The fabulous factor is that you may be a newcomer to the city, or to browsing, and you’ll nonetheless get pleasure from it to the max. Unlike so many different locations, browsing right here isn’t about ego or exhibiting off however about feeling the ocean and sharing the lineup with a improbable group of people that find it irresistible simply as a lot as you do. There’s a purpose a number of the world’s prime surfers come right here to observe within the low season. This is the place they’ll loosen up and be themselves. 

Tamarindo is just not an intimidating place, so it’s excellent for first-time surfers. For us, it’s all about getting on the market collectively, celebrating the little victories, and having a very good chortle when somebody takes a tumble. This is ALL pura vida!

And we find it irresistible when everybody joins in.



Eat Like a Local, Feel Like Family

Some guests get just a little antsy when issues in Costa Rica don’t run like clockwork. What they don’t notice, nevertheless, is that this lack of speeding is embedded within the native tradition. Taking it sluggish is an integral a part of the pura vida life-style. Never is that this extra apparent than when speaking about your post-surf breakfast.

After your morning surf or stroll on the seashore, head to an area café for a sluggish meal. Try a basic smoothie bowl topped with recent pineapple and coconut flakes, or a gallo pinto plate with eggs and avocado on the aspect. Surf with us at Iguana Surf Camp, and also you’ll have Breakfast Grinds subsequent door, the place the espresso is robust, the fruit is recent, and the burritos are large enough to maintain you fueled until sundown.

“Just settle into a shaded seat, enjoy the tunes, share a joke with the barista, and, more importantly, savor your food slowly. Trust us when we say, the day will always be good if you take good care of your slow mornings.” – Aysha, Iguana Surf & Camp Crew



It Isn’t About Jam-Packed Itineraries

As you will have guessed, then, there’s no must pack your schedule in Tamarindo. Here, we largely measure time by the tides not calendars or clocks. An ideal afternoon would possibly imply studying a guide in a hammock, wandering by way of an area market, or simply sitting along with your toes within the sand watching the waves roll in.

You actually don’t must do a lot to get pleasure from your self right here. Some of the very best reminiscences occur whenever you cease making an attempt to create them artificially and simply let life occur. As Ticos, now we have all the time understood this, which is what offers Tamarindo an excellent calming and peaceable vibe. Yes, you would possibly come right here to discover and surf, however we all know that it’s the enjoyable vibe that can maintain you coming again. 



Community Is on the Heart of the Pura Vida Lifestyle

If you’re passing by way of Tamarindo for only a day or two, you’ll miss what we contemplate to be the city’s most cherished asset: its group. But keep a number of days extra, and also you’ll begin to really feel the group vibe. The native baker remembering your espresso order, the surf store man providing you with a tip on the tide, and the vegetable vendor by the seashore serving up the largest smile of recognition. 

The connection between folks here’s a core a part of the pura vida life-style. It’s what drives us to affix seashore cleanups and salsa nights, and what makes us rejoice each surfer’s epic trip, whether or not we’ve met them or not.



Experience the Pura Vida Lifestyle!

If you’re able to deliver all of it collectively and actually absorb our lifestyle, be part of us for a surf camp in Tamarindo. We received’t simply educate you the right way to trip waves; we’ll present you ways wonderful it feels to get up with the solar, share laughs with new mates, eat sensational, healthful meals, and transfer by way of your day slowly however with objective. 

At Iguana Surf Camp, we handle the little issues so you possibly can give attention to the good stuff. Like paddling out into heat water to your morning lesson, stretching it out in yoga after lunch, and watching the sky change colour because the solar dips behind the ocean. 

And when it’s time to go dwelling, we all know you’ll take greater than reminiscences with you. Because that calming, releasing and optimistic pura vida feeling? It will stick with you lengthy after you allow our shores.  

Want to see extra of what life is like right here in Tamarindo? Check out our Iguana Surf YouTube channel for surf suggestions, native tales, and a glimpse of pura vida in motion!