To be the host country for the games, Costa Rica beat out countries like Brazil and South Africa, two renowned surf destinations, thanks in part to the increasing role that Costa Rican surfers are having overseas.
It also seems like every surfer who visits the country agrees that it is one of the best places in the world to surf; not by chance Costa Rica is the third most popular destination for this sport after Hawaii and Indonesia. The reasons are simple: beaches with excellent year-round waves, pleasant weather, warm water, friendly people and reasonable prices.
Costa Rica is also one of the few countries in the world where two great oceans are within a 6-hour drive of each other. This makes it possible to wake up for a surf in the Pacific and finish the day riding the Atlantic waves in the afternoon. Definitively, a perfect paradise for surf lovers
Katiana Murillo (Costa Rica): World Surfing Games in Costa Rica
From today until next August 9, the biggest surf competition in the world is taking place in Costa Rica, the first time in Central America. The 2009 Billabong World Surfing Games, organized by the International Surf Association (ISA), are just beginning at Hermosa Beach, Jaco, in the Central Pacific, with the participation of 35 countries.