Arrived
in Malpais around 4, found cabina, 5 km from intersection at
Frank's, kinda helluva long way. Really trippy place, jungle
right up to beach, very lush, huge trees. Still a little
surprised at the number of deciduous trees even here. Cabina
quite nice and brand new as expected but bugs are perhaps an
issue. Went to Carmen, picked up couple from Seattle, very nice,
then at beach talked with two girls Hillary & her friend,
then with Fred from central CA who is probably a really good
surfer. Ate at Frank's Place, quite good. Went home for crash
time. On way back to cabina mass migration of crabs across road,
I mean hundreds of thousands, I felt terrible but took out many,
they are coming thru cabinas area too, never seen anything like
it, hope it doesn't last all night. Sharing cabina with geckos 
and one
big bug.The crabs do last all night, apparently due to mega storm last night while I was languishing in Tucan pool. Everyone is talking about it, lightning struck everywhere. I haven't traveled that much but I have to say this is the trippiest place I've ever been. Went to little restaurant where "JD" and his SF GF were duking it out, as dysfunctional as it gets, but definitely entertaining. Then to Tabu Bar, very cool setup with patios, swings and upstairs balcony, wasn't there 30 seconds before the offer came, obviously big scene here and I can see why. JD and his GF are vibing about blow, I finally have to turn away, eventually leave.
Woke up Monday around 7, walked to local reefs 50 yards away.
Beautiful
but waves not inspiring, went back to cabina, don't know way to
main Teresa beach and it's not easy to find. At cabina, family of
monkeys hanging around. 
Slept a
little more and went looking for the surf, no board though. Found
good Teresa at turnoff for Bliss where Casey works. Waves OK,
better than AM, wind a slight factor, not bad, where's the board?
But explored on, haven't eaten anything, went to nice e-cafe in
S. Teresa. It is nearly unbearably muggy. Didn't realize how
distinct Carmen & Teresa are, Teresa far bigger (longer),
rivers in between, bridge w/ no rails is sketch, wonder if
anyone's ever gone off it! 
On way to
Sunset Reef Hotel & point breaks picked up hitchhikers Jason
& Diego, checked out awesome $300K property called Casa
Pacifico overlooking Reef, intro to CR mota, cool. 
Sunset
Reef is very thoughtful respectful enterprise. 
Discussed
deal strategy with Jason, he grew up in Walnut Creek, might be
good partner. Will drive to Hermosa & beyond manana. Back to
cabina, still haven't eaten but not hungry probably because I
haven't surfed. Can't decide whether to eat or surf. The weather
has broken and all of a sudden I see what everyone's talking
about. It is very comfortable and I'm loving it. Watched iguanas,
monkeys and birds at the cabina for awhile. 
Monday evening session at Teresa, not very good, one OK right but I think I'll like Carmen more. Reminds of Zuma, not world class spot. Burger @ Tal Burgers,
totally chill, surf videos, loved it. Back to cabina for crash
time, then to Tabu (Monday supposedly good) where ran into Jason,
then met Havila from NYC, 
her
friends are cool too. We all sat out on rocks in the moonlight,
drinking beer and water. They are staying at Moana in Malpais,
made plan for Montezuma on Tuesday. Picked up hitchhikers from
Tabu on way home, never have guys been so grateful.Woke up Tuesday to small surf. Hit Carmen late at 8:30 but didn't miss much. Met surf instructor Abby? who recommended Jungle Juice for breakfast, she was right, cool & great food with overlapping groove & B. Boys tunes. Left note at Moana for Havila & co. Back to cabinas and then road trip to P. Coyote w/ Jason. Saw unbelievable places including P. Hermosa just north of Teresa with good reefs
along
with architectura hermosa. 
P.
Caletas w/ good right reef, 
Manzanillo apparently w/ outside reef, Pta. Coyote w/ hut on
point, funny that from one side of Coyote 
to the
other 
is a half
hour drive! Saw fantastic little place Llama Llada or whatever, 
(note:
it's Ylang Ylang) best design I've seen in CR 
(I think
they were French), 
just
perfect in every way. 
Talked
much w/ Jason about possible development strategies. 
Road in
places made aforementioned pothole in Avellenas look like child's
play, 
lots of
river crossings, 
Coyote
might be difficult in winter. Nevertheless I think Nosara to
Malpais is more doable in dry season than advertised. Got gas in
Cobano, I love a new tank of gas. Very red sunset. Picked up note
from Havila. Montezuma won't happen, but the note was very nice.
Probably will run into her anyway. Ate w/ Jason at Frank's and
then the mota. Nice day. Stayed up late fixing errors in this
journal. I'd write a lot more if I had a desk.Wed. 8 AM woke up to nice 3' peelers @ Sta. Teresa. Got backside barrel w/ Ticos paddling, split between them in barrel, whoops from Ticos, stoked! Then to Carmen, picked up Jason & hit mushy but fun shouder high. Arm is bugging the hell out of me but I don't feel it in the water too much. Back to cabina, crashed for a good two hours, then went to little soda type place, met Canadian girls, talked about weather etc. Then to e-cafe, spent probably two hours catching up (it's been two days--wow. The connections in Sta. Teresa really suck), it's awfully muggy out there. Went exploring in Malpais, to Mar Azul cabinas w/ reef, had 2 Imperials con hielo, me encantadan! Then up the road above Casa Pacifico through some pretty intense jungle,
it claims
it goes to Cabo Blanco over very challenging road. I
really like that property. Gorgeous day after the clouds cleared.
Down the hill to the beach, met up w/ Diego, then Jason et al.
Met "Pedro" who Diego said was the CR surf champ.
Talked about Tamarindo, he grew up there & loves Pico
Pequeno. Mas mota and watched the sunset. Excellent frisbee
session w/ English guy who sounded exactly like Fiona & 3
girls who can toss (their Frisbee). Taught one of them to skip
disc off sand. Feet hurt after Frisbee. Better wear shoes
tonight. Then back to cabina, picked up 2 hitchhikers who are
Omigod way the f**k out there, way past me even! They want to go
to Surf Camp tonight, they'll meet me here, we'll see. Surf Camp
is gonna be huge, I haven't eaten and it's time for a nap. Taught
myself a new stretch I think will help my leg.Well, all I can say is that I'm wiped and the camera has stopped working. Thank god it's so easy to drive here, I'd be in jail in CA. The zoom-in button is mashed. I think it might have happened when I let someone take a pic of me and Havilah. Anyway, those hitchin' girls (including Liz who wants to travel together around Jaco, very sketch) woke me up about 9:30. Easy drive in. Saw basically everyone I've met (and that's a lot)
plus some
new faces. 
Wore
shoes. Saw Frisbee girls Cristina & Adrienne, 
plus
English guy Leo, made plan for frisbee @ Carmen @ 5pm manana. Saw
Diego & Jason early but they seem to have left early. I am
seriously bummed about the camera. I hadn't really expected it to
fail--I expected the PDA to go first. Sure didn't make full use
of water housing. Damage also may have occurred during moonlight
session w/ mota. But I don't recall anything bumpy then. Necesito
comprar una nueva camera en Jaco.Woke up Thursday and took a good look at the camera. Found a tiny reset button in the vicinity of the zoom button, pressed it, thought I'd fixed it but no such luck. The zoom button is definitely wack. I can only take pics on full zoom, nothing less, and I can't review anything. (This is the beginning of the dark period...the only photos I have are from a disposable camera.) By 9am was at Carmen for very mushy 3 1/2 footers. Not exciting but the water was warm & the sea was blue and green and the rips were sorta mustard yellow. Carmen strongly reminds of La Jolla Shores. It is Semana Santa and I've never seen so many tents in my life. The main road is way crowded but the beaches are OK. Gave ride to hard luck guy who was ripped off out of Surf Camp last night while staying elsewhere so his daughter could sleep, then lost car keys while surfing, I felt very sorry for him. Saw Cristina from Frisbee, met up w/ Adrienne & Heather & hung out with them all day. Cheap cabinas where they stay are cool. Jason lives next door. Had pizza at Carmen beach restaurant. Drove them to my cabina for kicks. They love the monkeys and the rocas en la playa (post-trip note: too bad I don't have pics, they are spectacular). Back to Carmen for 5pm Frisbee (nobody else showed), fun until I cut my finger, then I slowed down. Adrienne is adept at the sidearm toss. No evening surf tonight even though it looked OK. To Tropico Latino with the girls for dinner, unexpectedly nice, even fancy. It's slow today, because it's the day before Good Friday and there's no alcohol served today and tomorrow. Back to their cabinas and then home for an early night. Had to use the car lighter again.
Woke up Friday I thought reasonably early, was in water at Teresa by 8. Still not really happening, in fact worst session since Garza. Went to Carmen, not any better. Getting a bit frustrated with Malpais and its alleged surf even though the place rocks. Went to Jason's, we're driving to Manzanillo today. Eat at his local soda, then north via cabina. Waves in Manz. not fully encouraging, beach break tiny. Waves in Hermosa considerably better, we explore both. Think we understand them OK. Many (I think) native Chorisia including remarkable pair forming figure 8 in road at "entry" to Hermosa.
So far I
think Caletas has best waves of all beaches north. Stop by Teresa
which is now firing but how long will that last? Teresa has
fickle rep. Drop off Jason, mas mota and head home around 2. It's
Good Friday and everything is closed including e-cafe. Check
local reefs w/ board and came very close to hitting it, but that
isn't gonna be happening except under perfect conditions. A long
nap is in order, everything is sore. Then walk as far as Roca
Mar, no way are those restaurants open. Wrote this on beach as
night fell. It looks like rain but will it?Another short nap and then in search of food. Fortunately many places are now open and I choose Soda la Yunta in mid-Teresa. Lightning is striking cloud to cloud all around but thunder not too loud. Rain falling steadily. Slow evening, rain falling harder, start hanging w/ Tica named Alejandra, de Chepe. She has ideas for evening, so we went looking at Mar Azul where you couldn't officially drink until midnight, well we passed that. Bought tiny bottle of rum which we never drank. Should have gone to Diego's.
Sat. AM woke up incredibly late. Chauffered Casey and Carter the boys next door back into Teresa, came back home and snoozed. Poor Casey and Carter, long way from the action. Finally around 3, went to e-cafe, Britt is still writing, looks closer. Ate at Frank's, went home checking Teresa along the way, also check a couple of cabinas, I've decided to stay here a few days longer, should be easy to find cabinas after S. Santa is over. Hit evening session at Teresa,
a bit bigger but high tide bumpy and mushy,
guys are getting waves but my motivation is low. Back to cabina
for some crash time, then go to Soda el Jardin. Kate from next
table invites me over, they want to go to Tabu, I say pile in.
Tabu scene is seriously wacked as usual. Rain heavy at times on
way home, picked up 4 hitchers who crammed in back seat and they
were thrilled.Easter Sun. morning (thank god, finally) woke up early to chauffer again. Teresa looks good, I guess I'm taking a break from surf and I have to pack. Arm isn't sore exactly, just feels weird, I think they'll have to cut it off in SF. Pack up, pay Patricia the manager, nap some more and off in search of a new place.
Frank's was full, so settled for blue cabinas where Frisbee girls are staying, around corner from Jason. Hung w/ him at lunch after getting new message from Britt, she's coming on shuttle tomorrow. Evening session at Carmen (now walking distance--whoohoo!) better than before but still not what I would call good, too bumpy and mushy, but at least it felt like surfing. Ate @ Frank's, easiest option since everything is closed Easter. Hung out @ cabinas in evening w/ Jason & the girls, Anna the Brit is cool. Went to bed early in anticipation of good surf tomorrow.
Which didn't happen exactly, it was OK but hardly fantastico. Long waves but not very exciting. Rousted Jason, then went looking for breakfast. Ran into Kate, ate @ falafel soda w/ her & beautiful Israeli employee. Kate can't wait to hang @ Tabu tonight. Back to cabina, to e-cafe, wrote to family & Fiona, she writes a lot, her job must be more boring than it sounds ha ha. Outside e-cafe, there's Britt! With her friend Eila. Drive them around looking for cabina, found one but eventually got better and closer one. Suggested hanging in PM, bad idea so went on to cabinas where I wasted time w/ Anna & co., I will miss her, she's a beauty and probably a good surfer although she does have those British teeth ha ha. Then Jason & I checked out two remarkable properties, one big w/ pads built & one small but w/ house, both excellent, we need something in between. Left Jason w/ Heather & went to Cobano for another tank of petrol. Came back thru lightning, hanging out @ cabina when Britt & Eila came by, they want to eat, so do I & it's raining so I offer to drive. Went to Tal burger, we were the last ones there but la chicas were digging it. But they don't want to go out later. Hmmm, can't figure Britt out. Eventually went home, I'd planned to wait until 10 but everybody is there so I chill w/ them. Heather had bugs in her bed & eventually went to Jason's to crash, can't blame her, those winged ants are spooky. Everyone zonked & soon I was off to Tabu.
Met RISD crew. Extremely weird
session where surf champ Pedro tries to hook me up with his gay
friend. Found Kate & sister Julia, they left Tabu early but I
drove her home to Point Break cabinas. Back to Tabu, at some
point this has to be a bad idea but I start talking w/ girls from
Santa Cruz, I like them but we devolve into mota & cigarette
smoking and they wind up walking back to cabina for a puff. Then
they leave and I try to catch up on PDA. It's raining. Everyone
including me thinks the rainy season is on. F**k El Nino.Wake up Tuesday about 8, hit Carmen but still small, got a couple but not very exciting. Came back & ate @ local soda, ran into Britt, she doesn't seem to want to hang, is it something I said? So I head off to Montezuma w/ Jason & Heather, leave them @ Cobano bank, short drive to Mont. Very beautiful place.
More "town"
than Nosara or Sta. Teresa. 
Hung @ beach & then ran into Britt! They took the bus there
in lieu of Taxi Pablo! She still doesn't want to hang
out! Not even for waterfall! (Falls are renowned for long 90'
freefall jump available to whoever is down.) So I say hasta
whatever & head for falls. Quite a hike in, challenge for
Nike sandals and my poor feet although many were doing it. Falls
gorgeous. Refreshing yes, but you do get sweaty again hiking out.
Didn't make it up to fall #2 and wouldn't have jumped anyway
without anyone to testify. Had great calamari @ "Lucy"
restaurant, very beautiful, hung with surf crew from Florida.
Back to beach, then met up w/ Britt & Eila @ very cute
organic cafe. Walked to rocks & puffed, walked to little
juice bar, then drove home w/ girls. I don't understand them,
should have left them at Montezuma to ride the bus home ha ha.
Stayed at cabina, talked for long time to group of young Swedish
surfers, they are cool, & then to Andre and companion Melisa
who may have talked me into driving to Pavones. Evening session
was supposedly great...damn!Woke up Wednesday to good surf, about head high w/ good shape. Didn't stay out too long because had to pack up. South swell is supposed to happen & Pavones is a go. Despite dodgy surf Malpais is my favorite place in CR. I'd be nuts about it if the surf were good. The cabinas got ripped off last night but Teflon Paul lost nothing although Andre was not so lucky & one of the Swedes got hit too. Ate @ Frank's one last time. Saw property in Sta. Teresa, not bad for 200K. Missed Jason, I thought he'd moved, but saw him back at E-cafe, exchanged info. Got gear together, quick photo session, Andre called Francisco re cameras in Golfito & we hit the road probably 12:30.