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 This
has been developing slowly but surely over the last few years. Costa
Rica has become a world-class windsurfing location for advanced
sailors seeking high winds, and is often compared to the Gorge.
The two main locations are Lake Arenal (at the northern
end about 15kn from Tilaran), and Salinas Bay on the Pacific coast
just south of the Nicaraguan border.
Both
locations offer strong 15-25 knot winds December-April. For Lake
Arenal, the surrounding hills, through which funnel the strong
north easterlies, provide a beautiful natural setting in which to
sail, with volcano Arenal often silhouetted beautifully on the opposite
side of the lake. The windsurfing is superb with the side shore
winds which blast across the 70° warm waters of the lake from December
through April.
Good
gear is available for rental from Ticowind
(from Dec 1st - April 15th, with new gear each year) and from Hotel
Tilawa (all year) if you don’t bring your own. There are
several great lodges around here, including Hotel Tilawa.
The
same winds continue blowing westwards across Costa Rica and funnel
particularly through Puerto Soley and Salinas Bay on the Pacific
Coast. Often windsurfers from Arenal head here if the
Arenal wind is down.
Elsewhere
winds are light, and few hotels keep boards, but if in this windy
season and you go to beaches such as Flamingo or Tamarindo along
the northern coast of Guanacaste, you should strike some good winds
and waves. For details of the hotels offering windsurfing |
