Avellanas, Costa Rica

• Playa Junquillal
• Playa Negra
• Playa Avellanas

Avellanas is one of the most beautiful coastlines of the Tamarindo area. There is nothing but pristine beach with crooked old trees providing shade, and backlands covered with scrub, marsh land and pastures.

Avellanas is no village and there are no shops, just a scattering of small laid-back hotels and cabinas where surfers hang out. See below: Surf spots and hotels in Avellanas

The beach extends for miles until Tamarindo's Playa Langosta in the north and Playa Negra in the south. Some stretches are rocky and you find tide pools and many shells. Other parts have fine white sand giving the water a turquoise color.

For most visitors however, the most known feature of Playa Avellanas are its waves. Boasting some of Costa Rica's best stretches for surfing, Avellanas draws surfers from all over the world. In high season and on week ends however the waves can become a bit crowded as local surfers from the Tamarindo area flock to the breaks as well.

Arriving in Avellanas you will drop into the parking area at the side of Lola's beach bar. In high season a guard watches over the lot which largely reduced car break-ins. Nevertheless leave no valuables in your car. Also take care of your belongings on the beach.

Lola's bar is among the nicest beach lounges you can find in Costa Rica. There is comfortable beach furniture with good view to the surf, and their pizza is famous. The bar is named after the capricious diva of Avellanas: Lola, the huge, old pig who uses to bathe in the surf of Avellanas.

Surfing in Avellanas:

Surf conditions in Avellanas are good throughout the year with swells coming in both from the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. Dry season is from December - April with blue skies and steady offshore winds. Avellanas offers a variety of different surf spots spread out along the beach. Most breaks are for experienced surfers.

 

In front of the parking lot is La Purruja, a left hand reef break though not very consistent. In general conditions are best during rainy season.

A few steps north of Lola's is El Parqueo, a beach break with long, smooth waves which make them suitable for less experienced surfers. Dry season months and mid-tide is the best time to surf this spot.

El Palo means "dead tree" referring to the giant driftwood tree that lies here buried into the sand. The beach breaks are both lefts and rights, forming little barrels.

In front of the river mouth, El Estero de Avellanas is said to be one of the best surf spots in Costa Rica. Rights and lefts surf over reef and sand bottom forming perfect A-frames. Best surfed in dry season and on a low incoming tide.

The most northern surf spot of Avellanas is across the river mouth, a 20 min walk from Lola's. Little Hawaii is a favorite of local surfers and should only be surfed by experts. The right hander surfs over rocks and waves can sometimes be as high as 18 feet. Best surfed on low to medium tide.

How to get to Avellanas:

Right now you get to Avellanas only with your own transportation, and rains make a 4WD mandatory. At times swollen rivers and quagmires make it almost impossible to drive to Avellanas. Keen surfers however aren't put off that easily - rainy season still offers good surfing and there are no crowds.

The bad access roads have so far protected Avellanas from development. But the tranquil surfer nirvana could soon be another domino falling to the building boom taking place around Tamarindo. Much of the land in Avellanas has been bought up, roads are getting fixed, bridges being built, and developers are waiting in the wings.

 
Recommended reading:

The H2O Surf Travel Guide to Costa Rica, by Jonathan Yonkers Chavarría, a surfer from Tamarindo. Written with love and wit it transpires all the color, pattern and ethnicity of surf culture. The surf travel guide is sold in book stores and hotels in Tamarindo.

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