This is a view of Playa Jaco (pronounced hawk-oh) looking northward from the south end of the bay. The waves you see out there are in the 6 foot plus range when they break. They break hard and come down in very long closed-out lines when there is a long period swell from the SW like this. It's rideable, but most rides are short and end with a big kaboom. It wasn't fun on a longboard.

Just about a mile north of Jaco Bay is a place called Roca Loca (or Loca Roca). I call it Lotsa Rocksa. If waves are 6 feet in the bay, they'll be 12 feet plus out here. When the winds are calm, the form is very good, but the waves come down fast and very, very hard. I watched several short boards and a bogey board having fun out there. Skill level must be high to surf this place, and it's a board breaker. At first look, it appeared like a good longboard break as the shoulder is very well formed. But after watching the shortboards get caught 3 out of 5 waves, I changed my mind. It's a steep climb to get down from the parking area. I am standing about 100 yards south of the main surf break. It's a nice view, but I have never seem anyone surfing out off those rocks. By the way, that splash of ocean spray is probably 50 feet high and that wave building up in the background is easily a 15 footer. No crowds here.

This guy was only about 14 inches long. They get much bigger than that. I counted 10 of these green fellows in the palm and banana trees outside my hotel room. I was able to pet a couple of them, but they can move real fast. One big one jumped on my shoulder and climbed down my back when I was trying to focus the camera for a close up.

This is Boca Baranca. The small white top wave you see in the upper right portion of the pic just to the right of the rocks (on the horizon) is probably an 8 foot plus wave. It's a very long paddle out, perhaps close to a mile to the farthest break. Rides were long, long, long, with a 6 to 8 foot plus swell and light off-shores. The water can often be extremely dirty (it's a river mouth) and crowds may reach several hundred boards on good days. There were only about 40 boards out this day and the water was clean. It had the best waves I have ever ridden. There were 4 or 5 good take off points the day I was there, but every once in a while someone made it from the farthest outside point all the way across the bay - perhaps 3/4 of a mile (or more). Lefts only. This place is considered a world class longboard break, but I was the only longboard out most of this morning. If you don't know what you are looking at, you can drive right by this place thinking those are knee high lines out there. I've been by here 4 times before and never guessed those "knee high lines" are really 6 feet high or more.

These are crocs not gators. The big ones are probably 16 feet long, and they look very well fed. This pic was taken from the top of a bridge about 15 miles north of Jaco. If you go to Jaco from San Jose, you go over this bridge. The crocs were here every time I've been here. I counted 24 of them this day, but there was a large area under the bridge that I couldn't see. You can walk right down to the river bank and try to pet them if you want to. They are wild and there aren't any fences. Judging from the big bellies, quite a few folks must try that.

Costa Rica is a pretty place. This is a view of Jaco Bay taken from Roca Loca. Although it looks flat, there was a solid 6 foot swell rolling in. We checked Jaco Bay, Playa Hermosa, and the three Playa Esterillo beaches each morning and found the same story. Big, long, closed-out, board breaking crunchers with no shoulders. Our only good surf session was the trip to Boca Baranca. The beach breaks need something to break up the long lines that roll in from the storms off New Zealand during the winter (our summer). A mixed cross swell or local storm system that breaks up the lines can greatly improve things by offering more shoulders. There were at least 50 surfboards on my flight down, but I only saw two or three other longboards. Next time I'll probably just take a short board like everyone else.

Jaco Bay is a high tide break. As the tide goes down, so does the surf, and close-outs get even worse. These girls were part of a surf school session near my hotel. Those waves in the background are around 6 feet and pitching over. The pic was taken with a telephoto lens that flattens out distance perceptions. This does not look like a good place to learn how to surf to me, but classes were out there every morning with lots of students.