Pavones Costa Rica – A little town with a long wave

After we left Nosara and did some maintenance on Titus, we cruised down to another famous beach town in southern Costa Rica; Pavones. We loved the beaches and natural setting of Pavones so much, that I wanted to give it its own short post, to encourage anyone who is visiting Costa Rica to make the trek out there.

Pavones’ claim to fame is that it has the longest surfable wave in Costa Rica and they claim the 2nd longest left in the world. However, which we discovered, there needs to be a pretty powerful swell to get the wave to actually work and connect up for the legendary 2 minute rides

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-htmSOYNT8l4/VbEIKUK3N-I/AAAAAAAA0Qk/HnvURGKhoy0/s144-c-o/IMG_0680.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725537407645666″ caption=”Pavones was one of the most peaceful places we've been to” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0680.JPG” ]


When we were there, there wasn’t much swell and the town felt really peaceful. I’m told that when there is a big swell the town really fills up. Unlike in Nosara, it is very easy to camp along`the beach, and we found a wonderful grassy spot along the shore. It was definitely the best free camping site we’ve found since Baja.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7izXDNLOv28/VbEIKSBmN2I/AAAAAAAAz4s/r2eOIeoO0jk/s144-c-o/IMG_0659.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725536831911778″ caption=”Pretty happy with our camp spot” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0659.JPG” ]

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AgId-WIIn7Y/VbEIKUmMaGI/AAAAAAAAz4s/ey8dB1SIRz8/s144-c-o/IMG_0671.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725537522280546″ caption=”We spent the week here, it was amazing” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0671.JPG” ]

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tcSeFKO3qmo/VbEIKTRtJ3I/AAAAAAAAz4s/95oBANrupVs/s144-c-o/IMG_0702.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725537167910770″ caption=”Beautiful sunsets in Pavones overlooking the Osa Peninsula in the background” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0702.JPG” ]

Unfortunately, the waves were very small. But the upside was that I found myself almost alone in the water. It was still so fun to be out there in such a beautiful setting.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jZ14-AyYKc8/VbEIKR-8yZI/AAAAAAAAz4s/I8bR-ijUTek/s144-c-o/IMG_0732.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725536820808082″ caption=”Surfing a small wave at Pavones, all alone” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0732.JPG” ]

There isn’t much in town but for some reason we felt really at home here: 3-4 restaurants, a bar, a small surf shop and a couple of little markets. Jenine was able to do yoga at Shooting Star Yoga which has a great studio in town:

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O-PXFlFzgas/VbEIKXbzy4I/AAAAAAAAz4s/AZ0Se8DW3-4/s144-c-o/IMG_0742.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725538284030850″ caption=”Jenine found Shooting Star Yoga studio” type=”image” alt=”IMG_0742.JPG” ]

We brought most of our food into Pavones, which is smart because everything in Pavones is pricey, as the town is pretty remote. It is about an hour drive from the main highways. Also, the talk of the town is this new condo development going up right in front of the surf break called Pavones Point. The Condos are priced at $500K and up, and will likely bring a lot more people to the waves here.

[pe2-image src=”http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SqWM21UnkW8/VbEIKaiu2LI/AAAAAAAAz4s/W1RyEwbGO9A/s144-c-o/IMG_1186.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115263927216347870948/Blog29PavonesCostaRicaTravelingtheamericas#6174725539118373042″ caption=”A huge condo development is coming to Pavones. Right in front of the surf break. $500K+ condos. That will definitely change the vibe ” type=”image” alt=”IMG_1186.JPG” ]

After an amazing relaxing week in Pavones. We set out for a new country – Panama and the cool islands of Bocas Del Toro.

More pics:
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