Registered or Premium Member? LOG IN  |  Become a Member: TRY PREMIUM FREE
 
 
Find A Camera,
Spot, or Forecast
Find A Surf Spot
Or Forecast By Location
 
 
Witches Rock - Break Data
Surf spot travel photo of Witches Rock
Description
Okay, okay, you saw The Endless Summer II. You know that you have to paddle through a Cayman-infested estuary to get to the beach; you know that the offshores can hold up the perfect, thin-lipped tubes for about as long as your legs'll stand it. You've practiced your Pat O'Connell skips down the beach 'til your feet were fried, and you've got the poster hanging over your bed. But nothing -- well, almost nothing -- can beat the sheer, unbridled fun you can have when Playa Naranjo turns on. This isn't Black's or Ocean Beach or even Hossegor -- it's easy, playful-as-hell beachbreak, and you'll be glad you're a surfer once you stand up, offshore sting in your eyes, and start pumping down the line.

The wave itself is caused by that same estuary, which deposits sand on an otherwise fairly flat sandbar, creating lefts and rights that wall up for days. There are other peaks along its two- to three-mile white sand stretch, but they're not as perfectly shaped as the ones found in the lee of the rock.

There are a couple ways to get to Witches: One involves a very trusty 4WD, ALL supplies (extra-strength mosquito net), and driving in through the Santa Rosa National Park, down eight miles of some of the worst roads in Costa Rica -- in rainy season, fugghetaboutit. Many the luckless soul has attempted to push his rental car to its RAV maximum, only to get hopelessly bogged down in mud (and did we mention mosquitoes?). The other, saner, safer way involves getting a boat taxi from nearby Playas de Coco, which you can easily organize from surf shops in Tamarindo, including Iguana Surf (ph: 653-0148; www.tamarindo.com/iguana ); Mariesas (ph: 653-0224), just down the road, and the High Tide Surf Shop (ph: 653-0108), a block or so east of town's main T-junction. Also, check out www.witchesrocksurfcamp.com on your way into Tamarindo. Or, you can hook up with www.costaricasurfcharters.com and stay overnight offshore at the break, which allows for a lonely dawn patrol with just you and whomever else you brought along on the boat.

Click here to download Surfline's Costa Rica Surf Guide pdf.
-- Marcus Sanders 		Best Tide:
Medium high. Low tide walls up too much.
Best Swell Direction:
S-SW
Best Size:
Shoulder-high to double overhead
Best Wind:
NE
Perfect-O-Meter:
7 (1=Lake Erie; 10=Jeffreys Bay)
Bottom:
Sand
Ability Level:
Beginner to advanced
Bring Your:
Favorite small-wave beachbreak board
Best Season:
Winter is best for offshores, but summer is best for swell.
Access:
Hell drive in, or cushy boat taxi -- take your ($$) pick.
Crowd Factor:
Hell, yeah -- it's not uncommon to see 30 guys jockeying for the peak when it's pumping.
Local Vibe:
No locals per se, but some expat Tamarindo guys have it wired.
Bicep Burn:
4 (1=1ft Waikiki; 10=15ft Ocean Beach)
Poo Patrol:
1 (1=clean; 10=turds in the lineup)
Shark Danger:
3. They're only little ones... (1=none; 10=bring an iron cage)
Places To Eat
If you're camping, you brought in all your food, right? If you're taxiing, boats usually provide something to munch on. (See also "Places to Eat: Tamarindo.")
Places To Stay
Camping's cheap on the pocketbook, hard on the body, and easy on the soul. Most folks stay in Tamarindo. (See "Places to Stay: Tamarindo.")

Or try
Things To Do
Get into a howling contest with the local monkeys, count pretty birds, swat mosquitoes, or read your book.
Surf Shops
Nope. Go back to Tamarindo for that.

Find a surf shop or a surf school in your area.
Have a correction, update or addition for this spot? Contact us at travel@surfline.com