This day began with a glowing moon over Playa Hermosa where Andrew, Johan, and I practiced pulling into closeout barrels. Hermosa does get really good and does stay open when the tide is right, but we just missed the window on this morning. Nevertheless, pulling into closeouts is the first step to becoming a proficient barrel rider. Andrew and I spent many a summer in Stinson Beach, CA taking off on closeouts and getting pinched just for the few seconds of amazing vision. It also is the case that the best barrels you will get in your life look like they're going to close out when you take off. Despite the messages from your brain telling you to back out, you must go. Johan didn't make it inside of any on this occasion but we commend him on going for it and making a few steep drops. We filled in the low tide portion of the day with Andrew's famous waterfall tour. We offer one waterfall tour per surf retreat, and as you can see here, it is a truly grand aesthetic experience, and a huge bonus to what we offer in Costa Rica. Plus, you do get to get a sense of what it's like to get barreled in the lower rapids. We finished the day with a junky high tide session at Hermosa again. While Christina and Mariza rested Johan and Anya stayed at it. Johan demonstrates some clutch turtling and duckdiving. He actually learned to duckdive on this trip. Important to keep in mind that's something we can help you with if you're keen to learn. First requirement is ability to successfully take off and surf on a board small enough to push under. Until then it's the turtle for you! In addition to Johan's duckdiving skills, you can see that Anya is at this point starting to feel comfortable with the larger white waters, and is managing to get some longer rides. We always emphasize that self sufficient white water mastery is the first step before you're ready to take on the outside green waves.

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