Custom Surfboards, Jaco Beach, Playa Hermosa
Just wanted to say a quick word about custom surfboards available in Jaco beach and Hermosa Beach. Chances are, if you are landing in San José and plan to surf the Pacific side, you’ll end up in at least one of these two places. Fischer Bros builds custom boards to high standards, and has been locally owned and operated since 2000. As the name suggests, the shops are a labor of love run by the three Fischer brothers: Ton, Nico and Facu. These guys are serious about surfing and you should check out the shop if you are in the area. It’s a good place to meet people, get a little local knowledge, and check out some photos of local surfers.
You can also get surf lessons here, book surf camps and buy anything you will need if you’re just getting started. Check out their website here: Fisher Surf Shops.
They carry short boards, hybrids, longboards, and they can make anything you can think of - within reason… if you want a diamond studded 12′6″, with 17 fins and a front mounted machine gun, you may have to pay extra. I don’t know, people get weird ideas.
I wanted to show you a couple of shapes here so you can see a range, but also so you can see custom paint work that they do. The boards are shaped, painted, and glassed all right there in the shops. So, you can save yourself oversize baggage fees, stress about damaged or lost boards (YES! It’s happened to all of us!) and take home a piece of the country when you leave.
Travel to Jaco Beach and Jaco Hotels
Jaco Beach is about a two and a half hour drive East of San José International airport. Jaco is a popular destination for ticos (Costa Ricans) and tourists alike. Christmas and Easter holidays turn this place into a zoo… consider yourself warned if you don’t care for crowds.
Make no mistake, Jaco is a boisterous party town. If you’re looking to hook up- wrap it up. Try a few clubs like Disco La Central, La Hacienda, The Jungle, or Beatle Bar. If that’s not enough for you, there’s a dive-bar on just about every corner with the capacity to get you well on your way to pleasantly smashed or passed out.
Here at Surf Guru we don’t pull any punches, and we offer up our honest opinions, which we hope you will find useful. So, with your best interests in mind we should tell you that it’s easy to score drugs and hook up and otherwise get yourself into all kinds of shenanigans. But we think you should still spend a night in Jaco and then get the hell out of there. If you like the whole spring break atmosphere thing, then hey, get a room and stay a week. Jaco is the only place in Costa Rica where I’ve ever been threatened with drunken violence and I’m a nice guy.
You can find lots of surf shops like Chuckies Surf Shop there and accommodations are easy whatever your budget. Playa Jaco is a short walk from just about anywhere in town and offers 2 miles of fun beach break waves, which can get heavy on bigger swells. Need a surf lesson? Get your first wave with World Surf Camp or Jaco Surf School. Jaco is not particularly safe for weak swimmers or children. Dangerous rips and undercurrents are common here.
Jaco is well within reach of neighboring Playa Hermosa to the South about 15 minutes where you can find world class barreling waves. In our opinion, probably the best thing about Jaco is its proximity to Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica’s best beachbreak in my opinion.
Jaco has all of the services you will need including internet cafes, banks, tour operators, a hospital, hardware stores, countless artisan shops, clothing stores and a wide variety of restaurants serving international cuisine.
Choose your accommodations… Jaco has everything for every budget. Try Hotel Poseiden, located at the mid-point on the beach. American owned and operated with free high speed internet, AC in the rooms, TV and stocked mini-bars. Best Western is also in Jaco- no explanation needed. You can also find a cheap place to shack up with Chuck (Chuckies Surf Shop), or if you only want to drop $10 a night try Hotel De Haan.
