“Surf Guide Magazine” boosted Costa Rican surfing in the seventies.

With an initial idea to encourage foreign investment in coastal areas, in order to generate more income in those areas, the first surf guide in Costa Rica was born.

This great idea was born thanks to Ángel Arce Cavallini, a graduate of the Faculty of Business Administration with an emphasis in Public Accounting from the University of Costa Rica, who observed the situation of the country at that time and decided to take his own initiative to help his beloved land.

In this article, Arce tells us the whole story of “ Surf Guide Magazine” and shares some of his experiences with surfing, a sport he loves to this day.

In what year did the idea of ​​creating "Surf Guide Magazine" originate?

It all started in the early 1970s, when I discovered surfing in Boca Barranca, and from that moment on I could never stop practicing this wonderful sport. I traveled by train and from there, for many years, I would go to La Boca every weekend, staying in a small hotel called Chanita.

How did the whole thing with the magazine start?

I graduated from the University of Costa Rica with a degree in Business Administration, specializing in Public Accounting, where I received a five-year scholarship. In 1978, the country experienced a disastrous crisis due to high oil prices and the instability of the colón. It was then that I decided to do something for the country that would generate foreign exchange, rather than the opposite. I also always felt a great responsibility to give back for the opportunities the University of Costa Rica had given me to study. That's when I created the first hotel guide for Costa Rica, which I distributed abroad thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who allowed me to place the guides in diplomatic pouches to promote the hotels.

Observing all of this and thinking about generating revenue for coastal areas, the idea of ​​creating a surf magazine was born, thanks to a map published in 1981 in the American magazine Surfer. If I remember correctly, this map was provided by an acquaintance, Mr. Álvaro Vizcaíno, an excellent surfer who helped me with the descriptions of the surf spots and gave me invaluable advice. I produced the first issue at the end of 1981 and called it "Surf Guide Magazine." I created a map with all the known spots, and Álvaro Vizcaíno, Roberto Miranda, and Mario Sotela were key to the publication, always willing to collaborate.

What was the purpose of creating a magazine focused on surfing at that time?

It was created to internationally promote surfing in Costa Rica and attract many foreigners who would spend money in the country, thus fostering economic development along the coast and providing employment, socioeconomic growth, and job opportunities for thousands of children growing up there. The starting point was Jacó Beach and the Central Pacific coast. I found great support from the Jacó Beach Hotel, Mr. Luis Montero, and Ms. Mariamalia Revelo, now Minister of the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT).

How did you manage to place the first copies of “Surf Guide Magazine” outside of Costa Rica? 

With 2,000 copies and thanks to LACSA, I traveled all along the east and west coasts of the United States, visiting every surf shop and leaving copies. That's how I met wholesale agencies like Morris Overside and Carol Holland, among others. I took the opportunity to invite them to visit Costa Rica to promote surfing and fill the empty hotels, and that's exactly what happened.
Together with Mario Sotela, we managed to invite international magazines like Surfer and Surfing Magazine, among others, and articles about the country appeared in their publications. This thrilled me, as my mission was already bearing fruit, especially since I was helping the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) with information and photographs for a significant investment in marketing surfing. I believe that in the end, the mission was indeed accomplished, as many surfers have come and will continue to come because of our country's reputation and its spectacular waves.

The first editions were delivered in the United States, but other countries were also interested in receiving these editions. How did this whole process happen?

This happened because I received letters from every country in the world where there were waves, and these letters requested magazines and gave me 1 or 2 dollars for postage. I sent them all magazines and information about Costa Rica. I also have many letters from wholesale agencies thanking me for sending magazines and answers.

Did you encounter any obstacles during that time in carrying out your mission?

There were never any obstacles, quite the opposite, I have been fortunate in life, everything was wonderful, a lot of happiness and seeing the tourist destinations grow, in addition to the country's foreign currency, being able to surf great and being welcomed in all the places I visited, the hoteliers understood the messages I gave and the advice and tips were fully followed, everyone helped me.

How do you see the magazine market today where everything is digital?

I think some things change, for better or for worse, because customs are also imported, among other things.

Do you have any anecdotes you'd like to highlight from this whole process of promoting surfing in the magazine?
There are many anecdotes, since for many years I traveled to all the wave spots with Roberto Miranda, we were always surprised, we were almost the first to surf these places and Roberto acted like nothing was wrong and I was super scared.

With Roberto's Toyota Land Cruiser we used to make roads, I remember that once during a harsh winter we took the Malpaís to Tamarindo route, skirting the coast and it was quite an adventure, but the bad thing was that there were no roads, we made them even though some farmers would later pull us out with their oxen.

Another somewhat sad anecdote happened during a giant swell at Isla Uvita. I don't remember how we got there; I think we just swam. We saw a huge swell, over 5 meters high, and started surfing the smaller waves, but suddenly some even bigger waves came. Roberto managed to get past them, but I couldn't, and that swell was like 10 waves in a row. When I finally got out, Roberto was in tears because he thought I had drowned, but I managed to get out. However, I swear I saw heaven; I even think an angel pulled me out. The good and bad thing is that we went back to continue this ordeal, and Roberto caught such a giant wave that he disappeared for at least a minute. I cried for my good friend because these waves crash against a wall of rocks, and God is great because I managed to see Roberto come out, and then we left. I never went back to that place.

Without a doubt, Ángel had an idea that, although it seemed difficult to implement at the time, he managed to bring to fruition through effort and sacrifice. Thanks to this initiative, surfing and Costa Rican tourism today have a very different perspective, making it the sport that brings the most income to the country in terms of international visits.

Written by: Enrique Hernández

General Management: Marco Montero