Surfing Costa Rica - Surfing will be open to the public and no federation membership card is required.
Surfers must respect the beach opening hours established by the Ministry of Health.
Due to a slight confusion that arose today after the Minister of Health announced new guidelines that will be implemented starting May 16, which allowed the use of beaches with a specific schedule and therefore made it easier to practice surfing.
The confusion raised by the surfing community was regarding whether the practice would be for only registered surfers or open to the public, as the issue had not been specified and some media outlets were unaware of the information.
The president of the Costa Rican Surf Federation, Randall Chaves, informed us that the federation had already been notified of this information, endorsing the practice of surfing for the general public.
“We have already been notified by the Ministry of Sports that the practice is open to the public.”
The guidelines that must be known in order to practice this sport during the established hours are the following:
• Minors must be accompanied by a parent or an adult.
• No more than one person may travel in the vehicle, unless they are from the same family.
• If walking or cycling, respect road and traffic rules, maintaining a distance of two meters.
• Upon arrival at the beach, if by vehicle, they must park with a distance of two meters between each other, and will be parked on the beach only to unload their equipment and once the practice is finished they must leave and avoid crowds or give space to another person who wishes to practice.
• People must arrive already dressed in their clothing and with their sports equipment ready to enter the sea.
• If upon reaching the practice point a significant number of people are observed at that surf break, the journey should continue towards another surf break or another nearby beach within the same canton.
• You should only walk on the beach to enter and exit the sea to surf.
• Within the sea, a distance of 5 meters must be maintained between people to avoid contagion through the sea breeze.
• In the water, two or more surfers may not paddle or ride the same wave that is in the same location or direction of the break. The first to reach the peak must be respected, according to surf etiquette. This should be regulated by the surfers themselves. Surfers must return to the peak without going directly into the path of the breaking wave.
• Athletes must use their own sports equipment, which must be disinfected before and after use and cannot be exchanged.
• You cannot share waxes, leashes, or other accessories.
• If it is identified that a competitor (active - (a)) has entered to surf with symptoms such as fever, cough, sneezing, they will be subject to a disciplinary sanction by the Costa Rican Surf Federation.
