Glad we lugged a surfboard to Costa Rica. Not.
Six months ago, my fiancée, Johnny, began planning our December trip to Santa Teresa, a village on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. We didn’t buy a guidebook for the country, but by the time of the trip, his purchased-new copy of “The Surfers Guide to Costa Rica” was well-worn and dog-eared. He shopped around for surf-travel bags, at one point looking for a double bag so he could take two boards of varying size (he eventually decided to take just his shorter board). That he was looking forward to this vacation is an understatement.
He knew that bringing along his board would cost an extra $100 through American Airlines, our carrier to San Jose, Costa Rica. But he didn’t bother checking oversize fees on Sansa Regional Airlines, the domestic carrier that, from San Jose, would get us to Tambor, near our destination, as he assumed any fees would be nominal.
It turns out fees wouldn’t be the problem — the issue would be surfboard size.
Checking in for the approximately 30-minute flight aboard a 12-passenger puddle jumper, we were told that his surfboard bag, containing his 7-foot-6-inch surfboard, was too big for the plane. Surfboards are allowed, but the max length allowed is 6-foot-6, said an airline staff person.
At that point, with tickets long ago purchased, prepaid hotel reservations awaiting, and our flight leaving in 30 minutes, nothing could be done but to leave the surfboard in storage at the airport, which a sympathetic airport staff person let us do, free of charge.
Though he was disappointed at this turn of events, Johnny knew that there would be plenty of surfboard rentals available at our destination, so he was able to — as surfers tend to do so well — let it ride. I, on the other hand, was busy mentally calculating how much this snafu would ding our budget. Only enough to be a good lesson learned: In Santa Teresa, he rented a board for 10 days for about $10 a day.
To save money and the hassle of lugging around awkward luggage, next time he’ll leave his board at home and plan to rent. He’s attached to his own surfboard but not enough to let lack of it get in the way of a perfectly great vacation.
— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times
Related article: Airlines’ fees for surfboards are dinging surfers
[Photo: Santa Teresa. Credit: Susan Derby]
7 Comments on “Glad we lugged a surfboard to Costa Rica. Not.”
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January 5th, 2009 at 12:21 am
On all the surfing safaris my Santa Cruz pals have been on in Mexico and Central America, they usually bring a few beater boards with them, then sell them to the locals at the end of their trips, which is more than enough to pay for the extra luggage fee and a couple fish tacos :)
January 6th, 2009 at 11:56 am
I am planning on visiting Costa Rica in a few months and Santa Teresa looks amazing, i may try and spend a few days enjoying some surfing there while i am in the country.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:50 am
In Florida weall go through an agency that gets us our boards for Free!! http://www.ticotravel.com
January 9th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Good to know! If only they’d had one of those measurement signs at check-in: “If your surfboard is taller than this line…” We’re bringing a boogie board to Bermuda next week for our son, and I hope it doesn’t get quarantined.
May 17th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
You don’t need to bring a surfboard for $100.00 (each way) when flying to Costa Rica. There are plenty of surf shops that rent good surfboards for around $75-100 per week. Or, you can go to an all-inclusive surf camp like we have at Una Ola and get the board included in your surf package. Plus, you can try different boards and not have to worry about the airlines damaging your board. http://www.unaola.com
September 8th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Im as a surfer and surf shops owner worked the last 4 years building a quiver that surfers can rent, if you are a surfer there is nothing like your board, i know but what about Firewire,Al Merrick,Rusty,JC,Lost,Tuflite,Takayama,Walden and Robert August for rent? that is what you will find at http://www.costaricasurfclub.com also you can swap boards anytime, USE THE WHOLE QUIVER!
Pura Vida!
December 8th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
But you didn’t even tell us how the surf was in December out in Malpais? Let your boyfriend add to your blog next time before you post it