Bus Tour 2009 Part 2

Hey all, Elizabeth again. Flash, Rafa, Ulices and I got back from the bus tour on Friday. Even though we had fun, we are all happy to be back in Tamarindo.

When I last wrote, we were about to head of to Pavones from Dominical. I thought it might be a good idea to let you all know what happened in Dominical and how the rest of the trip went.

The second week of the trip started out great with the addition of 5 new guests.

Kevin, Andrew, Kim, Tracy and Brian

We then made our way to Dominical. It was a fun, short drive from Quepos.

Palm hearts on the way to the factory.

Dominical

Dominical wave

That night we all had fun getting to know each other but the next day we got down to business at nearby Dominicalito.

Kim at Dominicalito

Krista at Dominicalito

The Crew (minus Rafa and Ulices)

From Dominical we drove the long drive to Pavones!

Lots of cows on the way to Pavones

Paso Canoas = Panama and Costa Rica boarder = Free Trade Zone = Cheep Booze!

I have never been to Panama but now I have seen it.

This sign made us all very happy

Most of us on the bus during a pee break

Pavones!!!!!!!!!!

While we were in Pavones several things became evident:

1. The waves there are AWESOME

Pavones Wave

2. The locals can surf

3. The local kids can surf

I am still convinced that there was a local kid conspiracy to take all the waves.

Part of the Kid Gang


Pavones Kid / Gangsta

I know I loved Pavones and I am pretty sure that the guests did too, but eventually we had to leave.

Bye bye Pavones

We left Pavones just as the waves died and did the insane and drove to Avellanas in one day. We got there late at night and woke up early to a beautiful day with beautiful waves. After all the places we had surfed, Avellanas was a piece of cake and all the guests looked great.

Tania

Tracy

Giovanna

Hey! It's me

Kevin

Brian

Kim

Krista

Flash

Nancy

Keith

While in Avellanas, we got someone else to take a group photo so Rafa finally made it in.

Flash, Brian, Me, Keith, Nancy, Giovanna, Krista, Rafa, Kim, Tracy, Tania, Stu, Donna, Andrew and Kevin

And with that, I'll say goodbye and wish the best of luck to our awesome guests! Keep Surfing.

WRSC hosts Surf Expo trade show booth in Orlando, Florida

This past week a crew from Witch's Rock Surf Camp Tamarindo (including myself Joe Walsh, my father PK, Larrydoggy and Yana) flew to Orlando to represent WRSC at the Surf Expo. Although I had been to a few action sports trade shows in the past, this was the first time WRSC went big and hosted our own booth.

The booth was designed by new WRSC employee Yana Farrally-Plourde (my new right hand man in surf crime), built by a friend of his in California, and shipped to Florida for the show. It was pretty crazy to show up to the convention center and see our booth hiding inside of these three giant crates.


A few hours later we had the WRSC tiki bar and lounge built and it looked awesome!


Until last week I didn't understand how busy we would be. There seemed to be no stop for three days straight, all day long, as we hung out and talked story with potential visitors, past visitors, people who want to book boat trips on the surf yacht, pro surfers, brands who might want to sponsor the camp, surf media, surf mags, travel groups and so on. Our booth was totally dope, everyone seemed to have heard (great things) about WRSC over the last almost 9 years since we started. Witch's Rock Surf Camp was the only surf camp at the trade show, probably the first one ever to have a booth at the show. We were totally stoked.


When we weren't talking about surf trips to WRSC, we were talking with potential brands about our new surf shop. We plan to open the expanded shop November 1st of this year, and its going to be SICK. Though none of this is official for a couple more weeks, brands you might see represented in the new shop and the online shop include:

Da Kine
Rip Curl
Boardworks
Resin 8
W.R.O.N.G.
Rusty
Volcom
Spy
Santiki
XM

Of course we are already carrying other brands right now, but the new shop is going to be five times bigger and way more legit. Yeah, its taken some time, but all good things take time.



I was pretty stoked when Tom Carroll cruised up to our booth to say hello, the guy is a total legend. Unlike some pros I'd met in the past, Tom was so cool it is hard to explain. He ended up chilling at the booth for 20 or 30 minutes while we discussed the finer points of big wave surfing.


Overall the Surf Expo went better than anyone would have expected. We packed up after the three day event and shipped the booth back to California where it will be waiting for us next month for the ASR trade show September 10-12 in San Diego. Are you going to be there? If so, give us a heads up by emailing us, we can hook you up with a pass to the show if we have any left. There will be a WRSC house party in SD as well, so prepare for that. Thank you to EVERYONE who has supported us over the years, if it wasn't for all of you none of this would be happening.

pura vida - Joe Walsh

2009 WRSC Bus Tour Update

Hey All, Elizabeth here writing from the road. Rafa, Flash Ulices and I have found our way to Dominical on the WRSC School Bus.

Our journey started when we crashed in Joe´s Avellanas beach house were Chef Miguel cooked some amazing food and the first time surfers caught their first waves. After 2 nights, we woke up early and surfed at La Finca.

Krista at La Finca

Tania at La Finca

After surfing we drive south to Ostional where we saw Turtles laying eggs. It was kind of cool but really gross. We then made our way to Nosara where the guests and I got a little beat up and all us gringos learned why Turtle eggs are such popular eats.

Nosara Waves

Keith at Nosara

From Nosara we drove to Manuel Antonio. On the way we stopped at this bridge were you can see ton of huge crocs. I shed a tear for Steve Irwin and was glad we don´t have ones as big or plentiful in Tamarindo.

Giant Crocs that can kill you (Near Jaco)

In Manuel Antonio, we saw even more crazy wild life and the most beautiful beaches. At the national park we saw sloths and several types of monkeys. We also surfed!

Sloth

Howler Monkey

Another Monkey (should have paid better attention to the guide)

Bobby

Ron

It was in Manuel Antonio where we said goodbye to Ron and Bobby. They were definatly entertaining and we were sad to see them go.

Ulices, Nancy, Giovanna, Tania, Me, Bobby, Ron, Krista, Stu and Donna, Flash and Keith

Yesterday we greeted 5 new guests and drove to Dominical. Tomorrow we head to Pavones.

And with that I will leave you with sunset at Manuel Antonio.