Flee the Cold to a Sunny Beach Holiday in Costa Rica

[Shannon Farley]

By Shannon Farley

Headlines this week reported most of North America, Europe and even China locked in winter’s icy grip.

• A mix of sleet and snow, accompanied by lightning, made travel a mess in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metro area.
• A swath of snowfall from portions of Mississippi and northern Alabama/Georgia spreads through the Central Appalachians.
• Trees snap in Maryland due to ice accumulation.
• 3-6 inches of snow expected from Boston to Maine.
• Cold for most of Europe, snow in parts of Spain.
• Britain will have another very cold day with morning freezing fog patches and widespread frost and snow.
• China is experiencing unusual chills this winter with its national average temperature hitting the lowest in 28 years.
• Weather websites reported 3 C (37 F) in Toronto, 0 C (32 F) and 3 C (37 F) in Vancouver, Canada.

On the other hand, today’s weather on Costa Rica’s Central Pacific Coast was 90 F (32 C) and sunny, and 80 F (27 C) at San Jose’s International Airport.

Sun, glorious sun – this time of year Costa Rica’s climate shines in its entire golden tropical summer splendor. Dry season is definitely in effect and not a drop of rain has been seen along the Pacific Coast or in the Central Valley in more than a month. In the mountains above 6,500 feet (2,000 meters), you get cooler temperatures than on the coast, but Costa Rica is unequivocally a tropical country. Situated between 8° and 11° northern latitude, Costa Rica is just above the equator.

Costa Rica occupies a privileged spot in the heart of Central America along the Pacific Ring of Fire – sound warm enough? Dense rainforests, volcanoes, beaches, exotic wildlife, rich tropical flora, and friendly people populate this wondrous country. It’s the third most popular destination for surfing after Hawaii and Indonesia. With 762 miles of coastlines spread along the Pacific and the Caribbean oceans, you get thousands of opportunities for warm water, balmy weather and excellent year-round waves.

Don’t just dream of sunshine. If you need a winter pick-me-up, seek Costa Rica’s “winter” sun to relax and chase winter blues away.

Del Mar Surf Camp will give you a holiday you won’t soon forget. The top Costa Rica surf school specializes in Costa Rica surf vacation packages, yoga-surf retreats and day surf lessons for adults, women-only and families. Its sister company, Del Mar Surfing Academy, offers 7-night and 14-night surf and cultural/language immersion camps for teens.

With Del Mar Surf Camp, you will surf every day in warm water with locals who have surfed the waves their whole lives, plus learn to speak Spanish and enjoy area tours. Del Mar Surf Camp provides various packages for beginners/intermediate surfers, advanced surfers, women only, families, groups and more. Though there is a schedule, camp dates also are run on an “anytime you want” basis (discounts given for Saturday arrival).

One of the best points is Del Mar Surf Camp has three locations, increasing your vacation choices, on Hermosa Beach on the Central Pacific Coast, Nosara Beach on the Guanacaste Pacific Coast and Santa Teresa Beach on the Pacific’s southern Nicoya Peninsula.

Del Mar Surf Camp offers Summer Specials packages, with great discounts, to celebrate their 10^th anniversary in 2013. Domestic flights and transfers to all of Del Mar’s locations are included in all surf vacation packages.

Getting to Costa Rica couldn’t be easier right now with daily flights from North America cities of Houston, Dallas, New York/Newark, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, Denver, Toronto on United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Spirit Airlines, JetBlue, Frontier Airlines, US Airways, TACA, Lacsa, and Copa Air. From Europe, Iberia, KLM, Air France, and British Airways fly to Costa Rica.

By Shannon Farley