Surfing in Costa Rica in July

Conditions in July

Water temp. : 29 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm

July is the middle of the run. The swell is solid, with occasional glassy windows across both the central and southern Pacific, and here is the useful detail: this is the month the whole coast works rather than one region, so Santa Teresa, Dominical and Pavones are all in play alongside Guanacaste.

July usually brings a short dry spell, the veranillo, a week or two of reduced rain in the middle of the green season. It does not change the swell and it does change the trip: clearer afternoons and roads that are easier on the Nicoya. The water is at 29°C throughout.

Learning in July

Manageable in the right place. Playa Guiones at Nosara handles size better than most and is where a school will take you when the swell is up.

Where a beginner goes in July

These spots are reachable all year. What the month changes is the size of the waves, not the access.

Tamarindo
TamarindoBeginner

For an experienced surfer

Surf : Excellent

One of the two best months of the year, and the one where the southern Pacific comes into its own. Pavones needs this swell to run properly.

How July compares

All twelve months, side by side

Where these figures come from

Air, rain and sunshine: WMO / NOAA 1991-2020 normals for Agadir Al Massira, a station some twenty kilometres inland and so a little warmer than the coast in summer. Swell, period and share of workable wind: Swell Archive and surf-forecast. Water temperature: seatemperature.org and weather-and-climate. Crowds and prices are an editorial judgement, not a measurement.