Surfing in Costa Rica in October

Conditions in October

Water temp. : 28 °C
Wetsuit : Shorty or 2 mm

October closes the run that started in May. The south-west groundswell is still arriving and the storms behind it are at their most disorganised, which produces the description the guide uses: conditions can be raw but powerful. Expect swell, expect wind and rain to be part of the day rather than an afternoon event.

It is also the far end of the green season, so the coast is at its emptiest and its cheapest, and the Caribbean side is about to start its own season in December. The water is at 28°C. If you can read a forecast and do not need the sun, October gives you the season's swell with nobody in it.

Learning in October

Not the month to start. The waves have size, the weather is unreliable, and neither of those helps somebody learning.

Where a beginner goes in October

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 : Very good

The last of the south swell, and the quietest week of the year to surf it. Take the forecast seriously and take a raincoat.

How October 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.