In a Costa Rica Town, the Surf's Up—And So Is Tourism

April 18, 2011

The surf guide wearing the white sunglasses inspects the Pacific Ocean intently for several weighted seconds, then snaps his attention back to the tourists walking behind him on the rocky hill top above Camaronal Beach, outside the town of Nosara in Northwestern Costa Rica.

"It's big," Graham Swindell says, smiling, then returns his gaze back to the sea. "It is big. It is what we came here for."

Ahead, a vista of incoming waves rolls towards the darkened sand. The tourists behind him mirror Swindell's excitement. This is why they came: world-class surfing and an idyllic, seemingly-untapped atmosphere, where the best wave is always the next one.

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Copyright 2011