Word is that Magnum Martinez will be at the Witchs Rock Surf Camp on Friday the 13th!  I do not think Costa Ricans have any delusions about the day Friday the 13th but I sure hope all goes well for them.

It seems Joe Walsh is promoting the Magnum Martinez autograph session during a boozefest of Happy Hour specials from 5-9pm. For those of you who do not know about him, Magnum was born in Caracas Venezuela but according to Quiksilver he now hails out of Carlsbad, CA. His bio on the site reads “Magnum is a soulful, spiritual surfer from Venezuela who is an Alas Tour champ known for his powerful style. He’s well traveled and his intelligent, easy-going nature has made him a ton of friends around the world” Happy Hour at WRSC doesn’t sound like the ideal environment for autograph signing for this spiritual warrior.

Maybe we can persuade Magnum to come on down to Jaco and Hermosa so he can check out the diggs prior to the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Hermosa this August. Plus, I don’t think any host here will disrespect him by presenting him for autographs during a chemical intoxication session for this great athlete and surfer. In addition, this past weekends CNS Nosara Surf Contest winner Jairo Perez who is another spiritual warrior and a major up and coming star in the Latin surf world will be in attendance with Magnum Martinez according to the flyer posted on Joe Walshs’ blog.

As I am a new blogger and I do not know all of the nuances of “social networking” a new service called Firepow claims it can help me. Of course, there is a fee for this and many sites offer different rates. You can find different prices depending on the affiliate that you buy the software or the service from. This blogger will sign up for the service and verify if the service works or is just another phony baloney niche marketing promise.

While I do not think surfing in Costa Rica is a niche marketing blog, the Firepow service says it can help me get the rankings I need for help get the site noticed by other surfers who are interested in surfing in Costa Rica. So check back here often to see my updates on whether or not Firepow social networking blog service helps this Costa Rica surfing vacations site.

Tourism, Industry and Construction in Costa Rica Saw Low Growth This Year.

As the year comes to a close, more depressing statistics about the true effects of the economic crisis on Central America continue to be uncovered. The latest numbers state that the industrial and construction industries were the biggest hit with a measly growth of 5% for each. The previous year, the industrial industry experienced 8% growth while the construction industry had an impressive 18% growth. The production industry had an extremely low growth rate at 1.14%, while the hotel and commercial industries were also hard hit.

All these statistics were brought to light thanks to the Monthly Economic Activity Index (Imae), which was published by the Banco Central this past Saturday. The Index is a compilation of poll answers collected from 800 Costa Rica businesses.

As the economy is so tightly interconnected, the drop in construction led to a reduction in the production of construction materials such as cement and iron, leading to lost jobs and low profits. The industrial industry is watched closely because there are currently 240,000 people employed in the industry, and from July 2007 and July 2008, 12,000 jobs were lost. As a close second, there are 152,000 people that work in construction in Costa Rica, a number that has not changed over the past year. This of course affects the buying power of consumers, leading to lower sales totals for those offering goods and services.

In tourism, 8,000 of a total 100,000 (8%) jobs were lost between July 2007 and July 2008, and in commerce, the amount of jobs actually increased by 11,000 positions. The only industries that showed growth from now and last year were Costa Rica real estate and the government.

The Costa Rican tourism Institute (ICT) expects a growth of 7% in tourists from last years totals, though recent devastating floods in Puerto Viejo have caused occupancy levels to drop to an unprecedented 1%! After two low pressure systems swept through the region, flood waters displaced over 5,000 people and damaged crops and infrastructure in the region. However, despite the fact that all transportation routes have been fixed, and little damage remains, the reservation cancellations continue. With 35,000 people employed in tourism in the region, calls for help are going to the ICT to search for solutions. In the meantime, many hotel owners are offering up to 50% discounts, though 80% of bars and restaurants have simply kept their doors shut until a higher demand rolls around.

I finally break radio silence. Not sure really why I haven’t popped my head up to see whats been going on around me. I think what has happened is that for the first time in my adult life I’ve fallen into a routine. My life currently consists of my family (wife and 2 boys), my job (mostly the surf camp), surfing as much as I can (4 hours/day?), a couple of close friends I hang with a bit (before falling asleep at the sad hour of 9pm) and a bunch of friends and family I never have the time to write back to on facebook or call up on a Sunday night just to catch up.

We have had a niñera named Rosie for the last three months or so, she is awesome. She works Monday – Friday and half days on Saturday. It really helps to have the help, she definitely helps Holly so incredibly much and she allows me to focus on surfing so I can improve. Plus its easier to bring the entire family to the beach and for Holly and I to surf together. Or Rosie, since she is now surfing too. Is it me or is everyone surfing these days? I love it, reminds me of all of those surf movies and Malibu before I was even born, as though I may have missed out on it the first time around but not this time.

Normal day: I wake up at 6am, perhaps a little earlier or later depending on when Happy or Otis want to get up, but pretty much the crack of dawn as far as I’m concerned. We watch Discovery Kids, eat Cheerio’s, sometimes hang out in the surf camp restaurant or on the beach for an early morning low tide cruise.

7AM or 8AM or so: go surf. Surf Casitas, surf the rivermouth, surf Avellanas, surf the reefs. Surf a lot if its good and surf less if it sucks. It always seems to be pretty good somewhere fortunately. more…

I’m getting ready for Peru right now, packing my things. A late season southwest swell has formed and we’re expecting to surf Chicama, the LONGEST wave in the world. What does Chicama look like? I’ve surfed it once before, it looks like this:

The boards are all packed, there are 11 of us on this tour, 7 of us leaving from Costa Rica. Tomorrow we wake up at 330am, have a coffee, pack the boards on top, and drive 5 hours to San Jose to catch a flight to Lima.
I have the best job in the world. I am so lucky to call this work. From what I’ve seen over the years, when people make careers out of the things that they love, it normally ends up where they hate what they were initially passionate about. For me it is quite the opposite. I am more in love with surfing today than I was the day I set out to start Witch’s Rock Surf Camp. I’m so stoked to have gotten things at WRSC running to a point where I can branch off and offer these guided tours. I get to surf and provide for my family, its simply the best.
Expect a ton of pics and video of Peru this week, its going to be great.

Thanks to Joe Walsh and WRSC, THEY ROCK!!