6 Epic Santa Teresa Surf Camps for 2025
Santa Teresa surf camps are now some of the very best in Costa Rica. Great consistency of waves and access to all-level breaks make them so, plus some epic locations right on the beach…
Santa Teresa has firmly established itself as the thinking traveler’s alternative to Tamarindo.
Both are blessed with continuous surf off the SW Pacific swell channels, and both are surely among the best surf towns in Costa Rica, but Tamarindo is now a pumping party place that’s as much for bachelor shindigs as it is for serious surfers and learners.
Santa Teresa, meanwhile, has emerged as a hub for boutique and luxurious surf camps, but also classic backpacker hostel stays and eco lodges close to the waves.
Beach breaks run the whole length of a long shoreline, offerning waves and whitewash for everyone from complete beginners to advanced surfers, too, making it prime territory for surf camping and improving.
This guide to the best Santa Teresa surf camps runs through a handful of options that we think are the very best in the town right now. It’s got budget choices with dorm rooms but also exquisite surf lodges tucked onto the jungle-covered mountainsides.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
This is just one part of our complete overall guide to surfing in Costa Rica
This is also a part of our complete guide to surf camps
Quick-click links to our top surf camps in Santa Teresa
- Zeneidas Garden – Our best all-round surf camp in Santa Teresa
- Pura Vida Surfers – Best for yoga lovers
- La Posada Hostel – Best for solo travelers
- El Chante Surf House – Best for couples
- Jakera Jungle Surf Camp – For surfing and learning Spanish
- Akih Pods Hostel – Best budget surf camp
Zeneidas Garden
Our top pick in Santa Teresa for 2024
There’s something special going on at Zenedias Garden.
Much, much more than a surf camp, it bills itself as a place to escape from the frantic rhythms of modern life and reconnect with nature.
Just a glance at the location – a plot between the breeze-kissed coast palms right on the side of Santa Teresa’s main beach – and you can see how it could be just that.
Let’s touch on the surfing first. The inclusion of 3x lessons in their six-day itinerary might not sound like loads but there are caveats…
1) There’s never more than three students to one teacher, so you get way more attention and tips than if you were doing 10 lessons in a group of 20. 2) The location – with waves literally 50 meters away – means that there’s essentially unlimited free surfing between those lessons; important for honing what you’ve been taught while out with the instructors.
On top of that, the program at Zenedia’s is jam packed. Daily yoga with qualified session leaders with expertise in Hatha, Yin, Tantra, and Vinyasa flow take place each morning, there will be planned hikes to local waterfalls, you’ll get use of an ATV to explore the surrounding area, and there are art workshops in ceramics and journal writing to boot.
All that’s framed by an uber-social experience. Evenings are for BBQs and beers and beach fires all together, making new pals under the glow of a perfect Costa Rican sunset. Nice.
A note on why we partner with BookSurfCamps.com: Book Surf Camps are probably the biggest online aggregator of surf camps and surf-yoga packages in the world. We sounded out a quite a few potential partners before we affiliated with them. But, in the end, the abundance of choice for beginners, intermediates, and female-only surfing sealed it. We also love the simplicity of their booking system and the trusted brand name, along with the focus on connecting with homegrown local businesses on the ground.
Pura Vida Surfers
Best for yogis
Pura Vida Surfers have moved to a pretty nifty new location just five minutes’ walk back from Playa Santa Teresa.
It’s a great base for those who really want to push the number of hours that they’re on the waves during their time at the end of the Nicoya Peninsula, especially since you can just grab a board and hop across the street to paddle out whenever you want.
The backbone of their 10-day budget camp option is a series of six fully curated surf lessons. They’ll be run by one of three local instructors, but usually headed up by Victor St. Clair, a Costa Rican surfer who hails from the Caribbean coast. Lessons are very detailed, do in-water and out-of-water drills to improve the basic technicals, and are heavy on the feedback.
What’s great about the package with Pura Vida is that it’s really flexible. You can chop and change your surfing from morning to night to fit in yoga sessions (the itinerary includes eight of those) if you want, and match up lessons to fit with the best incoming swells and winds.
(A bit more on the yoga:, the offering here is fantastic, with breathing practices specifically aimed at improving your paddle ability and calmness in the water)
La Posada Hostel
Best for solo travelers
We’ve already waxed lyrical about La Posada over on our guide to the best surf camps in Costa Rica as a whole. It deserves the plaudits because it’s staying true to the classic idea of low-budget surf stays that prioritize fun, fun, and more fun over just about everything else.
Okay, so you won’t get the uber-chic interiors and Balinese design styles here. What you will get is great surf tuition with a super nice crew. The 7-day package at La Posada offers five days of guided surf lesson, use of all their in-house equipment, and transfer to the various spots (though the best surf is right over the road). Basically, it’s the basics all covered, all for a pretty affordable price tag.
The accommodation itself really gels with the vibe that this is about having a good time. It’s a proper hostel sorta’ pad with shared dorm rooms. Everyone will meet at the communal pool, groups usually dine together, and there’s plenty in the way of sunset beer drinking to be done.
El Chante Surf House
Best for couples
The El Chante Surf House has long been a standout for us in Santa Teresa. It’s not quite as well known as a number of the other places in the region, but therein lies the charm. The place is a proper boutique surf lodge with plenty of character and a lovely location.
It’s tucked into the palm jungles just back from Playa Hermosa beach. You’ll wake to the calls of howler monkeys and the rustlings of lizards in the cottonwoods.
Then, the day goes something like this: Wake up, head to the beach for sunrise, stretch out with a yoga class, fill yourself on healthy local fruits for breako and then hit the waves for a guided surf class. After, it’s chill by the pool and hang with other guests.
The fact that you’re literally two minutes’ walk from the beach at Hermosa is the real joy at El Chante. It’s arguably the best beginner beach on the Nicoya Peninsula and it’s right there, steps from the door.
Jakera Jungle Surf Camp
For surfing and learning Spanish
If you’re keen to learn your buenos noches and your por favors while also getting to grips with the waves, then Santa Teresa has an option: The Jakera Jungle Surf Camp. Part language school, part adventure camp, it’s got a four-week package that promises to get you on the green waves and also speaking like a local.
The price – which is a pretty penny at nearly $3,000 per person, though that is for four whole weeks – includes a whopping 16 surf lessons and up to 40 separate language lessons. The great thing is that it’s aimed at beginner surfers, so you’ll share that camaraderie on the water with other novices while also testing your Spanish vocab and whatnot.
The Jakera Jungle Surf Camp itself is pretty cool. It’s tucked into – as the name implies – the jungles and has large, dedicated classroom areas and communal hang spaces.
Akih Pods Hostel
Best budget surf camp in Santa Teresa
Santa Teresa can be PRICY. Reports of tech billionaires turning up in the poke bowl cafes come to us weekly these days. The town is slowly but surely – gasp, horror – gentrifying.
But don’t worry too much if the budget is tight. There are still surf camps here that promise to get you on the waves for less.
Cue Akih Pods Hostel. As the name implies, it’s a hostel. That means it’s easy on the wallet, and you’ll be staying in a shared dorm room. But these aren’t your run-of-the-mill dormitories. Nope, they’ve got pod beds, which means a private nook to call your own that you can seal off with curtains whenever you want to chill.
But you probably won’t be doing all that much chilling. This one’s flagship package is a 10-day camp that has six activity days, each with a guided surf lesson that’s run in partnership with some of the best surf schools in town.
And there are stacks of optional extras you can add on if the money allows, from boat trips to bioluminescence tours to ATV rentals.
The full 10-day thing here starts at around just $1,500 per person, which is just about the best value you’ll come across in Santa Teresa.
We might use affiliate links in this post. Basically, you click em’ and we get a little something from your booking or purchase. They help us keep offering more and more in-depth surf guides to awesome places all around the globe. So, thanks for that!
