We have made many trips to Corky Carroll’s over the last few years. On our first trip we were immediately impressed by the large number of returning guests. Many had been going there since Rick Walker first opened the school at Playa Guiones sometime in the previous century.

The reasons we all keep returning are simple. 1) The surfing conditions are great. Playa Guiones offers a very consistent and forgiving break that is both great for learning the basics and for developing more advanced skills. 2) The instructors are in tune to the needs of the students. Whether you are riding a longboard or a shortboard, you will find the instructors will tailor their instruction to meet your needs. 3) Once you step off the plane, there are no decisions to make other than how much do you want to surf. From your ride-in, to your ride back to the airport, everything is taken care of for you.

The accommodations are comfortable, the food is great, the beer is cold, the guests and staff are friendly, and the pace around the camp is leisurely. You won’t have to debate where you will eat each meal. The cooler is always open, and there are plenty of surfboards to try. 4) You will make new friends. With only six rooms on site, the group setting is intimate. After a week of surfing, eating, socializing and relaxing with the guests and staff, you will have developed a whole new circle of friends. In fact, we now plan our trips to coincide with friends that we made during previous trips to Corky’s.

Keep in mind this is not a high rise luxury resort. This is a surf camp run by surfers, for surfers (and aspiring surfers), and it is located in a surfing village. There are no flat screen TVs in the rooms and there are ceiling fans for cooling. That said, you will never miss them, and they are not part of the Pura Vida experience. At this point, we could pretty much go and surf wherever we want. The simple fact is that we keep going back to Corky Carroll’s because it feels like home.