Something Different Happens at This Costa Rica Surf Retreat

There’s a reason mothers and daughters keep coming back to Pura Vida Adventures, and it’s not just the world-class surf instruction or the beachfront accommodations or the gourmet meals (though all of that doesn’t hurt). It’s what happens between the activities — in the water, around the dinner table, swinging in the hammocks at sunset — when the usual rhythms of home fall away and you’re just two people, present with each other, trying something new together in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

“My #1 goal was to spend time with my daughter,” said Kate, who attended last year’s retreat with her daughter. “So this was so fun to learn something new together and also have enough time to relax and be with each other. I loved the energy, enthusiasm and fun the instructors brought to the retreat.”

That combination — adventure and ease, structure and spaciousness — is intentional. This weeklong retreat is designed to give you enough to do that you’re never bored, and enough room to breathe that you never feel rushed. It’s a balance that’s harder to find than it sounds, and PVA has spent more than two decades getting it right.

Surf Lessons in Costa Rica for All Levels — No Experience Needed

Every morning, our mother and daughter guests head into the water together for surf lessons with PVA’s world-class instructors. No experience is necessary — the surf program is designed to meet each surfer exactly where she is, from complete beginners to those with some experience looking to level up.

What makes it work isn’t just the quality of the instruction (though the coaches are genuinely exceptional — patient, encouraging, and somehow able to get a total beginner standing on a board by day two). It’s the dynamic of learning alongside someone you love.

Last year’s retreat had no shortage of moments worth remembering. There was the mom and daughter in the shorebreak, laughing so hard at something — nobody even remembers what — that they both slid right off their boards. There was the afternoon a group of daughters formed their own little tribe out in the lineup, paddling and cheering each other on like they’d known each other for years. And there was the moment nobody planned, when several of them stood up on their boards at the exact same time — arms wide, grinning, the jungle behind them and the whole Pacific in front.

Nobody planned it. It just happened. That’s kind of the whole point.

Midweek, video analysis sessions give everyone a chance to watch their own surfing and track their progress — a surprisingly moving experience for many guests, who often can’t believe how far they’ve come in just a few days. Later in the week, day trips take the group to secret surf breaks along Costa Rica’s most diverse stretch of coastline, each break offering something different depending on the swell and the skill level of the group.

And then there are the sunset surf sessions — paddling out as the sky turns pink and orange over the Pacific, watching the sun melt into the horizon from your surfboard. It’s the kind of thing that sounds like something from a movie until you’re actually doing it.

Beyond the Waves: Yoga, Spa, and Life in Santa Teresa

The surf is the anchor of this Costa Rica surf retreat. But the week is much more than that.

Every day includes yoga in PVA’s open-air, oceanfront studio — the kind of class where you can hear the waves while you move, and the breeze comes through just when you need it. Our yoga is for every level, whether you’ve been practicing for years or have never been on a mat. There’s something quietly powerful about watching mothers and daughters find their breath together in that space, the ocean stretching out in front of them, the day just beginning.

Then there are the meals. Three gourmet, farm-to-table meals a day — customized for any dietary need — most of them at the beachfront restaurant, with several evenings out at Santa Teresa, Costa Rica’s best local spots. Food at PVA has always been one of the things guests talk about most. When you’re eating well, outside, with good company and the ocean in front of you, every meal turns into something worth savoring.

Afternoons are open. Some guests book massages at the on-site Spa Natural — one full hour of professional therapeutic massage is included in every package — and spend the rest of the afternoon swinging in the oceanfront hammocks, salt-dried and sun-warm and happily exhausted. Others are more ambitious: last year, a group hiked through the jungle to the Montezuma waterfalls, one of Costa Rica’s most stunning natural landmarks, and came back glowing.

And then there’s the zipline — exclusive to this Costa Rica surf camp — which threads through the jungle canopy with sweeping views of the ocean below. There was a lot of screaming. A lot of grabbing each other’s arms between platforms. A lot of laughter echoing through the trees. It’s the kind of activity that sounds intimidating until you’re on the first platform, and then you just go, and then you’re laughing before you’ve even landed.

Evenings settle into something golden. Sunset strolls on the beach. Cocktails at Vista de Olas, a panoramic mountaintop swim-up bar with views that genuinely don’t seem real. A beachside bonfire, everybody sandy and happy and not wanting it to end. One evening last year, surf instructor and singer-songwriter Annie Bethancourt played a live concert under the open sky — the kind of spontaneous magic that you can’t plan and can’t forget.

What Guests Say About the Mother-Daughter Surf Retreat

The reviews from last year’s retreat tell the story as well as anything.

Cindy came to our mother-daughter surf retreat with no surfing experience and a 15-year-old daughter. By the end of the week, something had shifted between them. “I watched her confidence grow daily as the other women treated her as an equal,” Cindy said. “Since coming home, she has a newfound respect for me after seeing me persist until I caught a wave. Not to mention, her friends said their moms would never try surfing!”

That last line says everything. This is a week that gives you something to bring home — not just photos and a tan, but a shared story. A reference point. Something you both went through together that neither of you will forget.

A Note From Tierza

PVA founder Tierza Eichner has spent more than two decades watching the mother-daughter dynamic unfold at her surf and yoga retreat in Costa Rica. Last summer, she finally got to experience it firsthand — bringing her own twin daughters to the inaugural Mother-Daughter Surf Retreat in Costa Rica.

Tierza and her twin daughters catching a wave together at our Mother-Daughter retreat.

“We surfed, we laughed — a lot — and honestly just played the whole week,” she said. “Goofy on the beach, messing around in the waves, hanging by the pool. The girls made instant friends and had a sleepover one night, while I got to connect with the other moms. It felt like summer camp for all of us.” She pauses on one memory in particular: catching a wave alongside her daughters, all three of them up at the same moment. “I don’t have words for what that felt like.”

She’ll be back this July. And she’d love for you to be there too.

Join Us at the Mother-Daughter Surf Retreat in Costa Rica This July

July 19–25, 2026 | Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

This mother-daughter retreat in Costa Rica is open to women of all ages and all surfing levels — daughters as young as eight are welcome, and adult daughters are absolutely encouraged. We’ve had daughters bring their moms just as often as the other way around. Every combination is celebrated here.

Your week at this all-inclusive Costa Rica surf retreat includes six nights of barefoot luxury at our beachfront resort, daily surf lessons and yoga, three gourmet meals a day, a one-hour therapeutic massage, the exclusive zipline adventure, evening excursions, daily maid service, and 24-hour concierge support from camp host Priscilla — everything handled, so all you have to do is show up and be present with each other.

Special offer: Save $300 per person — $600 off for the two of you — if you book by June 1.

We’re close to selling out. If you’ve been thinking about it, now is the time.