This month is Alumni Appreciation Month.  To that end, we are sharing the stories we hear from our “repeat offenders.”  These are stories of friendship, community and the Pura Vida Way.

Here’s a story from Anne…

Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to start my own super cool club.   I read a lot of “Babysitter’s Club” books growing up, which were made up of awesome chicks who ran their own business.

As an adult, there are not a lot of opportunities to start your own super cool club and it can be hard to find awesome-at-life ladies to connect with.

My First New Year’s At Pura Vida Costa Rica

In 2014, I went to my first Pura Vida Adventures New Year’s surf camp, and that’s when everything changed.  My life hasn’t been the same since. I learned to surf (which has become an all-consuming passion) and I met some of the best people I’ve ever known (more on them later).

After My First Year

Once I had to leave Costa Rica after that first amazing surf camp experience, I knew I couldn’t go a full year, without hitting the water.  I live in Washington DC, where surfing opportunities are non-existent and watching surf competitions online at work doesn’t really fill the void.

The Ladies Surf Club

So, The Ladies Surf Club was born. Helen Perez, Laura Boylan, “French” Anne Hugard and I decided we would look for other places a little closer to home to catch waves in between our annual pilgrimages to Costa Rica every New Years for Surf Camp.

We Tried Other Surf Retreats

Our first trip was to Rincon, Puerto Rico for a long Memorial Day weekend in 2015.  We brought my friend Rebecca, who was a total surfing virgin, and stayed at Surf Hotel. It was a little more rustic than we were used to in Costa Rica, but matched the “live and let live” surf vibe we had come to cherish.

Our teachers in Rincon were great (but not the greatest – a distinction only held by PVA’s surf instruction team) and genuinely surprised at how well this group of lady surfers did on the waves.  Despite learning the dangers of surfing over a reef after catching a modest swell, but were pleasantly surprised how well our skills held up.

PVA Community: One Of Many Reasons We Always Return

Surfing different breaks has enhanced our skills, but we all remain in firm agreement that the best waves are always caught on the beaches of Santa Teresa.  No matter where the Ladies Surf Club takes us during the year, we always end up back at Pura Vida for the New Years Surf Camp – the best week of my entire year.