GO! Girls Outdoors

Are you an adventure-seeking woman?  Do you like the sound of a yoga session overlooking the Pacific Ocean, followed by a surf session in that very same ocean?  Good food, good company and a beautiful location?  A week or so of pure living?  If so, you might like to investigate Pura Vida Adventures, a women’s surf and yoga retreat in Malpais, Costa Rica.

Pura Vida means “pure life” in Spanish, which is what Tierza Davis provides to the people who attend the surfing and yoga retreats in Costa Rica.  Pura Vida Adventures was started in 2003 by Tierza Davis, who realised while travelling in Costa Rica that she wanted to share the experience of surfing and travel with others.  She wanted to give surfers, particularly women, a positive experience by providing expert surf instruction in a non-competitive and supportive environment.  Tierza had been practicing yoga for fifteen years and realised it was the perfect complement to surfing, providing the flexibility, awareness and balance that is so important in the sport.

Tierza didn’t start surfing until the age of thirty-two, but once she started she was hooked.  When she lost her job in internet advertising thanks to the dot.com era, Tierza went travelling - that is, until she reached Malpais in Costa Rica.  She says she was drawn to the area and the people, and remembers never being as happy as she was in Malpais.  She now shares the “pura vida” vibe and Costa Rican cultural experiences with others, and has never been happier herself!

Tierza’s clients range in age from their mid-20s to their 60s.  The retreat is seven days and six nights, and combines surfing, yoga and cultural experiences in a rainforest/beachfront setting.  Fresh fruit and local delicacies are served up during the day, to provide the energy for surfing and yoga, and to help with relaxation and rejuvenation.  If you’ve never been surfing then that’s ok - the instructor to student ratio is one to three or less, there are a range of classes for people of different experience levels and every guest is personally helped with their surfing skills.  What’s more, you get to surf several different breaks throughout the week!  

Sounds pretty relaxing, right?  Tierza says that her job is incredibly inspiring, and that she has enjoyed building a community that inspires women to embrace the experience of surfing, face down whatever fears they have, and introducing them to the Costa Rican culture.  Tierza says that women leave Pura Vida Adventures feeling stronger, refreshed and confident, and that she enjoys reminding women that they have the courage and strength inside them to pursue their goals and live their best life, no matter what that is.

If you’re after some relaxation, rejuvenation and a special cultural experience, consider Pura Vida Adventures.  For more information go to the Pura Vida Adventures website, call (415) 465-2162 or email info[at]puravidaadventures.com.

If you liked this article, there are several more surfing articles on GO! Girls Outdoors.  Be sure to check out SwellWomen (surfing and yoga retreats in Hawaii), the review of Surf Ache (a surfing book for teenagers) and the Surfing Resources page.