The GCW Tour, Costa Rica: Glamping at the Dreamsea Surf Camp, or, For the First Time in a Long Time I Actually Feel Optimistic About the Future

Well not my future, but the future more generally...

Last night we stayed at the Dreamsea Surf Canp in Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast. Tamarindo is definitely a big tourist destination, and it was overrun. Unfortunately, we didn't arrive until fairly late and had a difficult time connecting with the camp and getting. But eventually, it all worked out and we had a place to stay.

And what a place. We arrived at about 6:45, so one of the first things we did was ask about food. The owner told us it might be too late but to check with the kitchen. So we did, and were told it was fine. What it took us awhile to figure out was that the camp eats communally at about 7:30 so the question wasn't whether or not they would cook for us, but whether or not they had enough so we could join in. They did, and the food was amazing -- all the more so because it was cooked by four girls who were trading their cooking skills for free room and board. 

Backings up, the Dreamsea Surf Camp -- of which there are three: one in France, one in Portugal, and now one in Costa Rica -- is something of a mishmash of campground and commune. There were people like us, who were just spending money to stay, but also a ton of people who were there trading work -- cooking, cleaning, managing the reservations, whatever -- for room and board. Most interestingly, nobody working or running the place could've been older than twenty-five. 

These were college kids who wanted to surf and hang out and party making a place for themselves to do it. But the amazing thing was that they were incredibly welcoming to everybody, even folks like Sib4  Sib1 (oops) who, during the introductions in response to the favorite dance move question, just said, "I stopped dancing before most of you were born." This place was all about community.

So, for example, every night after dinner anyone leaving was called to the front to say goodbye and ID the best parts of their stay. After that, anyone new had to step up and say who they were and where they were from and answer some trivia question. Then the three main operators would layout the plan for the next twenty-four hours. In our case:

1. The person who ran their social media sites would give a short talk on social media.
2. The surf instructors would give a presentation on some background info on surfing.
3. The bar would be offering $4 mojitos all night.
4. At 11:30, anyone who wanted to go into town to hang out in the bars and dance. Return would be at 2:00.
5. At 5:30, the trucks would be loaded to head to the beach for surfing lessons. They'd leave at 6:00,
6. Breakfast would be back at the camp at 8:30, followed by morning yoga. 

And at this point I stopped listening since we would be long gone. 

During the time we were there, I talked to a couple of people. There was a girl from New York who was hoping to stay through March so she could avoid the New York winters. In the morning, another New Yorker showed up who planned to spend is winter break there repairing surfboards in exchange for room and board. I also met a German girl who was in her third year of travelling. She'd been to New Zealand, Canada, and most of central America, and in a couple of weeks would be on her way back to New Zealand.

Watching the way people came and went and were integrated into this group was pretty amazing, and I, for one, would be pretty happy to live in a world that they were running. One could do a whole lot worse.

Here are some pictures....