Hermosa Wins Bid For World Surf Games

By Britton Jacob-Schram

Costa Rica has been chosen to host the 2009 World Surfing Games, the International Surfing Association announced this week.

Besting bids from popular surf destinations like Brazil and Australia, Playa Hermosa in Puntarenas will see hundreds of competitors from 40 different countries descend upon the Central Pacific coast from July 31 to August 9 of next year.

The ten-day event is expected to generate between $800,000 and $1 million in event-related spending, according to tourism and local government officials.

It is likely to cost $300,000 to hold. Top sponsor Billabong has already agreed to split the bill with the Municipality of Garabito.

“A long time ago, [Billabong] was saying right away their first choice was Costa Rica,” said José Ureña, President of the Costa Rican Surf Federation.

“They knew where we are positioned in Central America would be perfect, and that with the way surfing is being projected here, they know how big Costa Rica will be in the future,” said Mr Ureña (pictured at right), who has been rallying and readying government support for the ISA games for the past two years.

© Britton Jacob-Schram

“We’d been trying to organize everything before we even got the event. I made sure to touch upon the most important things with the ICT (Costa Rican Institute of Tourism) and the Municipality. They all knew about this a long time ago and they were on our side, putting a lot of weight behind this from the start.”

In the end, the International Surfing Association (ISA) agreed.

“Costa Rica is a great place to hold such an important event as the World Surfing Games, which are also known as the Olympics of Surfing; with good waves, great people and warm water,” ISA’s Pablo Zanocchi told The Beach Times earlier this week.

Playa Hermosa, about eight kilometers (five miles) south of Jacó, is a black-sand beach surrounded by mountains, and arguably the most consistent surf break in Costa Rica.

Counting surfers, coaches and staff, the ISA estimates 500 people will descend upon the small town and surrounding area for the event, while tens of millions will watch the competition as it streams live over the Internet.

The Costa Rican national team’s professionalism played a big part in the ISA’s decision, according to Zanocchi, adding one of the main goals of the ISA is to help develop surfing worldwide.

Costa Rica had more or less proven itself as a heavy-hitting surf nation at the World Surfing Games, in Huntington Beach, California, two years ago, when it jumped to eighth best surfing nation.

© International Surfing Association (ISA)

GOOFY-FOOTED GRACE: Reigning men's national champion, Gilbert Brown, avoiding Huntington’s pier-pilings during the 2006 ISA World Surfing Games.

“In the last few years, the Costa Rica Surf Federation showed great progress, with their athletes achieving outstanding results in international competitions and a strong local tour that shows that things are being done amazingly well on an organizational level,” said Mr Zanocchi.

In fact, competitive surfing aside, the sport now accounts for 20 per cent of all tourism income.

Most of that is on the Central and Northern Pacific coasts.

“Recognition for the athletes of surf has finally happened,” said the President of the National Council on Sport and Recreation (ICODER), Osvaldo Pandolfo. “These surfers have been getting really great results at both national and international levels. And this, without a doubt, will give more initiative to the sport in the country.”

“To achieve a world event such as this isn’t easy,” continued Mr Pandolfo, who is also Vice-Minister of Sport. “And for this reason, we should work hard to organize this, so that it can open the door to other competitions of this caliber.”

The Municipality of Garabito met early this week with Mr Ureña to set up a committee to deal exclusively with the event.

© Beach Times Files

For Garabito’s Mayor, Marvin Elizondo, hosting the world games was a no-brainer.

“We have champions here and our athletes have participated in important international events,” said Mr Elizondo. “Out of the entire world we were chosen and this is an important achievement.”

Costa Rica’s reigning men’s national champion, Diego Naranjo (at right), agreed.

“It means a lot to the country,” said Mr Naranjo. “It’s going to bring a lot of good things, especially for Jacó, for the monetary reasons of people renting cars, hotels and doing some of the area’s other activities. It’s going to be a lot of money for the community.”

The surf school Mr Naranjo runs with his wife, six-time national women’s champion, Lisbeth Vindas, has already benefitted from the event, says Ms Vindas. The Costa Azul Surf School has been chosen as the official surf school for the event and Billabong, she adds, has signed on with them for Costa Azul to become a Billabong Surf Camp.

“It’s a big opportunity for the world of surfing in Costa Rica,” she said, adding the news has only motivated her more on both the national and international stages. “We have the best waves and now that we have the world cup, the television, the media — everyone will be getting involved. It’ll be bringing so many opportunities to the country.”

“I think the sponsors will realize how big surfing actually is,” added Mr Naranjo. “It’s the beginning of a new era.”