Parque Nacional Santa Rosa AKA Witch's Rock

The first place we visited in Costa Rica was Santa Rosa National Park, we drove there at the very end of the dry season searching for waves, but we found so much more...

We had done some research and knew the road conditions were bad, but never thought they could be that bad. It was 11kms of hell, and by the time we realized there was no where to turn around.

We made it to the park, at low tide of course, otherwise Beast would have had to crawl through muddy waters and local crocs which obviously we rather avoid. The park ranger explained that the park is a study area and a natural corridor for species in extintions, so that's why the road doesn't get any maintenance: to keep hoards of people from coming. So we found a beautiful, hot, empty campground.

There's plenty of stories about Witch's Rock, and how good it can get, but there's also plenty of elements that must align to score these epic surf spot real good. We timed it well. You can get here on a boat, which makes a lot of sense being that the road is shit, or you can drive. On the boat you get a few hours and hopefully the conditions are good. In our case we were able to see many faces of Roca Bruja. When we got there it looked terrible, we were pissed off about driving all the way there for those crappy, onshore waves. But the next day...

We surfed the next 4 days basically by ourselves. Pack a bag with water, snacks and sunscreen, walk 1.5km down the path to the beach, surf and hang out till the wind went on shore. It was a dream come true, another one for the list. 

Every morning we'd wake up and head to the beach, there wasn't really a way to check it and then decide without walking a lot in the Costa Rican hot weather, so we just had to get ready and go. The only people we saw during those days surfing was another couple we had met already in Nicaragua, it was nice to have some surf buddies just in case some bigger creatures showed up on the line up.

Even though the surf was really fun and the draw for us to visit this park, we discovered that the abundance of natural life in the area is incredible, and extremely fragile. So we were able to experience up close and personal all that natural system without the disturbance of too many people.

Fresh jaguar tracks on the beach

The most interesting animals live in these Eco-system, from the tiniest little ant to the great crocodiles that come to say hi in the lineup. And they are all amazing and fascinating. Here's the list of creatures we saw:

Falcon
Toad
Deer
Monkeys (Cappuccino)
Coati (CR raccoons)
Cacatuas (CA blue jays)
Parrots
Sea turtle (large shell)
Flies
Big black biting flies
Horse flies
Wasps (red and blue)
Mosquitos (big and thirsty)
Fireflies
Garrobos (cousin of iguana, countless)
Lizards
Hummingbird
Doves
Turkeys (two kinds)
Hawks (maybe Eagles)
Vultures
Crocodile (large)
Jaguar (tracks, large, fresh)
Squirrel
Bats (small, adorable)
Quail
Ants
Cicadas
Sharks (small)
Manta rays
Fish
Crabs
Hermit crabs
Needle fish
Humans
Loons
Herrings
Frigate birds
Sea gulls
Sea birds
Various large and small birds
Butterflies 

But the ones that call my attention the most were the capucchin monkeys, they hang out in small family groups, take naps, find resourceful ways to get water, and are as curious of us as we are of them.

The afternoons were lazy, recovering from the endless hours of surf and the heat. We'd walk to the beach to see the sunset and chill. The few days we spent here will always stay with us as one of the highlights of this crazy journey we are in.