Tommy Bissell: Getting Pitted and Stoke-adelic Funky Shit

It’s 5:03 AM, pitch-dark and I am shoving surfboards into a small taxi cab. For once, I feel a little cold against the fresh ocean breeze, wet with morning mist. Slight onshore wind and sunrise at mid-tide, its my dirtbag Aussie mate Ryan’s last day in Tamarindo, of course we have to go surf Playa Langosta. The sun is starting to peak over the jungle, its glassy and sets are firing at the river mouth. The paddle out is quiet, anticipation is high. The wind is blowing mist over the crests of the waves that crisply rain over you as they reflect on the new suns rays. On mornings like this, all cares are lost, worries are forgotten, and you feel more alive than ever before. I have come to call these surfer feelings of bliss and higher consciousness, “stoke-adelic funky shit.”

A mother sea turtle making her way back to sea after laying her eggs right on Playa Tamarindo

A new week, a new blog, and some new badass slang for you readers to start getting weird. Tamarindo is a party town with a surfing problem (I might start making that phrase into t-shirts!), it is a thriving and diverse atmosphere for a small surf town deep in the Costa Rican countryside. Most locals living in “Tama” speak english well. They understand foreign customs and cultures but always embody their own Tico uniqueness (Tico or Tica is an affectionate term for Costa Ricans). Here, surfing is life and everything else is secondary. There are surfer nerds here from everywhere so the slang is astronomically bodacious. I’ve explained my own term, ‘stoke-adelic funky shit’ already and you should all know “getting pitted” by now from Tosh.0, if not, google it. ’Pura Vida’ is a term similar to Hawaii’s ‘Aloha’. Pura Vida is hello, goodbye, don’t worry about it, and any other positive salutation you surf junkies come up with. The talk is always surf. When is high tide today? Low tide? Where you going? I heard La Casita is firing today (a popular beach break here)…it is always surfing and always will be. Children are raised on the beach and old men spend their final days wading knee deep into the warm water as they watch the sun set in flaming fashion over the horizon. If you are a surfer and have not made it to Tamarindo, come. If you have never surfed in your life, come. Tamarindo is the place to be, the beach to surf, and the people to meet…I am in love.

Shooting with the 400mm during a private session in Playa Avellanas

Conditions are perfect and your hangover has passed, so starts another day in paradise. Days like my early morning surf sesh are frequent here. Smiles spread like a plague when the surf is up. The wave chasers stick around a few more days and the locals have a fresh skip in their step. There have been days here I was not sure I would eat. There have been days here I ate like a king, either way I knew I would surf and that made everything seem OK. A higher level of awareness, a relaxing calm, and a mellow confidence is the highest level of surfing consciousness for me. I reach a feeling of contentment; Happy Gilmore affectionately calls it his “happy place”. I wake up each day and pray the surf is good, my body is healthy, and my friends are outside waiting to give me a lift to the beach. Life is simple and grand at the same time, so stay calm and go surf. Pura Vida!