Here in Nosara we are super fortunate to meet all kinds of amazing people who love our community. Since 1998, G Love has been coming to Nosara and has no plans of stopping anytime soon. In fact, for the previous five years, G Love (Garret Dutton) has been headlining to Nosara Acoustic Roots Festival. Each year we try to have this festival the weekend after Thanksgiving and it seems to be growing. The show is to benefit the Nosara Security Association and is the biggest fundraiser of the year.
I got a chance to sit down with Garrett and talk about Nosara and hear some stories about his friends Jack Johnson, Kelly Slater, Donovan Frankenreiter, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, the Malloy brothers and more. We also had a chance to detail some of his musical influences and motivating factors and life on the road and staying motivated. G shares a story about losing a deal to Beck and much more info you’ll just have to hear in this episode.
I hope you enjoy this one getting to know G Love and appreciate you checking it out.
Everyone has their issues. One of mine happens to be surfboards. My wife Aimee likes them only slightly less than I do… So when Olo Alaia opened up right next to Surfing Nosara it changed our lives. The owner and operator of Olo Alaia (OA), Robbie Vickers, made a commitment to bringing the highest quality surfboards he possibly could with an emphasis on equipment which functions well in Guiones surf. It’s not just surf though… OA is a brew house for coffee and focuses on providing the highest quality craft beer he can find in Costa Rica. So essentially between surf, coffee, and beer Robbie has a pretty good gig going. After all, 2 of the 3 are recession proof and the 3rd is a way of life and his neighbor is a surfboard addict. I sat down with Robbie to have a conversation about his personal journey from Ireland, to New York, and ultimately to Nosara and how his vision for OA formed into what it is today.
In this episode we discuss:
Robbie’s life in Ireland and finding surfing then life in New York
First trip to Costa Rica
How Robbie met his wife
His personal business here
How OA formed
How OA is an experience, not just a shop
Surfboards
Robbie and Rich bicker over his choices of top 3 surfboards for life
Robbie on a good wave testing out some new equipment
Bing is cranking out mid lengths like this one which is one of OA’s top selling boards
For those who may not know already, in Guiones our surf is extremely consistent but it is a soft wave which is great for beginners and intermediates but not ideal for high performance surfing. Of course there are local rippers who shred out there and can make any wave look good… But the reality is for 90+% of people in the water are on the wrong equipment.
Rich is riding a custom OA Lightning Bolt on this wave
Rich’s Lightning Bolt finishing up at the factory
I like to tease Robbie about he is doing good and bad for the world by crowding surfing lineups with people riding the right boards. Here is what I mean by this: Currently in our area about 90% of everyone out there are riding the wrong board. This is fantastic because there’s lots of waves to be had still even though the lineup in Guiones is crowded. With OA Robbie is now helping everyone get on better surf equipment which is terrific but there’s a whole lot less waves to go around. Of course I’m kidding, but I do think I’m right.
If you’re coming through town stop in at OA. The experience Robbie has created is top notch, and extremely uncommon in Costa Rica. The coffee is fantastic, the beers are top-quality, and the surfboards on hand are a far higher level than most anywhere else in Costa Rica.
A couple weeks back I sat down with Mr. Daniel Valverde. Dani is the Pastor for Casa Vida Nosara and a very good friend to the Burnam family. Dani has a very interesting story to tell and most everyone agrees he is a high-quality individual.
In this conversation, we covered a ton of ground ranging from how Dani made it to Nosara from San Jose, the incredible luck he has for high-quality surf each year for the annual ‘Jesus Went’ surf contests, his current ministry activities along with the goals he’s trying to achieve, and how he abandoned his studies in architecture to become a preaching minister plus a ton more. Dani grabs a couple of laughs at my expense as I share the most embarrassing surf story I have while surfing in his contest a couple of years back.
Check out some waves from the Jesus Went 2018 contest:
Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of serving the Nosara community with Dani in multiple arenas and I’m proud he is here following his heart at the highest level. One interesting thing about Dani is how committed his wife is to the ministry and following their collective true calling. In fact, most of the children in the area Nosara area know ‘Miss Maria Jose’ from her many years teaching at Del Mar Academy and/or serving the community via the many opportunities Nosara provides. They have 2 wonderful children and they are easily found surfing many mornings in Guiones.
If you’re looking for a church congregation of the standard Christian variety in Nosara you should consider Casa Vida’s 2 options: The English speaking service is on Sunday’s at the main beach in Guiones right in front of the parking lot. The Spanish speaking service is at 5pm at the Casa Vida Campus grounds. Dani’s congregation has a 501c3 qualified donation strategy in place to help with Mercy Homes, renovations, education and scholarship programs, plus multiple natural disaster or other emergency situations.
