Each Saturday, Coconut Harrys Surf and Music hosts Board Swap Saturdays at Playa Guiones, Nosara. People can bring boards they just have laying around the house or they could just try something different.
‘Try stuff before you buy stuff’ is the theme. Frequently, we are learning that people have boards laying around that for someone else might be a real treasure and expand their quiver. So instead of dropping a bunch of money on something you might not like, you may as well at least try out the sizes and shapes and get a feel for it. Or just find somebody you can trade direct to. 
For this Board Swap Saturday, Rich takes out of Robert August mini longboard version of the famous What I Ride model and a Storm Equipment Surfboards finless custom finless board. The surf is a little better than we had expected on this day, but it’s by no means epic.
Welcome to TWINosara 83 — a jam-packed week in Nosara with festive traditional Costa Rican Mascaradas, rain-soaked surf, sneak peek at Coconut Harry’s, our local community Trunk or Treat, and the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa deluge of rain with the community stepping up and taking care of each other.
Here’s what life looks like in Nosara in the water and around the town in October 2025. All kinds of fun scenes in this episode and we hope you enjoy it.
Episode 76 is special because it is filled with stunning imagery from the air, water & land. TWIN episodes recap the surf, lifestyle & community happenings in & around Nosara. You can see what Nosara looks like each month of the year & get a glimpse of what real life in Nosara is like via these episodes. Hope you enjoy episode 76!
We hope you enjoy this episode from late July, 2025. There’s 3 sections to TWIN videos: Beachlife & Surf, Lifestyle & Community. All kinds of fun things from surfing, fishing, pickleball, futbol (soccer), community events & updates & much more.
Marco Pacheco is a Costa Rican surfer and shaper based out of Tamarindo. He’s made a couple different boards for me and I know he shapes for some of the other guys around here in Nosara like Seekret Spot Gelato Steffano, Secret Spot Fishing & Surf tours Vibert & Prove Nothing Zacc. The first board he made me is the green SUP in the lead in photo which I’ve ridden lots of different places in Costa Rica. I wanted something I could paddle to the outer reefs in our area with but still turn and noseride some. Marco didn’t want to put in a ‘sissy handle’ as he calls it and, to my initial surprise, wanted to utilize a quad setup. I quickly learned Marco has a very interesting take on fins, boards, and life in general.
Marco moves to his own rhythm and makes cool stuff happen. This is my favorite photo of him. He’s riding switchstance on a nice little Right at Boca Barranca… Which happens to be very, very long Left and Marco’s a goofy foot. Marco’s never been one for conformity 🙂
The great thing about having a local shaper who knows the specific wave(s) you surf is they can build it specifically for you and what you need. Furthermore, if you’re like me and you fluctuate in weight a bunch it makes things very different for board performance. I’m pretty heavy at the moment so I asked Marco to make me my ‘Fat guy Guiones’ board and the only thing I asked was that it fit the wave style at Guiones… That’s just what Marco did for me on this one. This one ended up being a 10’9 with Marco’s hatchet fin system.
Marco is putting the finishing touches on ‘Big Red’
Here’s a couple of Rich giving Big Red a go at Playa Guiones:
Sorry for the leash Marco, it was crowded and I’m out of shape right now 🙂
I spend a good amount of time on Red dodging crowds while looking for noseride opportunities and linking up the outside to inside sections in Playa Guiones.
I’ve actually taken this one into some barrels too and ridden a bit. I don’t have pictures of many but I remember riding in this one for a little while. I was very surprised how it handled in the tube. It can handle speed and hold a rail pretty good.
A rare Guiones section big enough to fit Big Red for a little cover up
One of my favorite things about Marco is he’s always trying to help people out when he can. The lastest example of this is his project “Building Cundino’s Wall” which you can contribute to at Go Fund Me. Cundino is one of the original Costa Rican surfers who lives right at the point at Boca Barranca. If you’ve been there you probably have already met him. He is a classic guy and his location is worthy of being honored especially after all it has given to Costa Rica and those of us who surf here. Costa Rican surfing was born right in front of his house and Marco is trying to help keep this spot alive for Cundino and future generations.
One section of the wall needing repair
Although our backgrounds and life experiences are extremely different, both Marco and I share a love for surfing and experimentation in riding waves. For this I am extremely grateful. Hopefully you get a chance to connect with him at some point and enjoy his wealth of knowledge not only in surfboards but participating in the ocean and giving back to others.
