Walking through the town of Jaco this past week, one cannot help but notice all of the young north Americans parading around town. I decided to ask a five groups of college students what was their keystone in choosing Costa Rica for their sprink break vacation. Of the five groups I asked, 3 said they said their parents gave them extra money for travel if they chose another spring break destination. The other two groups had purposely made plans to visit Costa Rica despite Mexico drug wars. What surprised me was the 3 groups that were swayed by extra pocket cash during spring break were young men.  That is not very typical of American bravado, but one student said, the violence in Mexico gave him an excuse to travel to Costa Rica where he had always wanted to go.

Either way, Jaco is buzzing with sun burned, hung-over students attempting to wake up early and take surf lessons. After all, Costa Rica is synonomous with surfing to the 18-25 age bracket. Almost all spring breakers have signed up for surf lessons and those who know already have rented boards like they were going out of style. Just ask some of the local surf instructors, they are busy, busy, and busy. Joss, Chuck’s WOW SurfOutfitters, and Fischel Brothers all have experienced the flood of business that many merchants thought would never come during this high season.

The upsurge in college spring breakers in Jaco certainly took many merchants by surprise and it has been a pleasant experience. Unfortunately, only a few hotels in town actually benefitted from the Mexico drug violence. It seems that their vacation wholesalers in San Jose have been pitching Costa Rica as an alternative to Mexico’s beaches to their travel agents in the states. 

Many of the hoteliers that have students residing are very happy, as it is another opporunity for them to show off their services in hopes they will return for the 2009 World Surfing Games in Playa Hermosa during the north American summer vacation. One hotel owner said it was a lucky break for him since he felt only diehard surf fans would organize a trip solely for the surf competition. He further explained, that now the students are here they have experienced the ease of travelling to Costa Rica and are more apt to make  shorter return trips rather than once a year. He finished by saying the Mexico drug wars are a blessing in disguise for the Billabong WSG 2009 games and for his hotel. Of course it is a blessing, he has already sold 50% of his rooms to the same wholesaler in San Jose during the weeklong surf games. 

I would have to agree with the hoteliers observations. Many students want a packaged spring break vacation but they  are not readily available in Jaco unlike Mexico which is their specialty. But now that students are here, they are learning that the freedom to explore Jaco and Costa Rica without an intinerary is manageable for a 7 day trip.  Jaco is lined up with tour operators who sell one or half day tours to the many attractions people desire. So it is very easy and spontaneous to decide in the morning after a surf lesson to sign up and go zipping through the rainforest canopy by noon and take a sunset cruise in the evening. And speaking of the evening, Jaco nightclubs have been rocking. Ganesha, Plankton, The Backyard. and even the new spot Liquid have been filled with student bodies dancing and partying all night.

Related posts:

1. Tourism in Costa Rica and Jaco continues to grow
2. Costa Rican team named for the WSG 2009
3. Costa Rican students return to school
4. Jaco, Costa Rica Prepares for the World Surfing Games
5. Six Costa Rican Vacation Mistakes