April trip beta for newbs?

Skiing in the NE is circling the drain, the gf and I are looking at an April beach trip to take some surf lessons in warm water.

Realistically a one week trip, some friends have an old Econoline van they keep in a storage lot in Baja with boards, camping and fishing gear and we could borrow that rig. Never been there but it sounds like the kind of trip we’d prefer if it we had at least two weeks.

Another friend has a condo in Rincon we could use.

Sayulita looks like a good spot for beginner longboarding, I’ve read the threads on there and PM.

I’d ask my buddy with the Baja rig for intel but he’s there using it now!

The usual requirements; food, margs, warm water, hopefully some suitable waves.

What’s a good call for April?







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I honestly hate spring surfing on the West coast as the currents are often fucking up the bottom so any beach break takes a few months to settle into the summer bottom shape.
No chance I would go to Mex anymore (use to all the time) for camping. Maybe a Club Med where they have guards with machine guns walking around, but if you went to Ixtapa you would have to leave the club to surf. No thanks.
Just come to San Diego and surf the reefs. Good surf at San Elijo state beach campground and lots of kooks, so no one should hassle a beginner. Cardiff is a nice little town too but you will want wet suits and the water in Northern Baja is colder BTW..

I'd head south. April can be decent in Tamarindo for beginner surfers. Still offshore mostly most days and the swells are not huge, but you get peaky conditions with south and northwest swells. Warm, not super expensive, some life in town. My friends really liked Nosara as their go to as it was a little quieter, but still had yoga and jungle tours. Warm water and warm air, but still in the dry season, so not terribly humid. Not a super long flight from NE (about 8 hours to SJO). If you like rice, beans and fish you can live well.

If you are thinking Sayulita, you might do better in Punta Mita for a beginner. Sayulita is a beach break, and the one day I was there there was little swell in the water and it was still enough for good surfers to boost air. OTOH, the breaks in Punta Mita are soft rolling points. Still, I'd vote Costa Rica over Mexico at this point for several reason. Tho, there I great food in Mita.

Honestly, I would not bother with SoCal as a surf vacation. Even if you find a beginner break w/o assholes, it will likely be crowded and out of the water every where is crowded down there. Traffic, expensive, not warm yet in April.