Soto Retreats Combines Learning, Long Boards, Zip Lines, and Costa Rica

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed)
Mar 10th 2010 at 10:04AM

Everyone is doing Costa Rica nowadays, and why shouldn't they? It's one of the few places with a jungle that's actually inviting, where you can color-coordinate your attire with black, brown and white sand beaches, and that isn't overrun with tourists even though, well, everyone is doing Costa Rica. Still, few are doing anything new when they do Costa Rica, and Soto Retreats has a few packages that will allow you to address that.

For more involvement with the locals, the Spanish and Surf program will initiate you to Latin American conjugations while you learn how to stand up on a longboard to catch three-meter waves. You'll stay in Jacó, which the locals call The City of Surf, and stay from one to four weeks doing ten to 20 Spanish lessons per week and getting in the water daily. Should that not be enough, you can swap out the Spanish lessons for plain old adventure, doling out your non-surfing hours between zip lining, white water rafting, ATV-ing and haunting jungle trails already haunted by scarlet macaws and white-faced monkeys.

Soto additionally offers an All Women Surf, Yoga and Spanish getaway for those times when men just aren't allowed. You'll still need to share the water with manly types, but the yoga classes take place on an open-air deck by the ocean, or in the shade of one of Costa Rica's active volcanoes. Soto takes care of everything once you step off the plane, and packages begin at $1,700 for a seven-day trip.

Tags: costa rica, jaco, soto retreats, surfing, yoga