Guest Experience Stories: February – Life Lessons, Letting Go, and Lots of Ice Cream

February was a month for the books! Although it was short on days this leap-year, February certainly wasn’t short on magic, memories, and unforgettable moments.

Read along to the third edition of our Guest Experience Series, as we reflect on what it was that made this month so special here in our little corner of paradise. Each day, week, and month here is unique in its own way – feel free to check out last month’s edition here to get a taste of January’s magic!

We’ve created this series to allow you to get a feel for what you can expect during our award winning surf + yoga experiences, through the eyes of guests that are here in real time.

This is an account of real experiences, stories, and breakthroughs that happened here during the month of February. These anecdotes are told by me – George, the Guest Experience Manager here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga. As the one guiding guests through the experience, I’m fortunate enough to see first-hand the impact that it has on our guests week after week.

In February, one of our guests came to the realization that the waves are full of lessons that apply directly to our everyday lives. Follow along to learn what these lessons are, and what else made February so memorable down here.

What’s better than a week of surfing? Two weeks of it!

A very common theme here over – not just the month of February, but the last few months, has been guests participating in our Bodhi Sessions: 14 Days Surf + Yoga Camp.

The majority of our guests that participate in our week-long surf camp end up sharing that they wish they had signed up for the two week program. With quality instruction, you can take your surfing so far in just one week. But affording yourself that extra week is what truly allows your surfing to skyrocket!

We also understand why new surfers often only opt for our one week program. If you’re new to something and you’re not sure if you’re going to like it – it might seem like a bit of a risk diving in to two whole weeks of it.

But check this out: while we’ve had many one-week guests say they wish they had booked two weeks… we’ve NEVER had a two-weeker regret their decision of sending it and booking 14 days. A guest here in February shared on Tripadvisor that “I booked one week at Bodhi Surf + Yoga in Uvita and ended up staying two—and that decision came straight from the heart…” Read the rest of the review here!

If you need a little more convincing before booking two weeks instead of one – don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Check out our blog dedicated to answering that exact question: Why Choose Bodhi Sessions 14 Day Adult Surf + Yoga Camp.

Added bonus: the Uvita weekend experience

Staying two weeks also allows you to enjoy and discover what a weekend is like here in Uvita, Osa, Costa Rica!

By joining our Bodhi Sessions: 14 Days Surf + Yoga Camp, you’re free from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon – giving you two days to explore some of what our community has to offer.

Another guest who spent two weeks with us in February commented that “After my first surf lesson with Dennis on Monday, I decided I needed more than a week there and promptly booked another week. It helps offset the travel time and there’s so much to do that the extra weekend in between allowed me to do the coconut tour, which was such an experience, as well as the awesome farmers market, which I got to go to 3 times over my two week stay.” Read the full review here!

This guest – Darsi, actually booked ANOTHER two-week visit for later this year before she had even left us! “…Traveling back to the same place is a rare event for me that speaks to how amazing Bodhi is. Can’t wait to be back!!”

As she mentioned in her review, Darsi took advantage of the time she had over the weekend and, along with resting, did the coconut tour and checked out our local farmers market. Sounds like the perfect weekend, no?

A weekend spent chasing waterfalls

In the final week of February we also had two gentlemen – Roman and repeat-guest Doug, participate in our Bodhi Sessions: 14 Days Surf + Yoga Camp, allowing them to enjoy a restful weekend here with us.

And they spent it discovering hidden waterfalls! They hired a car and ventured up into the mountains that tower over our beach community, and ended up at Uvita’s ‘Catarata Escondida’ – which literally translates to Hidden Waterfall.

You don’t need a car to get there – it’s a bit of a hike, but I’ve walked there many times. It’s a beautiful spot, perfect for chilling out and taking a cooling dip in the fresh mountain water.

Roman and Doug also made use of our yoga platform during their weekend here, and did their own yoga class using one of Pilar’s pre-recorded online classes!

What else did guests get up to in February?

Our weekly schedule is intentionally designed to provide you with the perfect balance between our guided activities, and enough free time to get in some extra activities and tours to enhance your experience here. Let’s take a look at what some of our guests got up to in February!

World renowned whale watching experience

To give you an idea of how renowned our area is for whale watching – our home of Bahia Ballena is literally named after the humpback whales that migrate through our safe and warm waters every year.

The whales visit us for two periods of time during the year:

From mid July to late October we’re visited by the Southern Hemisphere humpback whales that travel from Antarctica to breed and raise their calves. From late December through late January we’re visited by the Northern Hemisphere humpback whales from the California and Washington State area.

One of our guests embarked one morning on a tour with our good friends at Bahia Aventuras to spot these majestic creatures in their natural habitat. Seeing whales out in the wild truly is something spectacular – they are beyond incredible and move through the water with such elegance.

Hiking La Union for one-of-a-kind views

About a 15 minute walk up the road from Bodhi Surf + Yoga, you can find the entrance to the hike known as ‘La Union’. It’s not the longest hike in the world, but it’s a steep one.

You start at sea level, and in just under an hour you’re at the top with views overlooking the pristine Marino Ballena National Park and its famous Whale’s Tail sandbar formation.

The Whale’s Tail was formed overtime by two converging currents, slowly but surely depositing sand, rocks, and sediment that eventually gave it its distinctive shape. Isn’t it so fitting that our home that’s characterized by the migrating whales, also has a literal whale tail-shaped sandbar?

Recent guest Emitis embarked on this steep hike one afternoon during her Bodhi Sessions: 7 Day Adult Surf + Yoga Camp, and sent us the photo above of the incredible view from the top.

Outdoor activities like these bring us closer to nature have SUCH a positive impact on our wellbeing. Here’s what Emitis had to say after her time with us: “I left feeling renewed, inspired, and more connected to myself and the world around me. I can’t recommend Bodhi Surf + Yoga highly enough. If you’re looking for a meaningful, energizing, and unforgettable experience, this is the place.” Click here to read the full review!

Making memories… and empanadas!

One of our groups during the month of February decided that they wanted to get their hands ditry… or dough-ey, and asked us to arrange a cooking class here on site for them.

For our cooking classes we work with a local lady named Fanny. For those of you who have visited us between 2019 and 2023, you’ll know Fanny as our former chef here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga! She left us at the end of 2023 to embark on her own journey, offering catering services, cooking classes, and private meals.

Just because someone no longer works with us here, it doesn’t mean that they stop being family! We’re thrilled to be able to continue to support Fanny while she develops her own businesses – and calling on her for cooking classes allows us to do so!

In this class, our guests cooked traditional corn empanadas filled with combinations of chicken, beans, and cheese. They were absolutely delicious!

Here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga we’re huge foodies, and we have a TON of food-related resources to make your mouth water. Check out our video on our favorite classic Costa Rican dishes, and read our blog on the must-try food in Costa Rica.

Life lessons from the ocean – letting go

We often talk about how – from our point of view as surf instructors, the ocean is one of life’s best teachers. But in this section, we’ll walk you through an example that one of our guests shared with us of how the ocean taught her lessons that are applicable to her everyday life.

You know how when you’re out surfing and the ocean kind of seems like it turns off? I.e. there are no waves. In surfing this is called a lull. Our guest pointed out that life also has its lulls.

She explained to us that during one of her surf lessons, while sitting in the line up during a lull on a small day, she started to ask herself: “will there ever be another wave?”. As the minutes went on with no sign of even a bump on the horizon, she began to ask herself: “wait, what if there will NEVER be another wave?”.

And do you know what happened next? A wave came. And then another one. And then the set rolled in and she was spoiled for choice with clean, small, surfable waves.

This inspired her to reflect on the fact that life has its lulls too. She explained that sometimes in life it feels like we’re staying in the same place – stuck. It feels like we’re waiting for our next ‘wave’, but it just won’t come. But while out in the lineup she realized that “it’s the ocean – of course there will be another wave.” and that same principle applies to life, too. There will always be another wave – “it’s just giving our arms time to recover so we’re ready to paddle when that wave comes”.

The ocean helps us reach beautiful insights like this one. This is one of the many, many reasons that we’re so grateful for Mother Ocean and her wise lessons.

Insights from Pilar – we just need to show up

Continuing on the theme of ‘letting go’, I sat down with Pilar – one of my absolute favorite things to do by the way, and asked her what stood out to her in February. This is what she shared with me:

In the ocean, on the yoga mat, and in life – we just need to show up. Although we all like to think that we have control over every aspect of our lives – in reality, many things are simply out of our control.

What we CAN control is us showing up. This is an insight that Pilar came to during the month of February – ironically NOT while on the yoga mat, but while in the ocean.

Pilar shared with me that in February she spent a lot of time in the lineup, due to the extremely inviting surf conditions. She shared that during this time she was reminded why she loves to surf – not for the physical aspect of getting better at it – but for the insights like these that she gets from being in the ocean.

She explained to me that while in the blue-green waves she’s reminded of how important patience is. She elaborated by saying that she struggles with patience becase she’s overcome by the urge to “get that next wave. I really want things to happen right now, right here, in this moment”.

One of the reasons that we love surfing is because of the rush that catching a wave gives us – it’s an incredible feeling. So being out there in the lineup is exciting! And Pilar finds that this excitement often pushes her to rush into the wrong wave – even knowing in her mind that it’s not the right one. She jokingly (but also seriously) shared that the next wave after this one is usually ‘the right one’.

This realization has helped Pilar learn that if she stays there and is patient, the wave will come. Very similarly to what we spoke about with letting go – the opportunity will come. There’s no need to rush things, and the next wave is not in our control anyway. We just have to show up.

Gratitude so sweet you can taste it!

One particularly memorable moment for me personally from February, was the kindness shown by one of our guests during her Bodhi Sessions: 14 Days Surf + Yoga Camp.

Darsi – who we’ve mentioned a couple times in this blog already, had a unique (and delicious) way of expressing her gratitude to the Bodhi team for our hard work and excellent service.

She bought ice cream for the entire team almost every day during her two weeks with us. She found a new gelato place just up the road from us at the Marino Ballena Club, which she fell in love with on her first day here.

Darsi visited this gelato shop most days during her trip. The first time she bought us ice cream, she put it in the freezer and sent us a message saying that there was ice cream there for us. We thought she was just letting us know that she was storing HER ice cream in the freezer, and kindly offered us to have some.

The next day she had put more there. And then the next day even more. Until she asked why none of us were eating the ice cream that she was buying for us. In that moment we realized: “oh, this is actually for us!” She was going out of her way almost every afternoon after a solid day of surfing, yoga, and exploring; and buying ice cream to show her appreciation to us all.

This warmed our hearts (and froze our brains!). It was such a treat to indulge in a delicious bowl of ice cream at the end of the day – and with each day there were new flavors. Darsi treated us to chocolate, coffee, vanilla, tiramisu, and passionfruit flavored ice cream/gelato. We’re all so thankful for Darsi and her creative way of expressing her gratitude!

These magical places are for everyone

Our very good friends over at Costa Rica Coral Restoration have been making positive changes for both our local and international communities. They’ve used a portion of the funds that we raised for them in our 2025 Smile While You Paddle Surf-A-Thon, to construct a path that allows for wheelchair access to the beach at the Marino Ballena National Park.

This project eliminates the physical barriers that limit full access access to the beach, specifically for people with disabilities and older adults. At the end of February, Costa Rica Coral Restoration hosted a celebratory inauguration for the path, attended by various members of our community.

This national park is one of the most beautiful places that exists on the planet, and we’re thrilled to see that the funds we raised are being used to improve accessibility for all visitors to be able to witness its natural beauty.

The park receives 250,000 annual visitors and is identified as one of the two main “hotspots” within our area for tourism management, along with Sirena in the nearby Corcovado National Park. Having equitable accessibility for all visitors is a huge step for the national park and for our community!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a two-week retreat better for beginners?

While a one-week stay is a great introduction, a two-week Costa Rica surf and yoga retreat experience allows beginners to move past the initial learning curve. The second week is often where guests find their confidence and begin to truly read the ocean’s rhythms.

What is a “community-focused surf and yoga retreat”?

Unlike mass-market resorts, a community-focused retreat emphasizes small groups (at Bodhi, we cap at 10 guests) and authentic local connection. It’s about building connection with fellow travelers and the local Uvita community while practicing sustainable travel.

What can I do in Uvita during the weekend “intermission”?

Uvita is a hub for adventure! You can visit the Marino Ballena National Park to see the Whale’s Tail, go whale watching, hike to hidden waterfalls, or take a local cooking class to learn the secrets of Costa Rican cuisine.

February was a month for the books!

We enjoy every month here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga, but we REALLY enjoyed February. As much as it’s our job to facilitate the experience and ensure that everyone’s having a good time, I’d like to give a shoutout to all of our guests who visited us in February – you guys brought the good vibes!

For us, no month is better than the other. We’re just grateful to be able to take it day by day, doing what we do best, and loving what we do – which is welcoming YOU here to our home.

We’ve spent years fine-tuning the experience to ensure that it allows you to get what you need out of it – whether that may be relaxation, adventure, discovery, awakening – or all/none of the above. Our purpose is to host this space that allows you to find exactly what you need here.

Each and every one of our guests that we welcome here each week plays an important role in creating our story. We’d be stoked for you to be part of our next story – we have just four spaces left for the last week of March! If that’s too tight time-wise for you, no worries. We’d be grateful to have you join us at any point in the coming months.

That’s all for now, we’ll see you back here in a month for March’s roundup!