Guest Experience Stories: January – Friends, Football, and Impromptu Trip Extensions

Another month has passed… and you know what that means! Welcome to the second edition of our Guest Experience series, where we’ll take you on a jolly journey through the unforgettable month of January.

As it’s been a whole month since our last of these blogs, allow us to jog your memory on the purpose of them. We created this series to allow you to get a feel for the real award winning Bodhi Surf + Yoga experience.

All stories, photos, and reviews mentioned in this series are from and about guests that were here during the writing of these blogs. No creative marketing material, no AI, just real life human experiences.

These stories are consolidated by myself – George, the Guest Experience Manager here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga. I’m here on site with guests, guiding them through their experience from the very second they arrive, up until the shuttle pulls out of our driveway taking them back to San Jose. So it’s fair to say that I’m fortunate enough to witness the ways in which the experience impacts our guests.

We see a lot of breakthroughs here – sometimes collectively as a group, and other times on a personal individual level. This month, we’ll share with you a crucial breakthrough that one of our groups had about the feeling of fear, what it is, and where it actually comes from.

Read along as we discuss breakthroughs like these, and walk you through a month characterized by friends, football, and impromptu trip extension.

Making use of spaces created for connection

No, we’re not talking about wifi connection here. We’re talking about a different, but equally as ‘important’ kind of connection.

The Trimble family were actually featured in our previous blog, as their two week family surf camp started in the last week of December and ran into the first week of January. It’s funny (to me at least) – our record for most weeks spent here consecutively by a guest is four weeks, but these guys were technically here over the span of two years!

One thing (out of many!) that I absolutely love about the Trimble family, is that they really made good use of our on-site spaces designed for guests to relax, connect, and be at one with nature.

Waves weren’t the only things being scored

Most mornings, Dwayne and Luca would make the most of their time before breakfast and head over to our miniature football (soccer) field to play a little bit of football. It’s a really cool space – we have two goals and a few wooden structures made for passing practice.

It was so great to see these guys back there having a kick and enjoying the space, that I had to join in myself! And just like that, during their two weeks it became a little post-breakfast ritual of ours to head back to the pitch and play some football.

If you’ve ever played football, you’ll know that we weren’t just ‘playing football’. There’s something about standing there in the sun passing a football around. With every pass we were making connections, building friendship, and having pure, clean-hearted fun.

Your voice is a multiplier for good

During the month of January, we received an incredible mother + daughter duo that were recommended to us by some past guests who have visited us upwards of five times now.

For us, it’s a HUGE compliment that our guests go back home and advocate for us, our mission, and the experience that we work so hard to deliver.

We always mention this to our guests – but as a small business, word of mouth is actually our biggest form of marketing. We believe in letting the experience speak for itself. Our goal is to provide such a quality, unique, and REAL experience that our guests have the desire to get back home and spread the word… and we’re beyond thankful that you do it.

In doing this, we remind you that by sharing positive experiences with others, you truly are a voice of positivity in these somewhat chaotic times. By sharing, you’re giving someone else the opportunity to silence the noise of the outside world and do something that takes care of their soul.

And as it turned out, Mimi and Logan had a great time here thanks to the recommendation from return guests and now good friends Lisa and Tal. Take a look at the photo below, where Logan is bravely sitting like a queen on her throne at the top of the Uvita Waterfall!

The parent + child duo was actually a common dynamic here throughout January, where along with Mimi and Logan we hosted father + son duo Roger and Owen, and father + daughter duo Nico and Kiara. We’re stoked to provide unforgettable experiences for families through our Bodhi 7 Day Family Surf Camp!

Review of the month

Speaking of using your voice as a force for positivity, we’re stoked to share this extremely thoughtful review left by one of our recent guests. Julia visited us as a female solo traveler, and ended up having the whole place to her self during a very rarely quiet week in January!

“This was exactly the reset I needed after a tough 2025. I ended up being the only guest my week, which Travis said has only happened a couple of times in their 12 years of operating. I was a little nervous about it, but as soon as I stepped onto the property George made me feel welcome and at ease. I never felt lonely, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the staff at our shared meals each day (not to mention, the food was delicious and healthy!).

As a solo female traveler, I also always felt safe, even when I ventured out at night for dinner on my own (and btw, the staff’s restaurant recommendations were spot on!).

I had surfed a handful of times over the years, but this was my first time doing 5 lessons in 5 days… highly recommend! Dennis, my instructor, was enthusiastic yet calm and patient. I learned so much from him and he is clearly highly experienced at both surfing and teaching. I only wish I could’ve stayed a second week to really solidify my skills even more and practice on the slightly bigger waves that were forecast!

The yoga was the perfect compliment to surfing. I am not new to yoga but it was beginner-friendly and gentle which was perfect for easing my tired muscles from surfing. Greta, my teacher, has a very calming, serene presence and I thoroughly enjoyed our classes on the deck, in the trees, with all the birds singing (and monkeys howling one day!).

This was honestly one of the most relaxing vacations I’ve been on in years. Not only did I come home feeling restored and rejuvenated, I’ve been sleeping more deeply in the 10 days since my return than I have in over a year. And speaking of sleeping, I was nervous about no a/c (I live in the CO mountains where nights are cold even in the hottest part of summer)… but it was no big deal and I loved falling asleep to all the nighttime creature noises.

My intention for the week was to reconnect with myself and feel whole again, and I can emphatically say I accomplished that! I seriously cannot wait to return to Bodhi for another week (or two!) next year. I cannot recommend Bodhi enough!”

This is what it’s all about

Reviews like these remind us of why it is that we do what we do, and why we’re dedicated to doing it better than anyone else out there.

We’re stoked that we could provide her with a quality reset. Take a look at our other hundreds of 5 star reviews over on Tripadvisor and Google Reviews to see what others have to say. Also, if you yourself have visited us in the last month or so and haven’t yet used your voice as a multiplier for good, feel free to use those links to do so!

Staying busy in and out of the water

Our guests have been some busy bees this January, soaking up everything that our community has to offer!

We’re all for helping our guests get out there to explore our home and invigorate their mind, body, and soul! Here’s what our guests enjoyed this past month:

Jungle and beach horseback riding

During the first week of January, one of our guests stayed an extra night here in Uvita after her 7 Day Surf + Yoga camp with us, giving her all day on Saturday to explore. She decided to do a horseback riding tour with our friends over at Rancho La Merced.

Rancho La Merced is actually considered a wildlife refuge, as the property comprises of 506 hectares of primary and secondary tropical rainforest, as well as grasslands and mangroves. Alison enjoyed a sunset trot through the property’s beautiful trails, eventually arriving at Playa Hermosa beach.

The Rancho La Merced property acts as a wildlife corridor and provides refuge to a number of exotic birds, reptiles, insects, and mammals. The area has been protected from hunting for many years and is an active member of the Association of Friends of Nature of the Central and South Pacific (ASANA).

On top of that, it is currently undergoing the ICT’s Tourism Sustainability Certification process, and was recently awarded the Blue Flag Ecological Award – which we have been awarded twice at Bodhi Surf + Yoga!

There’s actually a fascinating history behind the Rancho La Merced property. For decades, the land was primarily used for breeding and raising beef cattle. In this 1970s, it began its transformation into a leading model for conservation and ecotourism. To this day, the Odio family that owns the ranch continues to operate a working cattle ranch, but they do so using “productive conservation” — a method where cattle grazing is balanced with the ecological needs of the rainforest and mangroves.

The community walking tour

This isn’t an ‘extra’ activity that guests can sign up to do – it’s actually included in all of our surf + yoga vacation packages. We have guests take part in the community walking tour on the afternoon of their arrival to Uvita, Osa, Costa Rica.

It’s a great way for guests to get a feel or their surroundings and learn about our home. This adds to their feeling of belonging here, and it’s also a whole lot of fun! In the photo above, the guide is having guests taste ‘miracle berries’, which after being sucked on for a few minutes, make sour fruits like lime taste sweet like candy!

Our four pillars at Bodhi Surf + Yoga are surfing, yoga, nature immersion, and community engagement. The community tour is a tool that we use to engage guests in the latter. One of the most unique things about this experience is the gentleman that delivers it: Wayner.

Wayner is an unforgivingly strong character in our community, who makes a positive difference to those of us who live here and those who visit alike. His humor is unmatched, as is his dedication to his community and his people. He lends a voice to people, causes, and entities that don’t have one. In other words – he makes the world a better place!

He welcomes Bodhi Surf + Yoga guests into our community by guiding them through this tour, educating them on the history of the town, the culture, the significance of our marine national park and all that it means to us. He also gives many fascinating insights into local life.

But it’s not all talk – you’ll often spot various forms of native wildlife, including toucans, scarlet macaws, monkeys, sloths, and more!

Endless waves of positivity

Carrying on from December, January has by no means disappointed with the surfing conditions. We’ve been treated to what we call ‘conditions for everyone’ – whereby all surfers – no matter the experience level, are able to head out and have some fun.

What do these perfect conditions entail? Well, to start with – waves have been small, soft, and glassy. This means the paddle-out doesn’t require 100 turtle rolls and you don’t arrive to the lineup with your arms absolutely fried.

Our groups have been starting in the whitewater (like in the photos above) to get the foundational skills down, before advancing and paddling out into the lineup later on in the week. Waves have been catch-able but not too steep, meaning that guests can confidently put their skills to the test and paddle for breaking blue-green waves – absolute professionals!

As a result, our guests have been able to realize the true purpose of surfing. It’s not just about standing up on a wave for a few seconds – it’s about what you feel when the wave has broken and you stop riding it. That overwhelming feeling of positive energy doesn’t disappear when the wave does. It stays in you and you keep riding that feeling for a long, long, time after.

Guests were coming back from surf lessons absolutely beaming with happiness – smiles spanning the width of their entire faces. This feeling is the reason we surf, and the reason we share it with others.

Kids have a lot to teach us, too

One of my biggest lessons from January is that kids sure can teach us a lot. A couple weeks ago we had two families here for our Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camp.

One was a family of five with kids aged three, six, and nine; and the other a family of three with a kid aged six (photo above). As a kid, arriving at your holiday destination to find out there are other kids your age has to be the best feeling ever!

BUT… there was one small challenge. One of these families spoke English as a first language, and the other spoke German. While the parents of the two families could communicate just fine, the kids had no way of communicating as little Nikolas had only just started learning English.

Well, these four kids ended up proving that this was no challenge at all. How foolish of us adults to think that not being able to communicate could get in the way of friendship! And that’s exactly the point – they WERE communicating, just not with words.

These kiddos became the best of friends within just the first few hours of being here. They played, chased each other around, laughed (at what, I have no idea), and thoroughly enjoyed each others company. That right there my friends is the lesson – friendship and true connection know no boundaries. What matters are pure intentions, kindness, and heart.

We’re living in a world where true friendship is a saving grace. With the so many negative things that are going on around the world, we need to be reminded of the value of love and friendship. That’s where our salvation lies, and that’s how we’ll heal the world.

It’s ironic – as adults and as parents we worry about our kids being influenced by and gullible to what they see on television and social media. But we’re the ones that get conditioned into believing that we need to feel certain ways about certain people, places, cultures, etc. Kids remind us that in life there should be no room for hate – just empathy, compassion, and love.

These four kids, all below the age of 10, taught us that real friendship goes beyond words – something I’m grateful to have been reminded of.

Impromptu vacation extensions

The waves have been so incredibly delicious here this past month, that we’ve had TWO guests two weeks in a row extend their trips with us for an extra week!

Sometimes when it’s too hard to say goodbye – you don’t! The first of our guests to call up her airline company was Caroline, an incredibly sweet female solo traveler in her 50s. This was a pretty last minute decision. After flirting with the idea for a few days, she decided on the Friday of her would-be departure from Bodhi back to San Jose.

The following week (so Caroline’s second week), we had Darsi – another super cool female solo traveler, who did the opposite of Caroline. Darsi decided on MONDAY that she would be calling her airline to move her flight. In other words, she decided after just her first day that she’d be staying!

Big respect to Caroline and Darsi for being brave and just going for it. Their surf progression skyrocketed heading into their second week, and it was such a pleasure having them each here for two weeks. Take a look at the two two-week troopers enjoying the waves in the photos above!

Decisions like these require a great deal of courage, so we applaud them both for putting themselves first and giving themselves an extra week to recharge, connect, and surf.

They are both huge testaments to the benefits of joining our Bodhi Sessions 14 Day Surf + Yoga camps.

“I booked one week at Bodhi Surf + Yoga in Uvita and ended up staying two—and that decision came straight from the heart. The staff allowed me to open myself to nature and learning in a way I only had imagined was possible…” – Caroline, 2026

Our home is ranked amongst the best

Did you know that the Osa Peninsula – the area that encompasses us here in Uvita, Osa, Costa Rica – has been named the #4 destination for 2026?

And it’s not just anyone saying it – it’s the New York Times, ranking us as #4 in their prestigious “52 Places to Go in 2026” list. Considering only Central American countries, we were #1!

But the accolades didn’t stop there. Just days later, Costa Rica was named the “Best International Destination” at the Healthy Places 2025 Awards presented by the Spanish editions of Men’s Health and Women’s Health.

For those of us at Bodhi Surf + Yoga, this isn’t just a headline. It is a profound statement that validates what we’ve known since 2005: the South Pacific of Costa Rica is one of the most vital, vibrant, and sacred places on Earth.

Surf over to our blog post to learn why these accolades prove that the Osa Peninsula – I.e. our home, has been putting on a masterclass in wellness and stewardship.

Breakthroughs about fear

We had a group a couple of weeks ago arrive at breakfast after their yoga class with Pilar, commenting that she played a song during the class thats lyrics resonated with them deeply.

The line that stood out most to them was: “And how funny to realize that Fear is really Courage becoming known, And that tears are really Joy finally coming home”.

This lyric can probably be interpreted and understood in many different ways – it could mean something different to each of us. For this group, what connected with them was the artist’s unique perspective of fear. Comparing fear to courage makes fear itself less ‘scary’. Looking at it this way, we realize that fear isn’t a bad thing – it’s our brains’ response to the bravery and courage that comes with putting yourself out there and trying something new.

For these guests, this realization was a huge breakthrough. It changed the way that they looked at the ‘fear’ that they had for throwing themselves into this new activity: surfing. They realized that what they were ACTUALLY feeling was courage, and that they should be proud of themselves for allowing that courage to be ‘known’.

Check out the song here: She Moves Me by Savanna.

Insights from Pilar – just like waves, we are energy

Pilar – Bodhi Surf + Yoga co-owner and lead yoga instructor, recently shared with me some insightful central themes that she’s taken away from the month of January.

She shared with me that her and our group from the last week of the month came to the realization that all is one.

This week in her yoga classes, Pilar focused the discussions on energy and how it goes far beyond ourselves, our bodies, and our minds. As she would normally do, she started the first yoga class of the week introducing the 8 Limbs of Yoga and how they are viewed as practices that combat our suffering.

She pinpointed two of the eight limbs that most resonated with her during the month. They were
Pranayama (breath control) and Dhyana (meditation and contemplation). In January, Pilar also took advantage of the incredible weather and surfing conditions and spent a solid amount of time surfing.

She shared that it’s been while she’s out in the ocean surfing, rather than on the yoga mat, that she really gets to put these two mindful limbs of yoga into practice. Pilar says that “out there, you have the time to concentrate and contemplate while being connected with nature and the energy around”.

Spending so much time in the ocean this month helped her realize that “we are all one.” You can think of yourself as just one wave that will break on the shore. But when you zoom out and look at the entire ocean full of waves, you realize that we’re all expressions of energy that are all connected in one.

Humans, just like that wave that will break on the shore, have a deadline. But beyond the breaking wave we are this energy, all in one, connected.

I strongly encourage you to head over to our Ayurveda blog series to gain more insightful nuggets of wisdom from Pilar. They are some seriously fascinating blogs!

Community love that runs deep

You know we can’t talk about the Bodhi Surf + Yoga experience without mentioning our beloved community. Community engagement is woven into every aspect of the guest experience here. The reason that we can’t not mention community, is because without it, our guest experience just isn’t the same.

And likewise, our community isn’t the same without the responsible and conscious guests that visit it through us. Our guests come here and have directly positive impacts on our community, just as our community has on them.

Surfing for coral reefs

In June of last year, we hosted our fourth Smile While You Paddle Surf-A-Thon, raising funds for the Costa Rica Coral Restoration lab. We invited members of our local community, our international communities, our networks, friends, and family, to join us in our efforts of raising USD $10,000 for this incredible organization.

What Costa Rica Coral Restoration is doing is genuinely life saving work. They are the only lab in all of Costa Rica dedicated to the reproduction of coral reefs. Did you know that our entire planet relies on the health of coral reefs for our survival? Coral reefs are the lungs that breathe life into the ocean – and as a result, into the rest of the world, too.

Coral reefs play a huge role in maintaining the health of our planet’s ecosystems. They filter and purify ocean water, they produce oxygen, and they protect those of us living in coastal areas against large storm surges.

If you were one of the many folks kind and generous enough to donate to the Surf-A-Thon – we’ve got some pretty awesome updates for you that we think will make your day! One of the most urgent changes that was needed at the lab was the replacing of the stands for the tanks. These stands were oxidizing (rusting) and were becoming a danger to the systems.

Using the funds that we helped them raise, they were able to purchase new stands to protect the tanks and keep them safe and healthy (see photo above). While changing the old stands, the lab crew also took the time to overhaul the main system in Lab 1, making it better for educational visits for folks like you!

Costa Rica Coral Restoration is also making use of their new second lab, which they’ve also filled with several of the new stands with the purpose of running research.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. I’m feeling completely burnt out and exhausted. Is this retreat too “active” for me? We hear this often from our guests who arrive from high-pressure environments. While we are an active camp, the Bodhi experience is designed to give you back your energy, not drain it. As George noted in our January update, guests like Julia find that the combination of surfing and gentle yoga acts as a “total reset.” You are encouraged to go at your own pace. Our goal is for you to leave feeling restored and, as Julia shared, finally sleeping deeply again for the first time in years.

2. How does a week in Costa Rica help with long-term stress management? The “Bodhi magic” lies in the integration of mindfulness into everything we do. By learning to surf, you are practicing intense presence — you can’t think about your inbox when you’re timing a wave! We also lean into the 8 Limbs of Yoga, specifically Pranayama (breathwork), to give you tangible tools to regulate your nervous system. Breakthroughs like “Fear becoming Courage” (as our January guests experienced) changes how they approach stress when they return to the office.

3. Will I have space to be alone, or is it all group activities? While we focus on building community, we deeply respect the need for solitude, especially for those suffering from decision fatigue. Our “Small is Beautiful” philosophy means there are never more than 10 guests, so the environment is naturally quiet. You’ll have plenty of time to relax in our on-site nature spaces, take a solo walk through the community, or simply “be” in the jungle. We take care of the logistics so that the only decision you have to make is whether to jump into the waterfall or read in a hammock.

January has set the tone for the rest of 2026!

Ensuring that guests feel as though they’re filling their cups throughout their experience with us is at the core of what I do as the Guest Experience Manager at Bodhi Surf + Yoga.

We know just how hard you all work throughout the year to save up and make trips like these happen. We know what goes into making this kind of investment – not just financially, but in terms of time, energy, and the trust that you place in us to take care of you and support you throughout your time with us.

So we make it our responsibility to work just as hard to ensure that we’re putting our absolute ALL in providing you with our services. I hope that this blog has given you an insight into what goes into this on our end, and how our love and passion for what we do shows in the overall guest experience.

Are you ready to stop reading and start feeling? It’s a long season, and there are many chapters to the Bodhi Surf + Yoga story – come and be part of it.

And when you do – maybe book a flexible return ticket in case you just can’t leave at the end of the week like Caroline and Darsi 🙂 Or save yourself the hassle from the start and book our two week program: Bodhi Sessions 14 Day Surf + Yoga Camp.