A Typical Day: Bodhi Slide 7 Day Bodysurf + Yoga Camp

We’re stoked that you’re interested in learning how to bodysurf – it really is a one-of-a-kind activity that allows us to connect deeply with the ocean and Mother Nature.

If you’ve already got some bodysurfing experience under your belt (or fins!), we’re sure that you’re more than aware of how profound an experience it can be.

Our Bodhi Slide: 7 Day Bodysurf + Yoga Camp is designed to welcome both new and experienced bodysurfers to frolic with us in Mother Nature’s playground. Being in the ocean and harnessing its energy by sliding across its waves using only our bodies gives us a feeling that we can’t quite describe.

Whether you’re completely new to the ocean or pay Her a visit every single day, we believe that bodysurfing is something that we should ALL experience at some point in our lives.

We’ll be using this blog to outline why this is, and to give you a taster of what you can expect from this camp option with us. Here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga, we’ve spent the last 15 years introducing people to the ocean and helping them build a relationship with it.

And quite honestly, there’s no better way to do so than through bodysurfing…

Bodhi Slide – What to Expect

We’ll start by saying this – expect to be inspired! 

Our Bodhi Slide vacation package is a week-long bodysurf + yoga camp designed to give you the tools to responsibly and safely enjoy Mother Ocean anywhere you go. Ocean time is incredibly inspiring, healing, calming, and so many other things.

Bodhi Slide invites you to learn to bodysurf, center yourself in our yoga classes, experience the local culture and Costa Rican cuisine, and connect to the local community. Oh, and also to have a whole lot of FUN!

Here, you’ll feel things and create life-long memories that will keep you riding the simple but sheer stoke for life for a long time to come.

You’ll experience this through daily bodysurf lessons and yoga classes, plenty of opportunities for cultural immersion, time outside in nature, and so much more.

Our bodysurf lessons follow our philosophy of not only teaching you how to catch waves IN the ocean, but also to catch waves FOR the ocean. What does this even mean? It’s extremely important to us that we educate our guests on why the ocean is so important for us and that we can (and MUST) empower ourselves to protect it.

With every wave that we catch, we should be reminded that we’re merely harnessing a ‘wave’ of energy sent to us from afar by the ocean. We can’t just take and receive this energy – like with any relationship, there needs to be some form of reciprocity. I.e., It’s our job to give the ocean something back, too.

The first step in doing this is through education. We don’t want to give away too much just yet (we don’t want to spoil it!), but we weave in many educational elements into our surf lessons that often leave guests inspired to take action to protect the ocean.

Outside of the surf lessons, we always encourage our guests to take the time to explore our local community and the natural environment that surrounds it. This is a great way of exposing ourselves to the truly wide world that we live in – something that we believe transforms us.

What Past Guests are Saying

Over the years, we’ve welcomed hundreds of guests down here… and MANY of them have come back to visit us a number of times!

Why is this? Well, it’s largely due to the fact that we treat our guests like they’re family of our own, and because we make it our mission to offer you a different type of vacation that promises to inspire you.

Let’s take a look at what some of our past Bodhi Slide 7 Day Bodysurf + Yoga Camp guests have said about their experiences with us:

“Of course, surfing is the main draw, but I’m so glad I did the week of bodysurfing with George! It is a blast! Flying through the waves is an incredible feeling, and being able to show up at a beach with minimal to no gear and surf the waves with just my body is so cool! Bodysurfing really helped me understand how to choose the best waves as well as where to catch them, which helped a lot with learning to surf in week 2. Do the bodysurfing course!” JuncoDrawer, 2024

“…I ended up learning how to bodysurf the whole week and even overcame my fear of swimming out into bigger waves. The beach we were at was the perfect spot for beginners and not crowded at all. I had so much fun and couldn’t stop smiling.” Christina M, 2024

“Highly recommended if you are looking for bodysurf instruction – this is the only place I know that does it and does it well. Travis helped me progress beyond my expectations and…..to be continued, as I plan to return for more. Thanks to the entire Bodhi Surf family for a stellar week! (I wish it had been two instead of just one.)” Shamira, 2023

So, What is Included in the Bodhi Slide: 7 Day Bodysurf + Yoga Camp?

Our Bodhi Slide camps run from Saturday to Saturday, and each week includes the following:

• 5 nights at the Bodhi Lodge
• 1 night in a San Jose hotel
• 5 bodysurf lessons
• 5 yoga classes
• 5 breakfasts
• 1 dinner
• 3 lunches
• Snacks at bodysurf lessons
• Walking tour of Bahia Ballena
• Waterfall visit
• Round-trip transportation between San Jose and Bodhi Lodge
• Shuttle service from San Jose airport to the San Jose hotel
• National Park entrance fees for bodysurf lessons
• Travelers’ Philanthropy donation

Also, you will be staying at our quaint lodge with a group of passionate, family-friendly individuals.

Collectively, we have lived in the community of Bahia Ballena for decades, and we have a ton of local knowledge to share.

We are here (and excited) to help with logistical details, to offer local knowledge and suggestions — and honestly, just to chat!

A Typical Week of Our Bodhi Slide: 7 Day Bodysurf + Yoga Camp

Follow along to this section of the blog for a more in-depth look at what a day looks like here during our Bodhi Slide camp.

Saturday – Welcome to Costa Rica!

Your flight to Costa Rica can arrive at any time on Saturday, as you don’t depart for Uvita until Sunday at 9 am.

You will have to let us know in your participant information form what time your flight is due to land, and we’ll have taxis/shuttles coordinated for you to get you from the airport to the hotel that we have you staying in as part of your package.

Our go-to hotel is the Adventure Inn. This is where we have the majority of our guests stay on their arrival night.

We coordinate that for you, so no need to worry about it! If the Adventure Inn is full, we work with a number of other hotels nearby that are of the same quality and price range as the Adventure Inn. But don’t worry – we’ll let you know where you’re heading.

When you exit the doors to the airport, you’ll see someone holding a sign with your name on it to take you to your hotel. Once you’re there, we recommend resting up, having a bite to eat, and chillaxing before the adventure REALLY gets going on Sunday!

Sunday – Travel to Bodhi Surf + Yoga

On Sunday morning, our driver Wali picks you up with the rest of the group at 9am, and you start your journey down here to Bahia Ballena. The drive is about 4 and a half hours, with a bathroom/smoothie break included.

You arrive here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga at around 1:30pm, where you’re greeted by our head of Guest Support, George (me!) with some fresh cold coconuts to rehydrate you after your long journey.

George gives you a quick introductory talk before showing you into your rooms and giving you the “Bodhi Tour” – a walkabout of the property, pointing out some points of interest, wildlife, and telling a bit about the history of Bodhi Surf + Yoga.

After this, guests have about an hour or so to grab some lunch nearby before heading off for the community tour at 3:30pm. This is one of our favorite and most important parts of the entire schedule!

It’s a great way of getting your bearings, learning about our community, and spotting some wildlife ahead of your week (or two weeks) with us here.

Sunday ends with the “Bodhi Welcome Dinner,” where George takes the group to dinner and we’re able to get to know each other better and ask any questions about the schedule, classes, meals, activities, etc.

Typical Schedule

• 1:30 pm – Arrival and welcome
• 2:00 pm – Bodhi Tour
• 2:30 pm – Lunch (not included)
• 3:30 pm – Community walking tour
• 6:00 pm – Welcome dinner

Monday

Welcome to Monday – your first full day with us at Bodhi Surf + Yoga!

The day typically starts at 7:15am with a restorative yoga class that wakes up your body and invites you to open your mind for the upcoming week.

From yoga, you can make your way over to Area Alegria, where a delicious and nutritious breakfast will be waiting for you. Oh, and not to forget – coffee!

At breakfast, you’ll be joined by some members of the Bodhi Surf + Yoga team, who will happily answer any questions that you may have and tell you everything you need to know to prepare you for your first bodysurf lesson.

This information includes things like: what to take, what not to take, what to expect, etc. Shortly after breakfast, you’ll head off with the team down to the incredible Marino Ballena National Park for the surf lesson.

The bodysurf instructors use this first session to learn about everyone’s surf experience, goals for the week, fears, and expectations. This lesson is also usually a bit heavier on the theory side of things, whereby before getting into the water, guests learn about:

• The national park and its importance to our community
• The ocean
• Intro to bodysurfing
• How to conduct a surf report

Following the bodysurf lesson, the group returns back here to the lodge and gets ready for a trip to the Uvita Waterfall – a great place to chill out nestled in the jungle.

We give the group about two hours there, which is plenty of time to go for a swim in the natural (and cold!) pool that the waterfall pours into, as well as to grab some lunch from the restaurant there.

Day one ends here, with guests having the opportunity to head out into our local community for dinner. Don’t worry – we send you all of our favorite places!

Typical Schedule

• 7:15am – Yoga
• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 10:15am – Bodysurf lesson
• 1:30pm – Uvita Waterfall

Tuesday

Tuesday typically looks quite similar to Monday, whereby the day usually starts with a yoga class, followed by breakfast, and then the bodysurf lesson.

You might feel a little achy this morning – that’s completely normal. Both bodysurfing and yoga engage muscles throughout our entire bodies that we don’t normally use, or even know we have!

In Tuesday’s surf lesson, we spend a bit more time in the water than on Monday. It’s crucially important to us that we set our students up with a strong foundation before rushing into the water.

Our whole ideology behind teaching you to bodysurf is that you can leave us and continue your bodysurfing journey anywhere you go, rather than having to start again every time.

What’s different about Tuesday is that we enjoy an on-site group lunch here together! Our chef Luci spoils us with a freshly made, typical Costa Rican dish that’s accommodating for all of the week’s dietary restrictions.

The lunch is also accompanied by a delicious homemade fruit juice

Typical Schedule

• 7:15am – Yoga
• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 10:15am – Bodysurf lesson
• 1:00pm – Lunch

Wednesday

Wednesday’s schedule is the least crowded of all the days, making it a great day to do a tour, get a massage, or just chill out and catch up on some relaxation.

In terms of activities, some of our favorites that we always recommend to our guests are the coconut tour, a visit to Costa Rica’s one and only coral reef restoration lab, and walking our park’s famous ‘Whale’s Tail”.

If a relaxing massage is more your cup of tea, we’ve got you covered. We work with a local massage company that comes here to conduct on-site massages up on our yoga platform.

They’re super easy to book – you just let a member of our team know when and for how long you’d like to have your massage, and we’ll take care of it!

Speaking of relaxation, we have many spaces here on our property designed to allow you to kick back, relax, and recharge – all while feeling connected to nature.

Our newest addition to our lodge includes our meditation garden, which is now OPEN. Come and be amongst the first to enjoy this new natural and relaxing space!

You’re also ‘on your own’ again for lunch on Wednesday. Guests usually head to our local farmers market, where you can enjoy various exotic fruits, baked goods, typical lunches, and more!

Typical Schedule

• 7:15am – Yoga
• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 10:15am – Bodysurf lesson

Thursday

It’s at this point in the week that the bodysurf lesson may be at a different time than the three previous days, due to the tides that day.

Sometimes the surf lesson on Thursday stays at 10:15am, but more often than not we have Thursday’s class in the afternoon at 3:15pm, or early in the morning at 6:45am.

In the case of the former, the day still starts with yoga and then breakfast, but instead of bodysurfing being right after breakfast, you have some more free time. Thursday is also your last opportunity to squeeze in a last-minute tour or massage.

And if we go for the 7am bodysurf lesson, you’ll come back from the beach with breakfast awaiting you here, and the yoga class will either be at 11:30am or at 4pm.

On Thursday, we are also treated to the second of our on-site lunches that we provide. ¡ Qué rico!

Typical schedule

• 7:15am – Yoga
• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 1:00pm – Lunch
• 3:15pm – Bodsyurf lesson

Friday

A typical Friday at Bodhi Surf + Yoga usually starts with bodysurfing! Again, we can’t promise that every Friday will start like this because of the tides.

But more often than not, the tides work in our favor when we finish the week with an early-bird bodysurf lesson.

This class starts bright and early at 6:45am. That may sound really early, but after a week of being on Costa Rica time, you’re already accustomed to waking up early with the sounds of the exotic birds and howler monkeys.

This really is a beautiful time to be down there at the national park – there’s usually no one else there!

You’ll come back from your final bodysurf lesson to find breakfast and coffee waiting for you. But there’s no rush, you have plenty of time to shower off and freshen up before sitting down for breakfast.

At this last breakfast of the week, George will make some final housekeeping announcements regarding:

• Departure
• Our Traveler’s Philanthropy donation
• Tipping at Bodhi Surf + Yoga
• Online reviews – check out our hundreds of 5 star reviews!

Following breakfast, our guests enjoy their last yoga class of the week.

At 1pm, we share our final (so sad!) on-site lunch for the week, followed by the last activity on the schedule – Bodhi Grad. This is a sort of play on words, meaning both grad-uation and also grad-itude (gratitude circle).

Here, we sit around the breakfast tables one last time and share something that we’re grateful for. We think that by practicing gratitude, we’re putting positive energy out there into the universe that has positive impacts on our mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Once we finish up with Bodhi Grad, it’s time to say our goodbyes to our new friends and wish them a happy and safe journey.

Typical Schedule

• 6:45am – Bodysurf lesson
• 9:30am – Breakfast
• 11:30am – Yoga
• 1:00pm – Lunch
• 3:00pm – Bodhi Grad
• 3:30pm – Departure

What to Pack for Your Bodysurfing Adventure

Here, we’ll leave you a high-level packing list for things that we recommend that you bring with you for your trip.

For a much more detailed explanation of what we recommend you bring, head over to our blog!

We recommend you bring:

• Passport (valid for the entirety of your stay in Costa Rica)
• Proof of Exit from Costa Rica (within 180 days)
• A couple of swimsuits (check out our blog on picking the right swimsuit for surfing)
• A rashguard for surfing
• A light rain jacket
• A pair of closed shoes/ sneakers
• A pair of sandals/flip-flops
• A hat and sunglasses (we love Sunski sunglasses)
• Clothing essentials — shirts, shorts, socks, underwear
• Light sweatshirt / long sleeve (mostly for air-conditioned buildings or transportation) 
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent
• Reusable water bottle 
• $200 – $400 cash USD per week
• $100 worth of local currency (Colones)
• Debit and credit cards
• Tylenol / Advil (just in case)
• Electrolytes (optional, but good for transitioning to a warm/sunny climate) 
• Snacks! 

As you’re joining us for bodysurfing, you can also bring your own bodysurfing fins if you have them.
If you don’t have fins, do not worry – we provide you with them. It’s just that some of our more advanced bodysurf students prefer to wear their own fins.

Every Day Here is Special

We often get asked by guests: “You do the same thing every single week, don’t you get bored?”

Our answer is always “NO!”

Although the schedule for each week may be similar, every week is completely different for us… because of YOU!

Each week has its own identity. Each guest brings their own personality, which contributes to the overall identity of the week.

And it gives us even MORE excitement when we have someone come for our bodysurfing package!

We invite you to come on down here and be a special part of a special group of people!
To get more of an idea of what our daily life looks like here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga, feel free to follow our Instagram and Facebook pages. Also, surf over to our Learn to Bodysurf videos on YouTube to get a head start on your bodysurfing journey!