Considered the national stadium of surfing, the classic and world-famous Playa Hermosa in Jacó was considered by Save the Waves Coalition as the newest world surf reserve.

This makes it the first Central American reserve and the eleventh worldwide, along with Malibu, California; Ericeira, Portugal; Manly Beach, Australia; Santa Cruz, California; Huanchaco, Peru; Bahía Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico; Punta de Lobos, Chile; Gold Coast Australia; Guarda do Embaú, Brazil and Noosa Heads, Australia.

“Playa Hermosa was a perfect candidate for the designation. With its incredible biodiversity and environmental attributes, as well as a clear conservation vision for the future, this surf ecosystem is very deserving of the title. This is also a very exciting choice for the program, as it will be the first World Surfing Reserve in Central America,” said Save the Waves President Nik Strong-Cvetich.

For his part, the president of the Costa Rica Surfing Federation, Randall Chaves, commented: “Playa Hermosa has been the training and competition ground for many generations of surfers and is an icon of the national and world surfing scene. This designation will not only increase its prestige, but the action plan includes the definitive protection of the waves and the improvement of services for visitors and the protection of its ecosystem.”

Meanwhile, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, former Minister of the Environment of Costa Rica and new Executive Director of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), commented:

“Costa Rica is thrilled to have received the honor of World Surfing Reserve designation at Playa Hermosa. This ecosystem and surfing community is a fantastic model for coastal conservation and this designation will help spur other efforts across the country to protect our waves and coastline.”

The world surfing reserves created by the NGO Save the Waves seek to protect places that are important to the surfing community by designating them in order to take care of the wave resource and the biodiversity that surrounds them.