Blue Surf Sanctuary

Toro and Blue Surf Sanctuary were the highlight of our two weeks in Costa Rica. This is no small statement as we spent the first week of our Christmas vacation rappelling down waterfalls and shooting the rapids in the Arenal area before heading south to Santa Teresa. I originally reached out to Toro to help me find someone with local knowledge of Santa Teresa who could safely assist my 14 year old son on where to surf in the area. We scheduled a private session the first day we arrived and within 20 minutes my son was dropping into beautiful waves and loving every minute of it. We stayed till dark and made plans to return the next day for a beginners lesson for my wife and daughter. Once again Toro and his staff delivered the next morning as my family were all laughing and surfing together. Throughout the week we returned to the same break and Toro continued to give my son instruction and confidence which elevated his skills more and more every day. On one evening Toro even joined him for a fun session like old friends which turned out to be the best session of our trip. I can say that Toro's love of surfing is evident from the first minute you meet him and more importantly his passion to share that love with others is genuine. If you are looking for Pura Vida you will find it at Blue Surf Sanctuary. We already have plans to return later in the year. The Cannons

My husband and I booked a couples private lesson with Toro on January 11th in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. This was our first experience surfing. Toro was very patient and methodical in his explanation of first safety, then strategy and tactics. By the end of the hour and a half lesson we were able to ride a wave, something not expected and very rewarding. If he can do that with us “young” seniors I’m sure he can do it with anyone! We highly recommend Toro for all levels of surfers (we watched him with more experienced surfers and were impressed).

Nice rooms, pool and common areas. Also great location close to the beach. Great service to get a cot for our baby as well. Can also recommend the surf lessons.

Really noisy and dusty from the traffic outside. Much more than expected. It’s due to the motorbikes and ATVs driving all the time on non-pavement roads, just outside.

We had a wonderful time at Blue Surf Sanctuary! What a wonderful property for the entire family. Everything was lovely, the staff was great, and the rooms were comfortable. We had lost a few items that were waiting for us by the lovely staff who found them. Our kids had a blast. We loved the easy walk to the beach each day. The only downside would be the road noise when trying to sleep. The rooms run parallel to the road so you can hear the big trucks or early morning traffic each day. Other than that - awesome!

Just the road noise into the rooms.

Proximity to the beach, great surf instructor (Toro), great recommendations from the staff (Leah and Rafa were lovely), cool bar on the beach just a one minute walk away. Refreshing pool. The shared kitchen space encouraged meeting other guests.

The noise from the street is really loud and all night long. So much so that they provide ear plugs on the night stand. Nice touch but we did not expect so much traffic noise as we were looking for a quiet spot to relax and sleep. We also had some plumbing issues that could not be fixed during our stay. Hopefully other guests will have a better experience there. Overall we felt the blue surf sanctuary fell short of our expectations considering the high nightly price.

The best part about Blue Surf is the surf instructor Toro who works exclusively with Blue Surf clients. He deserves a 5 star review! I am an experienced surfer and I’ve tried taking lessons here and there but never found them helpful because it was all catered towards a more basic level. Toro was a great coach/local guide for me and got my partner who is a beginner up and surfing better than I’ve ever seen him surf before in one lesson. The next best thing about this place is Leah the property manager who is a gem! She was like having our own personal concierge and I can’t thank her enough for all of her awesome recommendations which made our stay in Santa Teresa special. Great spot, away from town next to the beach, family friendly and we really did love it. However it is horribly over priced - you must be aware that it can be VERY noisy since you are backed up onto the main road, we had trouble sleeping with our complimentary earplugs. There was a problem with the toilet that leaked, (we came back from our day and we were sloshing around in toilet water in the bathroom) handle of the shower was broken and we couldn’t really adjust the temperature, our bungalow’s water pressure was a trickle I could barely wash out the shampoo. I’m a hardcore camper/backpacker and don’t really care about luxury, but when you are paying near $400 a night you do expect some. They will fix the shower problem, and were super responsive, but I feel that in order to maintain this price point there are some adjustments (including an actual noise wall behind the property) that need to happen.

Nice bungalows, good beds, clean and spacious.

NOISE! The bungalows are so close to the road, that sleeping is difficult. The map on booking.com show a different location than what is actual, that is not ok.

Great hotel! Our surfing instructor Toro was amazing. He spent hours with the group, coaching, encouraging, and guiding us to the point we were able to surf (ok stand up) on our own the next day. Eat at El Patio Café and Soda Tiquicia. Denga and Del Soul both rent surf and boogie boards for 24hrs, cost $15/$10 respectively.