 Pura Vida Ride is pleased to announce theinaugural Robert August Stand Up Paddle Challenge on June 18, 2011. This event isthe first of its kind on the Guanacaste, Costa Rica coast and will be hosted byRobert August and is sponsored by Las Catalinas, Surftech, Pura Vida Ride, andLolas del Norte restaurant. This event has been organized to involve allage groups and abilities and will include three exciting events focused oncompetitive racers, sports enthusiasts, novices, and the entire family! Thanks to our generous sponsors we have anamazing lineup of prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place contestants including fullcarbon fiber paddles, equipment rental gift certificates, Lolas del Norte giftcertificates, and other swag bags for contestants and winners alike. Every entrant receives a race dayt-shirt and Robert August Stand Up Paddle Event Poster with the opportunity tohave a Robert August autograph.
Our Elite Class Race will feature one laparound our challenging and spectacular 2.5-mile (4km) paddle course and 0.4-mile(0.6km) beach run for a total distance of approximately 3 miles (5 km). This is an open class race for all ages. The Family Class Race is designed to geteveryone in the water and participating! Any human powered craft isallowed, including kayaks, surfboards, rafts, and of course stand up paddleboards. Every craft must include two racers, preferably an adult and a child. This fun and easy 1-mile (1.6km) race will be as much about getting wetand having fun, as it will be about winning! Top 3 winners will beawarded prizes. The secondary contestant (Child) does not have to pay toparticipate in the event. The Sprint Class Race will be an excitingand fast paced challenge and will consist of a 0.4-mile (0.6km) beach sprintfollowed by a 2.5-mile (4km) paddle around our racecourse. This is an openclass race for all ages. Top 3 winners will be awarded prizes. Registration costs are $35 per person and freefor children under 14. Registrants can race in multiple events for one registration fee. Signups and more detailed informationcan be found at www.puravidaride.com  Aboutthe Venue: Playa Danta in the Las Catalinas community is poisedto become a pre-eminent international stand up paddle destination. The Guanacaste coastline along thenorth west of Costa Rica is a dramatic and rich area that offers inspiringvenues for all kinds of ocean water sports. Playa Danta is located in the heart of the Guanacaste “GoldCoast” and is particularly unique in that it is an amazingly scenic flat-waterbay with near-shore islands within a one-mile paddle. The bay boasts threeislands within a 2 mile area, and other islands in the distance that allow forcompelling and exciting longer distance paddles. The wildlife off the Playa Danta coastline isunparalleled. On a typical paddleyou can expect to see manta rays, schools of tropical fish, turtles, jellyfish,flying fish, and the list goes on. It is not uncommon to see dolphin and pods of whales on their migratorypath. A full outfitter shop islocated 150 feet from the water’s edge and includes a rental and retail storedevoted to SUP and other outdoor sports. Lola’s Norte, a highly popular and delicious beach front restaurant islocated adjacent to Pura Vida Ride and offers simple, fresh, and scrumptiouslunches under umbrellas on the sand. Liberia International Airport (LIR) is just 45minutes from Playa Danta and offers daily non-stop flights to Miami, Houston, Dallas,and other destinations. Airlinesserving Liberia are predominantly American Airlines via Dallas or Miami,Continental Airlines via Houston, and Delta Airlines. Various other carriers offer flights from Canada and Europeas well. Water and air temperature along this stretch ofthe coast are consistently around 85 degrees year round making SUP conditionsabsolutely ideal. Sunrise andsunset both come early in the tropics and don’t change much throughout theyear. First light comes around5:15am throughout the year and sunset comes around 6:00pm. Tides fluctuate dramatically in thetropics making tide selection and knowledge critical when looking to find surfwaves or when exploring off shore reefs. A typical tide fluctuates about 10 ft between high and low. Guanacaste has a “green” and a “gold”season. The green season begins inMay with daily light and temperate rains, increasing moderately through June,July, and August and becoming torrential during September and October. The landscape during this season islush, tropical, and breathtaking. November marks the start of the “gold” seasonwhen the rains stop and the coastline begins to dry out increasingly untilApril, which is the hottest and driest month of the year. During this seasonthe landscape looks more like an African dry landscape and the hills turn“gold”. The best season to visit Playa Danta for stand uppaddling is between November and February when the rains have stopped and thewinds are calm. During these months we can have clear blue skies and sheetglass ocean conditions all day, and sometimes all week. In March, April, and May, we have hot,dry weather and higher winds. Thewinds typically kick up in the afternoon from the northwest and can cause blownout white cap conditions. Typically the morning hours from 5:00am till 10:00am still provideglassy, cooler, and first class paddle conditions. In late May the winds dieand we start to get seasonal daily rains and cooler temperatures. May, June, andJuly also provide great paddling conditions tempered at times by storm systemsand daily rain showers. Septemberand October are the rainiest seasons of the year and are not recommended fortraveling to Costa Rica. AboutPura Vida Ride Pura Vida Ride (www.puravidaride.com) isa retail, rental, and guide shop located 150 feet from the waters edge at PlayaDanta in the Las Catalinas community north of Potrero, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Ourshop caters to a range of outdoor and ocean sports such as mountain biking,snorkeling, kayaking, and stand up paddling. Our SUP rental fleet is best in class and is comprised ofhigh quality Surftech SUPs such as Laird Hamilton and Randy French lines. Our goal is to provide top qualityequipment so that visitors to Costa Rica don’t feel compelled to ship their ownboards down and have to deal with the high cost and potential damage to theirown equipment. Our rental ratesare competitive and generally for a week would be about the same as the cost toship your board down yourself. Additionally, Pura Vida Ride is establishing arecurring race series to attract regional and international SUP enthusiasts tothe area and to showcase Playa Danta and Costa Rica as a SUP destination. Come SUP with us! More information and registration can be found at www.puravidaride.com. Guiding Links and other information: Register for the Robert August Inaugural Stand UpPaddle Challenge Pura Vida Ride: www.puravidaride.com Las Catalinas Community: www.lascatalinascr.com
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June 14, 2011
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