*IMPORTANT* Click here to follow the discussion about this article on our Facebook page.

I was forwarded this video earlier tonight, and felt compelled to write a quick article about it. You should watch the video before carrying on reading this, click the link, it will open in a new window. Then come back here once you are done.

It shows a frustrated and mad individual attacking 2 surfers with a Machete near the Costa Rica beach town of Pavones. In the video it warns that US citizens should avoid the area and be wary of traveling to Costa Rica. But what is doesn’t mention is anything of detail, it leaves so much to the imagination and sensationalizes the entire news story. Sure, the man was mad, sure he had a machete, but what about all of the things that lead up to this happening. The way he attacked those surfers is in no way acceptable, but no one died during this, and what was the real story behind this happening?

The Judicial Investigation Police OIJ report said that the attacker was attacking the US citizens because earlier in the day they almost ran into the mans daughter while she was also out surfing adjacent to them. The US citizens were also told that the surf break was private and they should leave, multiple times before this happened. In Costa Rica you cannot own the surf of the ocean, so anyone can surf this wake. We think that this was simply a mad local who is tired of having foreigners take over his surfing grounds that he has surfed for years. Which is obviously unacceptable and close minded.

The best way to deal with a situation like this (or avoid it altogether) is to talk it out on the beach with the locals before you go into waves for the first time. No one should ever get attacked over something like this, but common surfer etiquette is to make peace with and get acceptance from the locals before you surf where they do. A community meeting to discuss this event should definitely be in order for Pavones locals and foreigner business owners. There will be more and more people coming to the area and Costa Rica in general, with the new European flights to Liberia International, so everyone should be aware of this and have a plan to deal with the influx of people and foot traffic and how this effects the community infrastructures.

We definitely do not agree with this news station for “warning US citizens” about Costa Rica, that sounds very extreme in nature. Having mutual respect and kindness in your heart when you travel anywhere outside of your home country is a must. If you do this, you will find that Ticos are very kind people and easy to get along with. Taking advice from a news anchor in the US who has most likely never been to Costa Rica is not the best idea, and anyone with a reasonably well rounded view of life would tend to agree. This is a sad thing to have to see, but if we all look at this holistically, certainly the community of Pavones, the mad attacker, and the US surfers can all get along and move forward from this without further negativity.

What do you think about this event and video? What would you do if this happened near the beach where you lived here in Costa Rica?

*IMPORTANT* Click here to follow the discussion about this article on our Facebook page.