Hainan. Source: ISA

Thanks to the great performance of Costa Rica’s National Surfing Team at the recent World Surfing Games in Peru, our professional surfers have another shot at high-level international competition. According to an official press release by the Surfing Federation of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: FEDESURF), our Tico pro surfers are now in Hainan, the smallest and southernmost province of the People’s Republic of China, where they have been given an honorable invitation to compete against top teams from around the world.

The lineup of the National Surfing Team this time around is:

• Open Men’s Class: Luis Vindas, Jair Pérez, Maykol Torres and Gilbert Brown López.
• Open Women’s Class : Lisbeth Vindas and Leilani McGonagle.
• Coach: Sean McGonagle

Costa Rica earned the invitation to this exciting International Surfing Association (ISA) tournament thanks to its performance at the 2013 ISA Open in Panama. According to a recent press release by ISA:

The eight countries competing for the Team Champion trophy are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and South Africa.

During the first two days of competition, the ISA China Cup will feature the top 7 surfing countries plus the local Chinese team, who will be competing for the first time in ISA history.

[The] Cup is taking place November 23 to 24. The Hainan Classic, Men’s 4-star ASP Qualifying Series event is taking place November 25 to 28. Both competitions will take place at the world-class left point break of Riyue Bay in the city of Wanning, on Hainan Island, China.

The Riyue Bay break where our Tico surfers will compete is similar to what you would expect at Boca Barranca or Pavones in Costa Rica at this time of year: Slightly cold water for left-breaking sets of moderate height and considerable wave force. This type of swells motivated FEDESURF to choose the lineup that is now in China. Needless to say, our surfers are stoked to be able to compete in such an exotic destination, which is rumored to have world-class sets. The max purse is $95,000, and points earned in this tournament will count towards ASP Qualifying Series Ranking, which would give our surfers even greater standing in the world of pro surfing.