Photos by Pinar Istek
Selena Moberly, 16, of New York walks back to the contest base after surfing the junior category during the final leg of Triple Crown of Nosara surf contest Saturday morning, March 2nd, 2013 at Playa Guiones. She got the first place in girls open. She said, “it was fun. The waves are actually really good.”

Looking pleased with the first surf session of the day, local surfer Kevin Montiel, 17, meticulously cleaned the wax off of his board early Saturday morning, March 2, after getting placed first in the junior category of the third and last leg of the Nosara Triple Crown Surf contest.

His older brother, one of the organizers of the contest, Luigi Montiel said, “it was really good. Conditions were really good. We had a nice swell.”

Another organizer, Jordan López compared the final leg with the previous two. “The final leg was the best this year. Good waves. The wind was perfect. And contestant were good surfers,” he said.

López also added, “last year was a really good contest” with its three legs taking place at different locations-1st leg in Ostional, 2nd leg in Garza, 3rd leg in Guiones.

This year, the group couldn’t get the permission for Ostional Beach from the Ministry of Environment and Energy due to marine turtle nestings. Garza was originally included in the plan, but got cancelled due to lack of swells at the time. Eventually all three legs took place at Guiones Beach with the final leg being the highlight of all three.

Guiones beach got more crowded than usual early that morning bringing surfers, visitor and the local community together. The fun that the surfers were having riding the waves was shared on the sand by the audience. Luigi Montiel commented, “everyone gets involved. So it brings the community together. Doing something we all love. Some don’t compete, but come and watch it. It is all about having fun.”

With the same idea in mind, the group, that involves Esteban López Paniagua, Luigi Montiel and Jordan López for now, are on a mission to start the Guiones Surf Association  in 2013 with part of the income from the surf contest.

The group is working with a lawyer and is in the process of making it official.

Lopez said, “with the association, more surfing, more opportunities, we can have a bigger contest here. If we have an association here, more people would believe in guiones.” Montiel added, “the goal is to have a local surf community and to organize everything. It will be about surfing and legally done.”

While they would want to collaborate with the other local organizations to help the community get better in all areas, the main idea is to start with surfing. Organizing projects to start having lifeguards and water rescue teams at all times to increase the beach safety is a major goal for the association. Montiel commented “It will be a lot of work but it is gonna be worth it.”

The organizers of the Triple Crown are already in preparation for the next contest. They hope to have another set of surf in the outer reefs of Garza Beach in the next couple months.
Because surf would be heavily depended on how the swell is doing, they still don’t have a date in mind but hoping to announce it soon.

Contestants wait for their turns during the final leg of Triple Crown of Nosara surf contest Saturday morning, March 2nd, 2013 at Playa Guiones.

List of winners