This surf report has great news. Tamarindo’s Tomas King is finally making waves after a couple of years on the World Surf League’s (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) circuit. He continues the juggernaut of Costa Rica surfing around the world.

First, last month in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the Vans Pro, King spectacularly surfed into the semifinals, where he finished in 5^th place.  As a result of that QS3000, he catapulted 126 spots in the QS rankings from 265 to 138.

Then at the WRV Outer Banks Pro in Nags Head, North Caroline, not only did he score a perfect 10 in his first round, but he ended up in the quarterfinals, a spot that’s sure to help even more in the rankings

“I was kind of lost at first, but it was nice to get that score after I found my spot out there,” King said. “There’s a lot of good waves out there even though it’s pretty tricky so I was stoked on it. This is my third year here and it’s always fun. I want to be in those bigger events and after that Semifinal in Virginia I jumped up a bit so since I missed Europe I’ll be preparing for the Philippines with this one. It’s great to have these events close together and come off a result like that, I’m ready to get a good another one here.”

And he did.

Meanwhile, in other news, although Carlos Muñoz didn’t fare well at the Pull & Bear Pantin Classic Galicia Pro in Spain this week, he’s still riding high from his previous two performances. Following up his early July 1^st place win at the Powerade Surf Open Acapulco, the surfer from Esterillos returned to the podium with a 3^rd place finish at the Van’s US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California. With this, he improved in the ranks to #19 from #107.

“I am a new person, I have deleted negative things in my life that have not done me very well and this has been reflected in my surfing. Surfing is my passion and that’s why I’m so excited about these results,” Carlos said afterwards.

September is a big month for the young Costa Rica national Junior surf team.  Under the guidance of Coach Jim Hogan, 12 Tico athletes will represent their country at the International Surfing Association (ISA) Junior World Cup that will take place September 23 to October 1 in Hyuga, Japan.  Japan is the site of the first-ever surfing competition in the 2020 Olympics.

The current Costa Rica national Junior surf team is: André Chacón (Jaco),  Francisco Coronado (Brasilito), Joseph Méndez (Jaco), Aldo Chirinos (Playa Negra) for Men Under 18; Leilani McGonagle (Pavones), Zulay Martínez (Tamarindo) for Women’s Under 18; Malakai Martinez (Tamarindo), Oscar Urbina (Puerto Viejo), Sebastián Mora (Santa Teresa),  Gabriel Córdoba (Puerto Viejo) for Men Under 16; and Coral Wiggins (Avellanas), Eva Woodland (Florida) for Women’s Under 16.

Their goal will be to once again finish in the Top 10, which is where they’ve landed the last three times Costa Rica’s Juniors have faced surf teams from around the world. In 2016, they were #6 among the 35 different countries.

Finally, the ISA has announced that among its 37 chosen scholarship winners this year, three of these surfers are from Costa Rica.  Congratulations to Camila Summers, Kalani Abrahao, nd Rachel Aguero.

The money is designated to further their education, pay for travel to surf contests, pay for contest fees, and upgrade their surfing equipment.