The story
Ru Hill built Surf Simply on a premise from other coached sports: that surfing could be taught with a progression, theory and feedback rather than by pushing people into whitewater. The result is a resort that runs like a school. Twelve guests arrive on a Sunday; each is paired with a coach at a ratio of two to one; every session in the water is filmed and reviewed; mornings and afternoons alternate between the beach and a classroom where wave mechanics, meteorology, board design and technique are taught; and a photographer and video team work the beach so the coaches can show you exactly what your feet did.
Around that is a small, immaculate resort — villas with A/C bedrooms, kitchens and jungle verandas, a shared indoor-outdoor lounge, pool, hot tub, massage and yoga studio, a rancho with a stocked fridge, and a chef (Denis is named across years of reviews) whose food guests call the best in Costa Rica. Coaches join guests for dinner; two nights a week the group eats out in Nosara. Every room has a basket of sunscreen, zinc, rubbing alcohol and vaseline because they know what a week of surfing does to you.