About Frijoles Locos Surf Shop & Spa
Playa Grande Surf Shop Staff, Owners and ExperienceWe are Frijoles Locos and are here to do our very best to ensure your vacation in Playa Grande is everything you want it to be, and more.
Meet the Team
Karla
General Manager
Karla joined the team in April 2019 and quickly rose through the ranks becoming our retail manager then assistant shop manager & now heads up our team as general manager. Karla has a passion for keeping the shop in tip top condition and is invaluable to operation of the shop and morale of our team. With a background in hospitality, she knows how to make you feel right at home as soon as you walk in. Born and raised in the area, Karla knows everyone and everything about the local communities. Let her know what you need and Karla will go above and beyond to assist you.
Jostin “Jost”
Head Surf Instructor, Shop Assistant
Jostin grew up surfing at a young age and loves to spread the surf stoke. As an instructor he will definitely get you up on the surfboard and make sure you get the most out of your surf lesson! Jostin happily assists you in all things surf and loves sharing his knowledge about surfboards, surf spots and recommending other beautiful places to explore in his home country of Costa Rica. ISA certified
Rodrigo
Shop Assistant, Surf Instructor
Rodrigo may be soft spoken but he is a wealth of information and talent. He is alway ready to go with an amazing attitude wether ringing up your purchase at the register, helping you find the perfect rental board, or coaching you into your first waves. As a Guanacaste local he knows our breaks as well as anyone and is eager to share his love of Costa Rica. ISA certified
Isaac
Shop Assistant
Isaac brings youthful enthusiasm to the team. Always has a smile on his face, eager to learn new things and goes the extra mile to take care of our customers! Isaac is devoted to his education and his family – in his downtime he is furthering his study of English and computers.
Luis
Shop Assistant
Luis is soft spoken but a wealth of information! He came to us with a background in tourism and is a wonderful resource for getting our customers set up with tours and activities to make the best of their vacations! Luis has a legendary head of hair that the bald boss, Drew, is understandably envious of!
Ingrid
Cleaning & more!
Ingrid is so much more than a cleaning lady! True, she keeps our apartments spotless for our guests and the shop sparkling but she is there with helping hands in the shop when we get busy as well. When not at work Ingrid can be found with her children, tending to her cows & horses and enjoying a local soccer game!
Gabriel “Pana”
Ding repair
While self employed, Pana is still part of the Frijoles Locos family. Pana is a legend & gets things done! We’ve had many a distraught surfer limp in with a banged up surfboard and Pana has them leaving with a smile. Costa Rica is sometimes notorious for being tricky to get things done but ding repair at Frijoles Locos is not one of those things thanks to Pana. Pana helps out endlessly by keeping things in running order and always with his trademark smile. You can also find him at the Playa Grande night market on Mondays cooking up his famous burgers.
Meet the Owners
Andrew “Drew”
Drew grew up in Virginia, USA, an hour outside of Washington, DC. He spent summers on Hatteras Island, NC where he developed a love for the ocean at an early age. He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in Sports Medicine & went to graduate school at James Madison University’s School of Kinesiology where he worked in the sports medicine department with the football and basketball teams. All through college Drew spent summers teaching surfing lessons in the mornings & waiting tables in the evenings. After working for a few years at James Madison University he moved full time to Hatteras Island to open Hatteras Island Boardsports Surf Shop in 2001 with his brother. Drew would take advantage of the low season in NC to travel around and, after his first trip to Costa Rica in 1996 (to Playa Grande of all places!), he made Costa Rica his annual winter spot. He ran Hatteras Island Boardsports until he married Julianne in 2014. ISA certified
Julianne “Jules”
Jules is a tica with an American dad and dual US citizenship. Jules grew up in San José, and went to school for Tropical Biology here in Costa Rica. She specialized doing sea turtle research and worked later with the World Wildlife Fund in Playas Ostional, Nancite and Junquillal in Guanacaste. She got a Masters in Environmental Management at Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and has worked on climate change issues at the intersection of environment and development for over a decade. She’s done field work with marginalized communities in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe and tried the private sector while working for a startup in San Francisco. After globetrotting and living in a couple of US cities (Washington DC and San Francisco), she decided there’s no place like home. Jules is a champion for the environment and for local communities, her younger brother surfs and she grew up going to Guanacaste with her family. She’s most at home floating in the tropical Pacific, hiking in the Costa Rican rainforest or listening to the congos on a rainy afternoon— needless to say, she’s thrilled to support the small, tight team here at Frijoles Locos while getting to enjoy the turtles, the salt air and her beloved Ceibos.
In the Community
La Paz Community School is a non-profit organization that was founded in 2007 in order to address fundamental socioeconomic and cultural gaps prevalent in a region struggling to cope with the balance of an agriculture and tourism based economy. By integrating talented youth from the underprivileged, middle class, and upper class sector of rural Latin America, the school transforms student differences into strengths that foment rich and meaningful dialogue and experiences at all grade levels, thus preparing students to effectively confront global challenges.
The scholarship program at La Paz Community School enables students who would never have been afforded the chance to receive such a quality education, to do so. While donations to the scholarship fund help cover costs of education, there are so many other needs to be met, which is where you can really help (Pack for a Purpose). Thank you for your time and effort in giving back to the community you are visiting. In this way, you are truly helping to change the future of these wonderful children and consequently, their own families.
Frijoles Locos also supports CEPIA, founded by the wonderful, talented and visionary Laeticia DeWeer. CEPIA is an organization that helps improve the quality of life of youth and families in the local area, by supporting and training to assist the poor in job placement, teaching new skills, attending to physical and mental health of those in need, and promoting cultural development.
