Not the local you want to come across when you paddle out at Pavones. Photo: @mynoplanplan//Instagram
There is, perhaps, one creature that could clear a lineup faster than a shark fin appearing on the horizon. And that’s a crocodile popping up its head near your board. While the large reptiles spend most of their time in rivers and estuaries, they don’t mind swimming in the ocean from time to time.
Yesterday, September 13, an onlooker spotted a croc leisurely cruising through the lineup in Pavones, Costa Rica. The man who recorded the video, @mynoplanplan, estimated it to measure six feet in length.
Luckily, there isn’t much swell hitting Central America at the moment, so the lineup appears to have been empty. Crocodiles have led to tragedy for surfers in the past, particularly in Costa Rica.
In 2016, a surfer was seriously injured in Tamarindo, Costa Rica when a crocodile attacked him. That same year, the WSL put a Qualifying Series contest in Esterillo Este on hold when a crocodile entered the lineup.
According to crocattack.org, Costa Rica experienced 28 crocodile attacks between 2015 and 2024. While it’s a small country, it’s hardly the most likely place to get bitten in the world, when countries like India, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea experienced hundreds of attacks during the same time period.
View this post on Instagram
