Surf Profile Costa Rica: The Resano Sisters.  The three Resano sisters, Valentina, Candelaria, and Maxima, are truly at home in the water. It’s a good thing, then, that they live in Popoyo, one of the best surf breaks in Nicaragua. Being able to enjoy the surfing lifestyle was a factor when the girls’ dad, Manuel, from Argentina, and mom, Beatriz del Caso, from Spain, chose to make their home and start their family there.

“I’ve been in the ocean either swimming or surfing for as long as I can remember,” recalls oldest daughter, Valentina. “My dad surfs every day so it was natural for me to get into it as well.”

The other two sisters followed suit. For Candelaria, being surrounded by nature and sea life is never boring. She feels these elements are always changing, offering something new. 

In the same vein, no two waves are ever alike, says Candelaria. “Once on the wave, there are unlimited ways of reading the wave … it makes it so fun!”

For the eldest surfer girl, the constant goal is to go for bigger turns while maintaining speed, flow and turns. Her favorite surfing moment is getting barreled.

While the Resano girls naturally love Nicaragua waves, they do travel down to Costa Rica about 15 times a year, mostly for contests like the Kolbi Circuito Nacional de Surf and the Circuito Guanacasteco de Surf. In addition, the family enjoys its southern neighbor’s waves so much, the Resanos also chose to head here for vacations — particularly on the Caribbean side and Osa Peninsula. 

Being surrounded by nature
and sea life is never boring.

“We love the pura vida vibe,” explains Candelaria.

Maxima elaborates on her preferred Osa Peninsula surf spot: “My favorite wave in Costa Rica is Pan Dulce in Matapalo, because it’s a very long wave with a lot of different sections. In one section you can go slow and do cutbacks. In another section you can get a lot of speed and do turns. And I also like it because it’s beautiful and undeveloped there.”

Valentina, Candelaria and Maxima are all sponsored by the same companies. Their shaper, Juan Diego Evangelista at Cheboards, has worked with the Resano sisters since the girls were very young, growing together through their five years as a team. According to Manuel Resano, JD’s passion for creating surfboards contributes to the high-quality tools — surfboards — that help the girls improve and succeed in their sport.

“JD is open and very motivated to learn about new designs,” Manuel says. “Our boards have developed a lot to the point where they are world class. It’s super important to have a local shaper, because at their age, my daughters change weight and height so quickly. Their boards need to be done right away and then only last less than a year until they grow out of them. JD is very humble and that gives us the opportunity to give him feedback, not only about the board designs, but also different materials. We also play with different weights.”

As you would expect, these surfboards help the Resano girls in their competitions. Already at such young ages, they are making their way to winners’ podiums. Aside from the Costa Rica contests, the sisters have had the opportunity to travel all over the world. They’ve competed in Japan, the Azures, Portugal and all over Central America, meeting other athletes and learning from them and the variety of waves on offer.

Valentina says that the goal is not just to win, but also having fun putting forth their best effort and enjoying the experiences.

Little Maxima, at her young age, already has her sights on a surfing career, aspiring to “get paid doing what I love. I can surf all day whenever I want.”

Athlete:  Valentina Resano Sport: Surfing

Age: 15

About: A lot of style that permits as much speed, power and flow as possible

Athlete:  Maxima Resano Sport: Surfing

Age: 10

About: Surfing style is fast with a lot of carves

Athlete:  Candelaria Resano Sport: Surfing

Age: 13

About: Smooth and fast, top to bottom, always trying to hit the more vertical part of the wave

Sponsors:
Cheboards, Volcom, Janga Wetsuits, Avasol, Nica Times, Popoyo Ding Repair