The Swell Show

Edition 14 · Wednesday, October 28, 2026

Wednesday beats the weekend.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, half of all rentals have guests, about 1,900 people. 1 in 3 hotels is already full; a week ago it was 1 in 9. For Saturday, by contrast, it's 1 in 5.

Morning, line-up.

Tide alerts

  • Heads up

    Fuel may go up in November. A hike of up to ₡89 per liter of regular gas and ₡23 for diesel is under review and could take effect in early November. If you depend on transfers or suppliers that charge freight, buy ahead. Source

  • Heads up

    The drought red alert is still on. Cóbano and Paquera have been under a red alert for El Niño since October 23. Check for leaks and save water: the dry season may arrive with lower reserves. Source

Today’s story

The weekend is filling slowly

Today, Tuesday the 27th: almost half of all rentals have guests, about 1,800 people, and nearly 3 in 10 hotels are full. 1.3 m waves and heavy rain in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 28th: since Monday, each day of the weekend picked up about 15 more booked rentals. Not much: Saturday still has guests in half the area, same as Wednesday. Sunday the 1st drops to 4 in 10, about 100 fewer rentals with guests than Saturday.

For your business: from Wednesday to Saturday the week runs even, with no weekend peak. What filled up fast is the midweek hotel. Run these days like a normal weekend and don't expect Saturday to be any different.

What to do today

Lodging
Don't lower your rate from Wednesday to Saturday. Hotels filled up fast for tomorrow: what's left is still selling.
Restaurants
Wednesday to Saturday, full staff and a normal week's purchasing. Heavy rain this afternoon: have something good on hand to wait out the rain indoors.
Shops and services
The groundswell is back on Saturday, with 1.4 m waves and a good period. Have boards, lessons and tours on display from Friday.

The numbers

31%of hotels are full for Wednesday. A week ago, for the same Wednesday, it was 11%: about 30 more hotels with no room in seven days.
US$81is the typical nightly price of what's still free for Wednesday. Yesterday, for Tuesday, it was US$75. For Saturday, US$107: what's left for the weekend costs more.
90rentals, more or less, are free on Wednesday but already have guests later in the week. Yesterday, for Tuesday, it was about 100: people keep arriving midweek.

By price

Rentals over US$350 are the fullest

For Wednesday, 6 in 10 rentals over US$350 already have guests. Among those up to US$60, fewer than 4 in 10.

Budgetup to US$60
35%
Mid-rangeUS$61 to 150
52%
UpscaleUS$151 to 350
51%
Luxuryover US$350
61%

Share of places booked for tomorrow at each nightly rate. Every place in the area, classified one by one.

What the tide brings in

  1. In Costa Rica

    Regular gas close to a steep hike

    Costa Rica's regulator (Aresep) is processing an increase of ₡89 per liter of regular, ₡42 for super and ₡23 for diesel, and a 25-pound gas cylinder would go up ₡546. It could take effect in the first days of November.

    Source: Monumental

See you in the water.

How we measure · Occupancy = 1 − places free for 3 nights ÷ total inventory. It’s a ceiling: some places block dates without being booked. Sources: the main booking platforms, Open-Meteo and the Central Bank of Costa Rica. Measured October 27 at 6:00.