Two friends decided to hit the beaches of Costa Rica for five weeks to celebrate their college graduation. Between the beautiful sunsets and the rolling breakers, they began to deeply appreciate the simple lifestyle of the people and cultures they encountered.
One day, the pair was visiting a small community in Costa Rica when they noticed a man named Jorge peddling bracelets on the street. The colorful bracelets were handmade in a simple way and seemed to capture the essence of their journey. The pair quickly asked Jorge if he would be willing to make them 400 bracelets to take back to the states with them. Within a matter of a few weeks they became great friends with Jorge. When they first met Jorge, he was living in a single room with three beds shared by several other members of his family. Soon after returning to the states they were able to give him enough business to live comfortably in a house and have his amigos work with him. Jorge went from selling 2-5 bracelets a week to upwards of 15,000 a week. They are now selling them in 700+ surf shops, boutiques, college book stores, and a few large chain stores nationwide. Each one has a unique and different color combination so coming across someone with your exact bracelet will be a tough find.
Once returning to the states the two friends soon began to realize that these simple string bracelets were more then just your everyday bracelet, they were a movement. Pura Vida Bracelets are simple, unique, hand-made bracelets that have a great story behind them. Upon returning to California the two friends decided to put the bracelets in a bowl at a boutique shop. Before long, they had all sold out and people were asking for more. They decided to contact the man and buy more, and the relationship soon blossomed into a full-fledged business. The business that formed only a few months ago is now called Pura Vida Bracelets. The phrase “Pura Vida” (pu·ra vi·da) means pure life in Spanish. Enjoying life slowly, celebrating good fortune and not taking anything for granted embodies the Pura Vida Lifestyle. Each original bracelet is handmade in Costa Rica with a unique combination of colors. The hard work that went into making each bracelet represents the dedication and respect for the beautiful land that we all live in.
Selecting your “Pura Vida” bracelet isn’t always a quick task. Local jewelers spend days, even weeks creating specific bracelets to express their lifestyle. From vibrant colors to earth tones, Pura Vida Bracelets has any combination for you.
Pura Vida is also a member of One Percent for the Planet and donates a portion of its proceeds to the Surfrider Foundation, a grassroots foundation dedicated to cleaning up beaches and oceans around the world.
Pura Vida Bracelets are available at South Coast Wahines in OB and PB and have been very popular with our customers. South Coast also carries the platinum, the beaded, the braided and the hair ties and headbands.
Please join us Tuesday, April 24th for the grand opening of South Coast Wahines Ocean Beach!
We will have giveaways all day! Gifts with purchae on TONS of items, live music by Nena Anderson and drinks & snacks will be provided. Live music will be around 4 or 5pm.
Hey everyone at South Coast. Sorry it has been a while. Been busy finishing up school. I am finally done with school forever! Like most surfers I have always dreamed about shaping my own board and like most surfers, I never got around to doing it. That was until a few months ago. My last quarter of school I enrolled in a surfboard shaping class. Yes you heard correct, Cal Poly has a surfboard shaping class. I was hesitant at first, but I knew I would have fun.
I had gone to the Sacred Craft in Del Mar honoring Carl Ekstrom. After attending Sacred Craft, I knew I wanted to shape some sort of asymmetrical fish. The theory behind the asymmetrical surfboard justmakes sense to me. Our bodies are not perfectly symmetrical, our balance is not symmetrical, and the way we stand on a surfboard is not symmetrical. So why do our boards have to be symmetrical? We can apply more pressure on our toe side rail than on our heel side, because of the way our bodies are built. We can push harder and have better balance with the balls of our feet than with our heel. It makes perfect sense to shorten your heel side rail and add more curve to make transitions onto your heel side faster and more effortless.
I love the fish design and am inspired by people who are pushing the limits of the design. Daniel Thompson is one of those people. Tomos Hydrofoil range caught my eye years back. I really wanted to get my hands on one but never did. Around the time I was shaping the board, I was on Tomo’s website looking at the Hydrofoils. I noticed that if you combined the jet tail and raptor tail it made a nice clean asymmetrical tail. So I decided to go with it. I originally cut the template out with a full length nose. The board was like 5’10″ on the toe side and 5’7″ on the heel. After seeing some Tyler Warren and Ryan Burch’s new shapes I decided to hack off the nose, but keep the same general outline. After all was said and done she came out to 5’61/2″ / 5’4″ x 191/2″ x 21/4″. I though it was gonna paddle like shit, but it paddles like it’s a 5’10″. It just doesn’t have the unnecessary length and weight.
The first session on the board I have never felt more like a grom. I had an ear to ear grin the entire session. I didn’t even care if the board worked considering how bizarre it looks. I was just stoked that I was riding a board my hands shaped. The board ended up working. It had a lot of drive because of the straight outline on the toe side rail and transitioning onto the heel side was so quick and effortless. I have not felt an easier transition from toe side rail to heel side rail. I have ridden the board about 6 times now and every session feels like I have it more dialed. This video is from the second session on her. Surf was pretty small, but I still had that ear to ear grin. Here is the video. Enjoy : )
More epic shots of South Coast shop rider Ryland Rubens from Steamer Lane. He did pretty well and took 5th overall in the 14U division. Awesome shredding we’re proud!
Rip Curl My Bikini Girls, Rip Curl is introducing My Bikini and it is made to fit YOU. Vibrant colors, bold designs, perfect cuts. Form and function. The ideal summer. Hottest in the surf and sexiest on the beach. Check out this vital new range coming soon to South Coast Surf Shops in San Diego. [...]
Ryland Rubens pulls off his first Open victory of the season at the Seaside Reef Open Boys division. He also advanced all the way to the semi finals of the difficultly contested Juniors U16. Rubens, currently 12 years old, enjoys stepping up a bracket because he says it pushes him harder and he can learn [...]
