Costa Rica surfing — Naranjo Wins 1st Place at ALAS Event

The current National Surf champion of Costa Rica, Diego Naranjo, won the second date of the Latin American Surf Association (ALAS) Circuit in Punta Rocas, Peru. The 6-star Copa Movistar is Naranjo’s first 1st place win after 7 years of participating in the ALAS Latin Tour.

Naranjo topped Argentinean Leandro Usuna in the final round, impressing the judges with four maneuvers and two cuts. Despite Usuna’s top score of 9.83 when he lived up to his title and barreled through the event’s best wave, Naranjo’s steady performance bought him enough points to take the lead.

The Jaco native received a check for $4,400 and was ranked in 9th place after the first two dates of the circuit. He is the second Costa Rican to get first place in an ALAS Latin Tour event, following Luis Vindas’ 2007 first place win in the Juniors category, which also took place in Punta Rocas. Peru, considered to be the ‘world surf cradle’, is said to be the most difficult place to compete for non-natives.

Costa Ricans Nino Myrie and Luis Vindas also competed in the event.

The next event in the ALAS Latin Tour, which was created in 2000 to promote surfing in the region at the professional level, will take place this Wednesday, Feb. 13 through Feb. 17 in Montañita, Ecuador.

The 2008 Tour will continue through November with events in South and Central America, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Barbados. Jaco will be home to the only ALAS event taking place in Costa Rica in November of this year.

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Filed under: Surf on February 11th, 2008