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Full Name: Julie Javelle
Surf Stance: Regular Foot
Favorite Break in Costa Rica: Playa Grande
What do you listen to before surfing: Reggae. It relaxes me.
How did you end up in Costa Rica? In 2002, my parents moved to Costa Rica to accomplish one of their many dreams. In my opinion it’s their best decision taken ever! At the beginning it was hard, I did not speak English or Spanish but we got the hang of it pretty quick and learning Spanish while learning to surf wasn’t so bad, surfing has been a passion since then! I started working part time for Witch’s Rock Surf Camp at the age of 15 giving surf lessons.
How has it been growing up in Tamarindo? I was so blessed to be able to grow up in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, not only we have amazing waves here but living in a place multicultural is pretty awesome too and kind of confusing at the same time. Am I French because I was born in France or Costa Rican for growing up here and calling it home for the past 11 years? That question goes through my head every time someone ask me where I’m from.
How did you get into surfing? My sister and I headed to the beach every day after school, where we met many local surfers, including Pako Vega, one of our surf instructors here at Witch’s Rock Surf Camp. Pako quickly became family to us. He taught us everything about surfing from what type of board we should ride to Kelly Slater (The Robert August of my generation) and Pura Vida. Thanks to him we got into the world of surfing! He drove my sister and I to every national surfing competition, then WRSC sponsored me and I represented them all around the country, my last year competing I got 3 category of women junior, thanks to the competitions I got to surf pretty much everywhere in Costa Rica.
You’ve worked with Witch’s Rock Surf Camp for almost 7 years now. How has that experience been? Staying close to Witch’s Rock all those years made the experience even better. What better place to work at if you’re a surfer? I love to be able to jump into one of the advanced boat trip before work. It’s also a great way to share my passion, I love the feeling of pushing someone in their first wave and seeing them so happy to stand up, something they never thought they would do in their life, I think I feel the same adrenaline as them!
