Vacationers Rescued by Local Surfers
From Voiceofnosara.com

An intense brush with tidal trouble left one American family on vacation feeling relieved Monday July 23 at Guiones Beach.

Surfers from all around the area began running towards the south end of Guiones Beach after 12-year-old Selah Peacock made her way back to shore and spread word that her four other siblings were pulled past the water breaks. She knew there was trouble when her older sister, 17-year-old Oona, told her to "go and get ma and pa."

"We were riding the waves," explained Oona. "We kept getting pulled further and further out. I tried swimming parallel to the shore but it didn't work."

Several surfers, clutching their boards, sprinted and plunged headlong into the waves. They quickly made their way to the four kids and came back into shore with extra passengers in tow.

Local surf competitor Cristian Santamaria came to the beach earlier with a friend to enjoy the waves. "Someone called for help, came and told me that there was someone in the water," he explained. "It was really hard to see. The current was very strong and the waves were too big."

"I saw the gringa in the water in a dangerous situation," he said. Santamaria then followed Del Mar Surf Camp employee Jesse Chatty out into the tide and got the kids on the back of their boards before steadily making their way back to shore.

"I've saved 13 people before today," boasted Santamaria, "and it's a great feeling to help."

According to official statistics from the Red Cross, water-related accidents in Nosara were at an all-time low in 2009 with only 25 attributed to Nosara Beach over an eight-year period, out of which an unknown number of deaths resulted. Local experience with the waves and basic training in lifesaving skills can be seen as a contributor to this trend.

“You must have someone watching,” said Santamaria. “Keep your eyes open, and just ask the locals how the water is, don't just jump in. You can't control the sea, you must respect her. If you don't, you risk putting yourself in dangerous situations.”

The children's mother, Corina, took a moment to speak with VON following the ordeal. "Every person came to give us help," she said. "There were a couple of other foreigners who ran to go get a boat from someone on the other side of town... I'm just overwhelmed with happiness and relief."

Being only their second day of vacation, the kids aren't going to let this episode ruin their fun, albeit with a lesson learned: "We should have made sure we could still stand on the bottom," said Oona. "You shouldn't go out too far, and you should also probably have an adult with you there."