How Will You Shape CrossFit Potrero?

This little corner on Calle Mariposa has been a space for our friends to come together over fitness for longer than any of us have been here (well, anyone except for Majo). And as the team currently tasked with maintaining the gym and all the wonderful things that come with it, we see ourselves as stewards.

This beautiful space, under the trees and the open sky, just a tough farmer’s carry from the beach, was here before us, and we really hope it’ll be here long after us. Last month, we talked about the new chapter for CrossFit Potrero, but how that new chapter looks depends entirely on you, our awesome community. 

Below, we’re gonna talk about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. More importantly, we’re going to talk about the ways that you, our community, will shape CrossFit Potrero for the years to come.

A Brief History of CrossFit Potrero

The origins of CrossFit Potrero reach back to late 2016 in Playa Tamarindo under the name “Pacific Wave CrossFit”. Located just off the beach, coached by Sam and Nick, and under the leadership of owners Gary and Rachel, it wasn’t long before our longest-tenured member and eventual CFP founder, Mariajose Viquez, discovered the gym. 

However, by 2017, both the coaches and owners of Pacific Wave CrossFit had fallen in love with the Potrero/Surfside area they called home, and saw room to turn an old multipurpose garage and space under the trees on Calle Mariposa into their new home, which they named CrossFit Surfside. 

They built the first batch of rigs, brought in their equipment, improved the roofing, and created a small workout space that today, we know as the “small floor.” Back then, it was the only floor, and it took a lot of clever use of space and equipment to fit as many as 12 people in that tiny area!

The second of CFP’s founders, Colin Sharpe, joined the gym in late 2018, just as the Bahía de Potrero region was really starting to develop, and from there, things moved quickly. Eventually, Gary and Rachel’s adventure in life took them to India, so they sold CrossFit Surfside to the Rattray family, who took over the gym in 2019, and hired eventual founders Coach Harry and Coach Dennis. 

Sam and Nick set off to travel the world as yacht crew (they still blow through town here and there!), while the Rattrays made their own mark on the gym, creating the larger, second floor, and starting to explore everything a destination CrossFit could be. 

It was an unfortunate time to be building an international community of fitness (this was right before the pandemic), and some of the bolder initiatives from this time, like fitness retreats and a wider global community, never came to fruition. 

The existing community of locals stayed tight through the pandemic, and a new influx of digital nomads and remote workers brought new life to the gym, including eventual founders John and Erin, but the momentum from the initial purchase never quite returned. Eventually, the Rattrays sold the gym to a consortium of members and coaches in late 2021. 

Becoming CFP

Those founders — Majo, Dennis, Colin, Erin, Harry, and John — were united as a group of people (coaches and members alike) who truly loved this community, lived in the area, and saw the possibilities of this gym as a vital part of the local community. 

Honoring the new identity as a local institution with a tico spirit, they transformed CrossFit Surfside into CrossFit Potrero, and after a few attempts at getting the logo right, all of the changes that have come since then have been shaped by the needs and desires of the people who love this place so much. 

The fitness identity evolved. Pricing was adjusted to be more accessible to locals. The roof and flood protection measures got some much-needed renovations to stay open more often during the deep green season. Programming was restructured to better fit the athletes in the gym, and as the gym grows again, it’s changing into something more than just a gym/fitness space. 

Along the way, the driving force behind all of this has been the CFP community, an amazing group of people from all around the world brought together by Guanacaste, the magical town of Potrero, and our love for adventure. 

And as we tackle our next chapter, we want you to be the driving force of this community, which is why we’re making two major, permanent additions to help you shape the future.

The CFP Suggestion Box

First of this is the implementation of a completely anonymous suggestion box, which you can access from the website menu above or by clicking here. 

This is the perfect space to share your ideas for events, improvements to the gym, additions to the space, activities, or anything else that you feel will help make your CrossFit Potrero experience better. 

It’s also a space to report any complaints that you have. That’s part of the reason we made these submissions anonymous — it can be hard to offer feedback to people you train with and consider friends.

But we’re dedicated to delivering the very best CrossFit Potrero experience that we can, and that means listening to constructive criticism and being aware of the areas where we’re not doing well.

The suggestion box will be open from now in perpetuity, and every submission sends a notification to all of the coaches, so we’ll know in real time what’s happening. 

So good or bad, we want to hear your feedback. We won’t know what to change without you!

The CrossFit Potrero Referral Program

The second major, permanent change we’re making is the implementation of our CrossFit Potrero Referral Program. So many of us discovered CFP via friends, and it’s always better to have more friendly faces in the gym.

So we want to reward you guys and incentivize you to invite your friends to join!

Here's how referrals work: if a friend of yours joins CrossFit and purchases any of our monthly plans, their first month will go straight back to you to cover your membership fees! 

This works with any plans. So if you’re on a $60 monthly plan, and you refer a friend who gets the unlimited $100 plan, you’ve got a little over a month and a half covered! On the other hand, if you’re unlimited, and your friend gets a $60 plan, you’ll still get half off!

Like the suggestion box, you can access this permanently from our main menu above, or get here directly by clicking the link here. 

If you'd like to claim a referral, just submit your name, your friend's name, and the membership they're interested in or have booked. We'll handle the rest with you directly!

We Can't Do It Without You

On our home page, right towards the top, it says that We’re All In This Together. And that’s not just a High School Musical reference, it’s the truth. CrossFit Potrero only exists because of the love you all have for this community, and to continue thriving as Potrero and the surrounding regions evolve, we’ll need you. 

Cheers to a bright future!