One of our newest surf instructors, Florida grom Jazmine Dean, just spent her first season working retreats and adventuring with the Surf With Amigas crew down in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. She created this super rad little surf film and just released it last week! Enjoy the film and a note from Jaz below-
Surf with amigas x Jazmine
Pura Vida!
My life changed in the season I spent down here as a first time Surf With Amigas instructor just as much as Amigas often say their lives change during retreats. I’m currently still down in Southern Costa Rica and I’ve spent more consecutive months living here than I have spent living in any other foreign country before. I spend my free days in-between retreats almost the same as I spend my, “work”, days during retreats, and most of my closest friends down here were formed through the connections and roots that SWA has created here in the local community.
This film barely scratches the surface of how this life has reconnected me to my roots as a soul surfer and the good times had. I understand surfing and have for a long time, but these retreats are just as much about personal growth as they are about surfing a wave, and for that, I thank the guests, our Amigas, so much.
I’m most grateful of all for the women I’ve met through the retreats and I took a little from each person I spent time with. It’s possible that some of you reading this were on some of the retreats I worked at and maybe even appear in a scene or two! Anyways, please enjoy the film and thanks for watching.
Need some new reads to get hyped for your next surf adventure? SWA Instructor Coco has shared her favorite surf-centric books!
In Search Of Captain Zero
a surfer’s road trip beyond the end of the road
By Allan C. Weisbecker
My favorite surf book ever. This book really captures the essence of surf travel and it opened up my mind to the wild magic of Mexico.
On his journey from New York to Central America in search of a long lost friend, Allan finds himself in some wild places, surfing empty waves and gathering clues of his dear friend Captain Zero’s whereabouts along the way. This book is hilarious and entertaining from beginning to end and it really inspired me. I still dream of driving through Mexico and Central America! Maybe one day. As far as I know Captain Zero is still living there in Mexico- my sister ran into him a few years ago in Panama and they surfed together.
Bustin’ Down the Door
By Wayne RABBIT Bartholomew
I read this book while living in Hawaii. The author, “Rabbit”, is an Australian surf legend who writes about his adventures in Hawaii in the winter of 1975 where he was almost chased out, first by locals, then by huge waves crashing through his front door in the night.
After reading this book I moved to Australia and eventually met Rabbit at Southern Cross University where I was studying Sports Management “surfing studies”. I remember during his open discussion he asked the students if we could leave our desks and sit in a circle on the floor instead. Legend indeed.
Barbarian DaysA Surfing Life
By William Finnegan
“The particulars of new places grabbed me and held me, the sweep of new coasts, cold, lovely, dawns. The world was incomprehensibly large, and there was still so much to see. Yes, I got sick sometimes of being an expatriate, always ignorant, on the outside of things, but I didn’t feel ready for domestic life, for seeing the same people, the same places, thinking more or less the same thoughts, each day. I liked surrendering to the onrush, the uncertainty, the serendipity of the road.” — Finnegan
This quote taken from Barbarian Days really sums up the excitement of surf travel. Never knowing what is around the next corner, traveling to new places, exposing yourself to new cultures, and embracing the unexpected. I read it in a just a few days! After reading I starting thinking about surfing bigger waves and began training a few weeks later too!
This summer I finally visited a place I’ve been dreaming of going to since I was a kid. Brazil is the birth place of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art created by African slaves who were brought to Brazil by the Portuguese during the slave trade. Because most of the slave ships initially landed in the port of Salvador, Bahia, it is the city with the largest population of Africans outside of Africa and is the home of Capoeira.
For me summer break from retreats is an opportunity to rest, reconnect with family, and enjoy the roots that I am beginning to grow here in Southern Nicaragua.
Two epic weeks of Southern Nicaragua Retreats in June, packed with pumping swells and so much shredding rounded off my summer season with the Amigas. Still flying high from the rush of big swell, I zipped off to California and Canada to visit family and celebrate my only brother’s wedding.
We started in Sonoma which was an epic welcome back to America. Since there were no waves in sight (super weird for us) I did a lot of running through the dry desert hills to stay in surf shape. We celebrated my mother in law’s 70th birthday in style and enjoyed the flavours of craft beer and local wine, a luxury far from my reality of Central American jungle life.
From Sonoma we flew off to Central Canada where I am from, a prairie girl born and raised. My brother and his wife had an epic country wedding with oceans of tall prairie grass and wild flowers as the back drop. The skies are giant and so dynamic and the weather can change in an instant. Although it does not fuel my soul like the rush of the the ocean and waves, there is always something incredibly powerful about being home. Enjoying the beauty of the flat lands and celebrating big love with my family, dancing, laughing and sharing our gratitude under the stars.My time in Winnipeg filled me with love to the brim and reminded me of what is truly important.
After almost three weeks in North America I was frothing to get back to the ocean and my home here in Nicaragua, which is where I find myself now. Sitting on our outdoor patio as I write this, watching the wind dance over the ocean and pelicans surfing the swells with more grace than any human could.
We were welcomed back to Nica with some super fun swells and a visit from another instructor Ona and her man Simon. Together, we charged our local beach breaks which are punchy and fast and appreciated hanging with another couple who are as equally driven by surfing as we are! What an epic homecoming.
Shortly after our return, life was again put into perspective when my husband Bo had a surfing accident. He broke a bone in his back (again!), tore two ligaments and is currently on bed rest. Watching his strong, resilient and positive outlook through it all has been an inspiration and also makes me so grateful for the able, physical and healthy body that I have in this moment.Our bodies are our vehicles, as surfers they are our source of so much joy, and we have to take care of them. There has to be a balance of strength and flexibility, of exertion and rest, and this injury has been a great reminder of that.
Carly with her husband Bo, dancing at her brother’s wedding.
I have been training a lot in this time off, practicing yoga for balance and taking time to connect, reflect and find clarity on what is truly important to me!
After this rest, I am feeling ready to charge ahead with our next series or retreats at my home here in Southern Nicaragua followed by a trip to one of my favorite waves in the world Pavones and our first Southern Costa Rica retreats at a new location!
Abigail Tirabassi is a wandering free spirit who follows her heart to adventures. She’s a musician, a surfer, a yogi, a friend, most commonly found walking barefoot and sweaty down a hot road in the sun, carrying a bag full of coconuts or veggies, wearing a straw hat and an un-buttoned button-up shirt with short shorts to cover a super fit and tanned body. Or so I came across her yesterday, not knowing she was in town. We offered her a ride, but she claimed she was almost there, “lost my shoes at the party“.
I first saw Abi a couple years ago. She was walking out to surf wearing leggings and a flowing long sleeve flannel (always unbuttoned) and carrying a strange looking single fin. I had my doubts about the style, writing her off as another hipster wannabe. Until she hit the water and flowed with unexpected style, grace, and skill along the small peelers. I immediately paddled out and hit her with 20 questions: What’s your name? Where do you live? How long are you here? Have you ever taught surf lessons? Want to work with Surf With Amigas? etc. etc.
I’m sure she thought I was a bit crazy, but the answers to the questions were all positive, and she spent some of 2015 and 2016 hanging out with our team, helping Amigas to get the rides of their lives.
If you know Abi, you’ll enjoy this. If you haven’t met her yet, you’ll certainly be inspired. Check out this story written by Abi herself and posted on our friend’s website. The first paragraph is copied below, but go here for the whole thing and a few more awesome pictures: https://yogatrade.com/to-go-or-to-stay/
The two best things I own right now are my single fin surfboard and a half of croissant that I’m saving for lunch. I’m in a dream — I’m so excited about both. So excited in fact, that I changed my ticket back to the states to indulge. Only by a week. I am a gringa, American woman, living a fulfilling life in Costa Rica but also maintaining a job in California. I also live a fulfilling life in Florida. And life is really, really good. I’m connected to all these places for various reasons, all within the realm of my adulthood, my dreams, my capabilities. Granted, one always knows that one can do more: stay put somewhere, have a farm, make a family, start a new career…but is that me talking?
On a trip to the Galapagos Islands with Sector 9 Skateboards, pro surfers Holly Beck, Jen Smith, and Kim Mayer skate to play with baby seals. Future retreat location? Maybe….
Holly Beck, Kim Mayer, and Jen Smith are pro surfers who also love skateboarding. They are part of the Sector 9 girl’s team and went to Ecuador with skate and surfboards to surf with seals and hang out with marine iguanas. Check out part 1 of the adventure.
