New Retreat Location: Why Peru?

We’re Going to Chicama, Peru!

Natalie Small

The idea of hosting SWA retreats in Peru was born in conversation with one of our newest additions to the Surf With Amigas surf instructor team, Natalie. Natalie has been living and surfing in Peru for the past few years where she’s hosted plenty of surf retreats with her non-profit organization, Groundswell Community Project.

The longest left in the world

After chatting about Peru, the waves, the history and the people, Natalie totally stoked us out on holding SWA retreats there and sharing waves in her backyard! The retreat spot, Chicama, is home to the longest left in the world. It was easy to convince the team that it would be EPIC to surf with Amigas on another world class left point break. You know how we love those!



Birthplace of Surfing

Not only is Peru a surf haven because of it’s beautiful waves, but it’s also chock full of surf history. It’s one of the birthplaces of surfing, where Peruvians first rode waves on woven reed boats known as, “Caballitos de Totora”.

Caballitos de Totora and surfboards have similar features, like rocker, and were first used to help fisherman move through the waves and ride waves back to shore. Some say that the ancient surf craft were depicted in paintings thousands of years ago, making Peru an extremely special place to learn about the origins of surf.


During our retreats we’ll explore and surf in Huanchaco, pictured above. It’s a historic beach town known as the birthplace of surfing! We’ll watch as locals put their “Caballitos de Totora” to use and we’ll even work alongside the locals to make our own.

You can learn more about our Surf & Yoga Retreats in Peru by clicking here.

~Nos Vemos en Chicama!