instructors - Surf With Amigas

Instructors Surf and Party on a Week Off

on December 12, 2015December 12, 2015 By hollybeck27

Some might think the SWA instructors have the best job in the world. They spend a couple of weeks helping Amigas get the waves of their lives and then have a week or two off to party, surf, and play. Some might be right!

On a week off in early December, the waves ended being small, clean, and tubular. The Amigas staff were posted up at Hotel Chancletas and between surf sessions spent some time with new friends in a daily pool party. Here are some photo highlights from the week courtesy of Rick Briggs of @DondeX photography.

Abi smiles through a super cute bottom turn.

Kinda awkward when your head gets barreled but your butt gets left outside the tube. Ha ha!

One day when the waves were small, the girls took a boat trip to a river mouth around the corner, and girls did what girls do…. jumped off a boat for the photo.

Michelle rarely goes surfing without having a pineapple waiting for her on the beach or in this case, the boat!

Afternoon pool parties are a must!

Chloe paddles out at the river mouth.

Emily didn’t get any good tube shots even though she is actually an awesome tube rider. This is how it made her feel.

On weeks off, Holly usually goes into hermit mode getting work done on the computer and hanging out with her little girl. But when the waves are hollow she may sneak out and grab a view.

Jackie has been working hard on her tube riding skills. It’s paying off as she scored the best photo of the batch. YEW!

Michelle aka “Grom” is probably the most frothy of the bunch.

She has also been working on her tube riding. Nice one!

The girls compete for “likes” on Instagram. Looks like Chloe just pulled ahead! Better get some more tube shots, Em-dawg!

Reesie is acrobatic.

Reesie has been seriously stepping it up in the surf lately. Sick shot Amiga!

Awesome photos by this guy, Rick Briggs! MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Surfing A Thumpy Beach Break

on November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 By hollybeck27

[youtube=https://youtu.be/Pjs1_BCXCN0]
We get a mixture of levels on retreats usually, but it is not often that we have Amigas bringing their own shortboards and ready to pull into tubes. At a retreat at our Central Nicaragua location we had an Amiga named Cat who is a shredder. She was working on refining her turns and trying to learn to get barreled. One morning a few of the instructors took her out to a thumpy hollow beach break. While the surf wasn’t quite as good as they were hoping, it was still tons of fun

Summertime Staff Froth Out

on September 18, 2015September 18, 2015 By hollybeck27

Summer is over, but we’re still frothing! Here’s what the staff does in between helping Amigas learn to surf… froth and shred!

[youtube=https://youtu.be/Wm3DU5Nl-dU]

New Trio of Instructors for Rainy Season Retreats

on June 1, 2015June 1, 2015 By hollybeck27

The rain hasn’t started, but we’re still calling our series in Nicaragua from May – August the rainy season (do your rain dances and send any drops our way!). We are very excited to have a trio of new smiling faces rocking the Surf With Amigas rash guards. We have two Aussies and one Oregonian with very different but very awesome personalities who will be happy to help you catch your very first wave or perfect your duck dive. If you’re coming down this season you will get a chance to laugh and share a cold beer (not to mention a wave) with one or all of these three.

Instructors Surf

on March 1, 2015March 1, 2015 By hollybeck27

During retreats our job as instructors is to make sure the Amigas get great waves, learn something new about surfing, and have an awesome time. Of course, there is a chance for us to get to catch a few waves as well. While we make it a point to give all the best waves to the Amigas, sometimes we’re able to sneak a few good ones for ourselves. Here’s a silly little video showing some behind the scenes action from the Surf With Amigas Instructors in February.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Mgr2lNQooyg]

Amira Holmes : from Amiga Guest to Amigas Instructor

on February 26, 2015April 3, 2015 By hollybeck27

During one of our El Salvador retreats this past year we met an awesome Amiga named Amira who lives in Panama and was raving about the great waves in her current hometown. She was so successful at convincing us that we added two Southern Pacific Panama retreats to the schedule for 2015. She will be one of our instructors and our surf guide. Those retreats are unfortunately already sold out with ladies on the wait list, but we will hopefully add more for 2016. In the meantime, check out what Amira is all about!

Amira Richa Holmes : 30 years old, Panamanian, “in love with surfing”

Amira is an architect who lived in Panama City all her life…until she got hooked on surfing. Her first time was in 2006 in Australia, while she was doing an internship. Upon returning to Panama, she borrowed boards so she could spend time in the ocean catching waves. At 23 years old, her father finally showed his support of her dreams and gave her a surfboard. However, he quickly took it back after she devoted more time to surfing than to her studies. She completed her thesis a year later, making her family and herself proud. Her favorite graduation present was the return of her beloved surfboard.

Amira was unsatisfied in the city because she craved the beach, sand between her toes, sun on her skin, and clear blue ocean. She needed to find a way to combine her love of surfing, nature, design, painting, and creating. She moved into a surf shack in Cañas, near Venao, and started pursuing her dreams. A short time later, she bought a small farm in the town of Tonosi. She proudly grows her own vegetables and takes pride in creating something really special.

Amira loves to travel the world in search for waves and nice people. She has fully explored Panama as well as Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, California, Florida, and Brazil. The next countries on her list are Indonesia, Australia, and the Hawaii.

You can find Amira’s artwork on the Instagram and Facebook pages of Bongzaii. Her hand painted hats are popular all over Panama and she receives photos of her hats ‘round the world. Her most popular designs are of the surf breaks here in Panama.

Amira wants more girls in the lineup! She wants to pass her love of surfing on to you! She hopes to see you soon in the beautiful Pacific Ocean in Panama.

Instructors Silliness in Bocas Del Toro

on February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 By hollybeck27

Faced with a two week break, a few of the Surf With Amigas instructors adventured over to Bocas Del Toro, Panama for a little surf adventure. Here’s a quick little behind the scenes look at their trip. There is unfortunately no surfing footage because none of them wanted to sit on the beach and film (not surprising). If you happen to know any of these girls I think you’ll find it hilarious.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/9_w8SLlMswI]

New Instructor for Nov and Dec – Emily

on October 4, 2014March 6, 2015 By hollybeck27

I first met Emily aka Em-dogs when she was in High School. I was home in between events on the world tour and slightly bored since there weren’t any cool surfer girls my own age who didn’t have full time jobs. I noticed a little crew of high school surfer girls and offered to take them under my wing and drive them to places like Trestles and Oceanside in the summer when our beaches were flat (the South Bay community where we’re from doesn’t pick up South swells and is typically about knee high and terrible all summer long). Emily was the quietest and most responsible of the group, although when she did say something she usually had everyone rolling in laughter. Those early summer road trips turned into a week-long trip to the North Shore of Oahu and then a trip to check out my new home break in Nicaragua in 2010. When looking for a calm responsible surf instructor who could be a good listener and also someone to laugh with, Emily was a natural choice.

Emily is 25 years old and hails from Palos Verdes, California. She grew up surfing the South Bay of LA and was lucky enough to have a tight knit group of local girl surfers and the influences of Holly. She participated in contests throughout High School and ended up being the team captain of Peninsula High’s surf team her senior year. After graduating, her love for surfing definitely influenced her choice in colleges. She headed down to San Diego State University where she got a degree in Business Administration and scored some great waves. Emily also competed with her college surf team where they took home multiple state championship titles. Teaching surf lessons throughout college lead her to open her LA based surf school where she could share her love of surfing with people from all over the world. After her first trip in Nicaragua back in 2010 she vowed to be back and jumped at the opportunity to teach with Surf With Amigas!

Jamie Came to Improve Her Surfing – Success!

on July 14, 2014February 18, 2015 By hollybeck27

Jamie has been surfing a few years in the Los Angeles area without any formal coaching, just going surfing with her friends. Some of those friends had visited Surf With Amigas the year before and greatly improved their surfing, so Jamie came down hoping to do the same. After a few days she realized that the issues she was having didn’t have a lot to do with skill necessarily but were mental blocks. With the help of the Amigas instructors (both surf and yoga) she was able to overcome and scored the best wave of her life, riding all the way to the beach with mindfulness and control, on the last day of the retreat. Here’s Jamie’s story.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPb5X1gSjI4]

Learn From the Best at Surf With Amigas

on June 26, 2014February 18, 2015 By hollybeck27

If you want to learn something new, you want to find the very best teacher. At Surf With Amigas, we’re dedicated to assembling the very best staff. We pay more per week than a lot of other camps pay per month, which means we get great instructors (all girls who love to surf and travel) who are very excited and motivated to help you learn – whether it’s in the water, on your yoga mat, or over a fruity cocktail while soaking in the pool. Learn to surf better, improve your yoga practice, and gain new perspective on life, love, and happiness with Surf With Amigas.
In this video a recent Amiga shares what she learned from the staff this week.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/qQQzmT5r31o]