Returning Amigas Show the Secrets to Improving

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The secret to improving is to come on a retreat with us, then go home, practice, and come back again! Seriously though, the true secret to improving is having a great attitude. On our last couple retreats in El Salvador we had several girls come on their second retreat and I was totally blown away not only by how much they had improved since I’d last seen them but also how much more they improved over the course of the week.
I started wondering what it was that was different about these particular girls. Were they more gifted athletes? Were they just trying harder? Did they have super powers?
I realized that the secret was attitude. Firstly, they really wanted to improve. They were willing to put in the time and effort to take their surfing to the next level. Second, they listened to feedback. It’s always surprising to me when ladies come on retreats claiming they want help, but when I offer suggestions they argue with me. I’ll give a recommendation and then they’ll respond with a list of reasons why they couldn’t, wouldn’t, or shouldn’t. Those types have a hard time improving. The girls featured in the video took suggestions in and put them them into practice right away, and you can clearly see the awesome results.
Third – they spent a lot of time in the water. These girls were the first in, and the last out. After catching one good wave, they didn’t just go in and figure that was good for the day, they paddled back out looking for another.
Watch the video and be inspired!

Baby Sea Turtle Season


Baby turtles are so freaking cute! The Amigas are partnered with a non-profit called Waves of Hope who are working to protect sea turtles from poachers. After several months of collecting eggs and keeping them safe, the nests are starting to hatch!

Every few evenings between now and mid-December we’ll be having baby sea turtle sunsets. Come down and help baby sea turtles make their way out to sea!

Learn to Surf with Amigas

Our location in Northern Nicaragua is an awesome place to learn to surf. The waves break far out and gently roll towards shore making it really easy to figure out how to stand up and ride them all the way in! There are great waves for intermediate surfers too and we always end up with a mixture of abilities, but the group featured in this video had mostly beginners. Check out the footage for some great rides, including the very last clip of Ahyoung. She didn’t even stand up on day 1 but ended up scoring the wave of the week with an awesome high 5 from William the sexy French guy! Score!
Come learn to surf and do yoga with us at the best women’s surf yoga retreat!
Check out the schedule for available dates!

Surf With Baby Turtles in November and December

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November and December are the beginning of my favorite time of the year in Nicaragua. The rainy season is over, everything is green and beautiful, the waves are cute and groomed by offshore winds, but the best part might be baby turtles! Surf With Amigas is partnered with El Coco Loco Resort and Waves of Hope on their many projects including a sea turtle conservation project. Watch the video to learn more and visit in November and December to watch baby turtles released into the ocean at sunset.

Amigas Give Back with Waves of Hope

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It’s natural to want to give back and help people. Travel experiences are so much more meaningful when you get a chance to interact with the local community and impact their lives in a positive way. When I was looking for a place to run the women’s surf and yoga retreats I wanted to partner with someone who was making a positive impact on the community. Coco Loco is the perfect place. They run a non-profit called Waves of Hope that is investing in education to teach the people how to help themselves. Those are the sorts of businesses that I want to support and you can feel good about doing the same.
For more information about Waves Of Hope, click here!

First Ever Coco Loco Classic by Waves of Hope


Coco Loco, Waves of Hope, and Surf With Amigas are all dedicated to improving the lives of the people in the surrounding communities. One project was the Waves of Hope Surf Club which encouraged kids to attend school everyday by offering them a Saturday Surf Club which they could only attend if their teacher signed off that they had attended class every day, turned in assignments, and were generally being good students. Through this program, kids were motivated to stay in school, but they also got a chance to learn about the ocean and learn how to surf. The only problem was that after catching your first wave, you then want your own surfboard that those are expensive and hard to come by for a poor village kid.

Other gringos in other communities have solved this problem by just giving out a bunch of boards. The problem with this strategy is that the kids then don’t appreciate the value of the boards. They also then start asking for more hand-outs. We didn’t have enough boards for all the kids and tried to come up with a way that they could earn a new board.

Enter the Coco Loco Classic – We held a contest for 11 participants on a fun day at the point. A few of them didn’t even have a surfboard to use for the competition so we let them borrow some of ours. The contest ended in a tie so we gave out two boards but everyone had a great day with a fun friendly competitive spirit.
Watch the video below:
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Chelsea Rides a 6’1 Fish in Nicaragua

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Chelsea Denning is a 27 year old shortboarder from Southern California. She came to Nicaragua to improve her surfing and went from riding a 6’6 to a 6’1 fish. She made new surfing friends, checked out an awkward mother’s day celebration nica-style, and had an amazing time.