A Couple Take A Surf Trip Without Their Kids to Rekindle Their Love

A couple’s getaway

Amber and Shane Yoder currently live on boat in Florida with their two young girls. Amber first joined us on a retreat several years ago in Costa Rica and has been back a few times to Nicaragua. She even brought Shane and the kids on one of our family retreats two years ago. For this trip to Costa Rica in May, they left the kids with grandma and escaped for a week of surf for just the two of them. They joined us on one of our advanced short and longboard retreats, looking to be guided to awesome surf spots, have their surfing critiqued so that they could improve, eat delicious food, do yoga, but also just get a chance to surf their brains out without worrying about the kids!

“Kids take all your energy and sometimes you forget who you are as a person, she said. It was so good for us to take a surf trip and reconnect with how we fell in love in the first place, through surfing!”

Raise your arms if you feel that one busy mamas! Wouldn’t a surf trip your man be pretty awesome right about now? It’s hard to leave the kids behind, but so good to recharge that energy and focus on you for once!

Couples Surf Retreat

If you are lucky enough to have a surfing partner and want to get away on a surf trip for just the two of you, leaving the babies (human or fur babies) at home, we do have two couple friendly retreats happening in the fall – Nov 24-Dec 2 and Nov 8-15, both in Southern Costa Rica. 

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Short or long board, Amber and Shane rip!

New Retreat Added – Luxury Surf Yoga Retreat Southern Costa Rica Nov 17-24

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“Luxurious accommodations with an unforgettable view”

The Accommodations

At Surf With Amigas we typically focus on value accommodations and go big on service in order to keep the price affordable. This one week we are offering a more luxurious accommodation option but still the awesome service you expect from us.

We’ll stay at a gorgeous house just 200m from the beach, but up a steep hill creating dramatic views. The house features 4 rooms to be split by 2-3 guests, each with it’s own private bathroom, AC, hot water, and high speed fiber optic WiFi. There’s a comfortable living room with big screen tv where we’ll do our surf coaching and classroom sessions, a relaxing pool and brand new yoga deck. The food will be catered by a local chef.

This region of Costa Rica is regarded as one of the most biologically diverse places in the world. Expect to see monkeys, sloths, toucans, scarlet macaws and a variety of other local creatures! There’s an option to ride horses deep into the jungle to check out a Native Indian reserve, do a boat trip to surf (conditions permitting), and we’ll have a ladies night out on the town. We’ll even learn to make chocolate and support the indigenous community by shopping their locally made products. We’ll relax and reconnect with nature.

The Surf

We will be driving to surf but there are several spots just a short way down the road, and relaxing on the pool deck, enjoying the view after the session will make hopping in the car to surf more than worth it. There’s a fun wave a short drive to the South featuring mostly lefts but a few rights too, a few gentler waves down the beach, and a couple world class point breaks nearby. We’ll be on a surf safari to get you into the best waves possible.  

If the swell is bigger we’ll be on a mission by boat or car to surf some of the longest waves in the world. We also like to explore some hidden nooks and crannies that are also super fun and often empty. We typically break up the group by ability so that everyone gets what they’re looking for and we don’t show up anywhere with a big crowd!


Our first retreat at this location will be November 17-24 2018. If you can’t make it that week but would love to check out this location, let us know and we may add more dates to the schedule.

Email [email protected] for Questions

Southern Costa Rica Luxury Surf and Yoga Retreat Details

Price: Starting at $1950

What’s Included:

  • Two way transportation from the Golfito Airport (provided you arrive and depart on the designated days/times)
  • 7 nights accommodation in a shared room (2-3 per room depending on size of room) with AC, hot water, private bathroom and high speed WiFi
  • 4 deliciously healthy fresh meals per day (early morning cold breakfast, hot brunch, lunch, and dinner, plus dessert)
  • Unlimited coffee, tea, water, and juice
  • Daily individualized in-water surf coaching/instruction/guiding
  • Daily one on one post- session video coaching with one of our instructors
  • Video footage from surf sessions
  • A group of awesome new Amigas who may become your lifetime surfing friends!
  • Surfboard rental
  • Daily yoga classes
  • Adventures such as horseback riding, jungle exploring, boat trips, hiking, chocolate making, monkey viewing, ladies night out, etc.

Optional Extras:

  • Massages
  • Alcohol
  • Tips for staff

Book Flights

To book your flight, first fly into San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO), then connect to a domestic flight to Golfito. I recommend looking at the possible international options but then actually booking your Golfito flight before booking your international flight. I was told by an Amiga who has already booked hers that it looked like all the flights shown below on the schedule were available until she actually tried to book one of them. So book the smaller flight first just to be sure!

There are several flights per day into Golfito – an early morning, a midday, and a later afternoon flight. Our shuttle will pick you up on the midday or afternoon flight only since the hotel does not allow check in before noon. For the way out, choose the early or midday flight to take advantage of our shuttle.

For the flight from San Jose to Golfito, you need to book with Sansa Air directly – you can’t use Expedia.  For questions on booking flights or other options if you can’t find an itinerary that works for you, send us an email!


 

 

 

How To Surf With Style – The Soul Arch

On a recent advanced retreat in Costa Rica, I asked the group for suggestions on classroom session topics. One of the guests suggested a talk about how to have good style.

What is style?

Style is one of those things that you know when you see but is hard to describe. One of the most stylish female surfers, Stephanie Gilmore says “there’s no right or wrong, you do what feels good to you.”

The SOul arch

For the talk, I listed a handful of generally considered stylish professional surfers and then created a slideshow of photos of them. One thing we noted that almost all had in common was a tendency to do a “soul arch”. A soul arch is when you usually have your feet relatively closer together and you thrust your hips out, arch your back, and lean your head back. Whether it is in the tube, on a bottom turn, or during a nose ride, a lot of stylish surfers will go for this move. It looks cool, it feels cool. I encouraged the Amigas to try it on their next session.

Inspired myself to take my personal soul arch to the next level, I really went for it one session. I was paddling out with a local friend and we were talking about surfboards. She wanted to try mine and suggested I try hers. She weighs a bit more than I do so her board was quite a bit thicker and stiffer than what I’m used to riding. This is a video of my first wave riding her board. After a few turns, I went for the soul arch, into a cheater 5 nose ride soul arch, into a head-dip tube. Does it look cool? It felt amazing. In the end that’s all that matters!

I dare you to try a soul arch on your next session. Let us know how it feels!

Holly Beck, soul arch, style, surf instructor, learn to surf, costa rica

Surf With Amigas Has the Best Female Surf Instructors

best female surf instructors, costa rica, learn to surf, surf camp, surf yoga retreat, surf coaching, surf with amigasSurf with amigas has the best Female Surf instructors

In crafting our team of surf instructors, we focus on finding women from all over the world who are positive, inspiring, hilarious to hang out with, and who rip. Our instructors surf amazingly well! It’s also different learning from women. You don’t have to worry about bikini malfunctions!

Learning to surf isn’t just physical. It can be an emotional experience overcoming fears, pushing yourself past your comfort level, and learning to believe in yourself. Having a female instructor to meet you at your emotional level and support you in pushing through or even just listen to what you’re going through is just different than with a male instructor. 

Continue reading “Surf With Amigas Has the Best Female Surf Instructors”

Surf Coaching in Costa Rica for All Levels

Learning to turn more radically.

Surf Coaching in Costa Rica

At our Costa Rican location, we offer surf coaching retreats for advanced beginners and intermediate surfers. We define advanced beginners as those that have already stood up in the white wash, can paddle themselves outside, and are ready to start riding green waves. Although we have been flexible with this description, these are the types of surfers that tend to have the best time and are able to take advantage of the amazing waves our Costa Rican location has to offer!

Continue reading “Surf Coaching in Costa Rica for All Levels”

68 Yr Old Woman Surfs Giant Wave

I was talking to a group of Amigas recently who were asking about various aged participants and was reminded of this story. It’s such a good one that I wanted to share. Read below about the incredibly inspirational Genie!

Learning to surf after age 50

Genie learned to surf at age 50 in order to share the sport with her son who was a surfer. She then joined us on her first retreat in Nicaragua as a 67 year old, to take her surfing to the next level with a group of other supportive women, and practice yoga. We do often have ladies join us in their late 50s and even 60s, but Genie is a special case. Vivacious, hilarious, energetic, not to mention looking amazing in her bikini, we were all immediately so inspired.

Continue reading “68 Yr Old Woman Surfs Giant Wave”

Sunny Longboarding Session in Costa Rica

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This week had absolutely firing surf. Each day had it’s own flavor – from super long point breaks, to adventurous boat trips, to bigger waves, we sampled a bit of everything. Normally we have a mix of ability levels, but on this retreat, almost everyone was pretty close to the same level. They were all catching tons of waves and working on turning.

One day the swell was a bit smaller, but still offering really clean long waves. Holly had just gotten a new longboard so she convinced everyone to paddle out on longer boards. Since it was super sunny, everyone threw on surf leggings and big floppy hats for full sun protection. Holly paddled out with the GoPro to capture all the awesome rides from a surfer’s perspective.

Surf Yoga Retreats led by women are the most fun! Come see why!

music by Nicki Bluhm

Surf With Amigas Female Instructors Surf Hollow Waves

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Does your surf instructor surf like this?

One thing that sets Surf With Amigas apart from other surf camps is our group of incredibly talented female surf instructors. When you learn to surf from women, it’s a completely different situation and a more complete experience. We hire the best instructors and pay them well so that they are motivated to help you catch waves, vs. being surf starved themselves. That doesn’t mean that they don’t get a chance to catch a few waves alongside the guests, but that they are happy to give up the best waves to you!

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It’s best to learn from female surf instructors.

Women understand women. Learning to surf is more than just physical. It’s about overcoming fears, believing in oneself, and learning to trust. Women can offer a different level of support in those areas. Plus you don’t have to worry about bikini malfunctions or how your hair looks.

Some other camps also feature female instructors, but few have the quality of experienced surfers that we do. Of course wipeouts happen regardless of your ability level and those are worth watching along with the awesome rides.

Here’s a highlight video showing three of our surf instructors at a recent advanced tube riding clinic in Nicaragua.

For more on our instructors, check out our Instructor page.

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Advanced Tube Riding Clinic Highlight Video

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In October we hosted our very first exclusively advanced level tube riding clinic.  Seven Amigas and one Amigo joined us, all with the goal of getting their first tube ride. The Surf With Amigas staff offered in-water help yelling “go go go, cute one!, daily video coaching, and classroom sessions to get them into position. By the end of the week half the group had gotten their first tube ride! The rest have the tools to keep practicing at home to make it happen.

Here’s the highlight video from all the guests. Standby for the highlights from the instructors showing how it’s done. I love the wipeout sections of this video! It shows how much everyone wanted to get their first tube ride and were willing to push themselves over the edge!

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Alison charging a hollow wave.

 

 

 

If you want to improve your skills and are an intermediate to advanced surfer, join us on one of our advanced coaching retreats for surf, yoga, some adventure, and high level coaching to get you to achieve your goals!

We will be working on adding another exclusively shortboard tube riding clinic to the schedule soon. Email if you are interested in more info!

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Mom of two from Florida drops in on a nice one and gets a backside tube.

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Black Friday Deals on Surf Yoga Retreats in Nicaragua and Costa Rica

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An early morning right peels across the bay at our Northern Nicaragua location.

We’re getting in on the Black Friday Deal action. We still have a few spots open in December in Nicaragua and January/February in Costa Rica and are offering some great deals to fill a few spots.

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Get on wave coaching by the best female instructors including pro surfer Holly Beck!

 

 

Join us for the Best Surf Yoga Retreat and Surf Coaching Available at a great price.

If you sign up before Nov 30th for our Dec 16-23 or Dec 30-Jan 6 surf yoga retreats in Nicaragua or Jan 13-20, Jan 20-27, Feb 10-17 or Feb 17-24 surf yoga retreats in Costa Rica, we are offering several hundred dollars off!

Join us to get the very best surf coaching by our all female staff! Each retreat also features lots of other activities like daily yoga, horseback riding, giving back to the local community, and other adventures.

If you were thinking of joining us but price was a concern, now’s the best time to reserve your spot! Email [email protected] for info!

For info on the specific locations – Click here (scroll down past the schedules for photos and info): Northern Nicaragua Costa Rica

Surf yoga retreat, surf coaching, nicaragua, holly beck, surf camp, womens
An Amiga from Santa Cruz celebrates her first time going left. We will help you achieve your surfing goals, whatever they are!