After a few months off, Surf With Amigas returned to Nicaragua for a super fun retreat at our old home base. We scored great conditions and really fun waves for all levels. It was an incredibly frothy week with horseback galloping, dancing by local ladies, kickball with the local friends, and tons of good waves.
We’ve got more Nicaragua retreats on our schedule for Fall 2019. Come play!
You may have heard the saying “its not the destination its the journey”. It has always kind of annoyed me because the journey normally means long plane rides, delays, layovers, canceled flights etc., and I just want to get to the destination already and skip the “journey” part. But, it doesn’t have to be that way at all. It’s good to think of the journey as an adventure and wherever I end up, even if its not the place I had intended to go, as the destination.
My latest surf adventure was by boat with 3 girlfriends, a cooler full of beer, a comically large quiver of surfboards, and a desire for right hand point breaks. We left not so bright but very early (4am) and loaded up the boat with all of our boards. We brought long boards, mid length boards and short boards. The great thing about traveling with a boat full of women is that we are always prepared with stylish surf costumes, which explains the plethora of bikinis, leggings, rash guards, surf hats, and some surf sun glasses. Oh, and just in case, the snorkel mask and fins.
Surf With Amigas is mostly about all female adventures, but a few times per year we allow men to tag along. In this case we had a few couples and a mother/son duo who scored a really great swell. Check out all the action on a co-ed surf yoga adventure retreat in Costa Rica.
Boat trips, smooth glassy waves, and a bunch of ladies excited to ride them, this was an awesome week! If you want to have an incredible adventure with other like minded Amigas, come join us on a retreat in Southern Costa Rica.
Several times per year we host co-ed friendly/couple’s retreats. We love the all-women’s vibe but it’s also nice to mix it up and have some guy energy around. This particular week scored all time surf that was really uncrowded. Stoked!
Carrie McGowan came on her first SWA retreat in 2017. She hadn’t been on a surfboard in about a decade and was essentially starting from scratch. That first retreat she started out in the whitewater, just re-learning to stand on the board. Carrie quickly became an addict, joining us every few months to take her surfing to the next level. Each retreat she showed big surfing progression! Her most recent trip was in January to our Southern Costa Rican location and she started cross-stepping on the longboard! So cool!
Carrie edited this little video with the clips from each retreat and it’s awesome to watch the progression. We can’t wait to see where she takes it from here!
“When I came on my first Surf With Amigas trip in November of 2017, it was my first time on a surfboard in almost a decade! I grew up on the water and surfed a bit as a teenager and in my early twenties, and was so excited to reconnect with the ocean and with this amazing sport.
Fourteen months and a few more Surf With Amigas trips later, it’s so fun to look at the progress I’ve made thanks to the video footage! I’ve gone from barely being able to stand up to learning how to cross step at the advanced long boarding retreat.
The coaches at each retreat are spectacular, each bringing different strengths and teaching styles; they really make the retreats such fantastic learning experiences, both in the water and out. I feel like I have so many more tools now to continue improving my surfing at home, and I always eagerly await my next Surf With Amigas adventure.”
Two time World Longboard Champ Jen Smith joined us on two retreats in early 2019 as a guest instructor. She inspired all the ladies with her super stylish nose riding and also technical surf knowledge. Here’s the highlight video from the week.
2XWorld Longboard Champ Jen Smith came down to Costa Rica to be head coach on a couple of advanced longboarding retreats. She leant her expertise and demonstrated immaculate style. Turns, glides, look backs and nose rides were going down every session. Here’s a quick little highlight from a morning session out front.
In late November we scored a late season swell with perfect conditions during one of our co-ed Surf With Amigas Surf Yoga Adventure Retreats. The guests got some amazing waves and that highlight video is coming soon. In the meantime, here is a compilation of some of the waves that our staff scored that week in between coaching the guests.
This week we also had Jackie’s fiance Hugh on the team. He was scoring super long nose rides. Jackie exhibited the utmost poise and grace. Michelle was demonstrating the shortboard shredding. Even Reesie, our yoga teacher rips, and with so much style!
Enjoy these drool-worthy waves.
A trio of girlfriends from San Diego joined us on our advanced shortboard retreat this year. One of them, Katarina – a badass mom of two who was charging into some bombs over shallow reef during the retreat – shared a quick summary of her experience.
It was awesome to go on a trip with your girlfriends and truly be able to surf at every opportunity. We got advice from every angle and I was able to progress further in one trip than all the rest of my surf travels combined. It was truly better than my expectations!
I have two kids and have to juggle my time in the water. Knowing I didn’t need to do the search for the right time, tide, location, my mind was free to just surf! I just needed to show up! How often do we get to do just that day in and day out?!
Continue reading “Advanced Shortboard Retreat Review by Katarina”
