I absolutely love getting Amigas into big waves. Ok, i’ll admit it, I do prefer when looking at the surf forecast while planning the retreat week, it shows small to medium sized surf. It just makes life easier that way. But when I saw a swell forecasted to be 22″, I also got really excited. During the retreat, we offered a course on how to read surf forecasts to explain what the period number actually means. Standby for a blog post on that….
For now you can check out the photos below to see what that long period swell means! (hint. big waves!).
Our team of surf instructors were on it, guaranteeing that all the Amigas stayed safe even amongst very large waves breaking over a rock bottom. Each of the ladies who challenged the point got at least one large wave, and many rode theirs all the way to the beach to the cheers of the ladies on the inside. It was a magical and inspiring day! Check out some photo highlights below…
A couple of our shortboarders prepare to paddle out in the channel.
Just one of the very large waves rolling through the point.
This is Liz on one of the friendlier waves of the day. She was able to get in early on her 9’4 and rode it all the way in to the sand.
Liz is all smiles all day!
This is Karen’s 40th birthday wave. She didn’t have a ton of prior surfing experience, and definitely none in waves this size, but it was her birthday and she wanted to try. Our instructor Hannah got her into this bomb, and she believed in herself and nearly made it to her feet before a spectacular wipeout. Way to charge!
Here’s Jen on a smaller cleaner wave from the day before the swell really picked up.
Here’s Jen on a bigger wave the following day.
Jen was overcoming her fear of large waves, but always seemed to find the biggest waves of the day. This one was a bit frothy at the start, but she took her time getting up, found her balance, and then rode it all the way to the sand!
Not every wave was giant. Some were clean and perfect. Here Holly demonstrates proper cutback technique.
Surf instructors Holly and Chloe showing up in the early morning light.
Cindy had to sit out on one of the more manageable days, nursing a really intense bruise on her thigh due to being hit with a fin. So on the biggest day, she was eager to make up for lost time. This was the first wave of the morning. She is demonstrating perfect cobra technique.
Here’s Cindy on the inside of the same wave in the previous picture. She rode it all the way in to the beach.
Chloe finds a section to attack.
Aura is always on the hunt for tube rides.
Brooke was inspired by Aura and searching out some tubes of her own.
Every time someone was up on a wave the cheering squad on the beach would erupt in super loud cheers that could be easily heard out in the lineup. It helps having that kind of support and inspiration to push your limits!
After a few days of really cute waves in Southern Nicaragua the BIG swell hit. Enormous waves were breaking way outside sending huge walls of whitewash steamrolling into the beach. Holly led a handful of brave Amigas into the lineup and coached them into some really nice ones in between a lot of duck-diving and turtle-rolling. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible (even surfing really big waves)!
