Release Baby Sea Turtles in Nicaragua in November and December

Surf With Amigas has been sponsoring the Waves of Hope sea turtle conservation program since 2012. We just committed to another year doing our part to give back by supporting the program that buys baby sea turtle eggs from poachers turned conservationists to ensure there will be turtles in the lineup for years to come!

See below for the video we made way back in 2012 in our first year of the project. All the info is the same! If you’d like to participate in the release of baby turtles, join us for a retreat in Nicaragua.

Waves of Hope Update

As many of you know, SWA supports various development initiatives throughout Central America. We have mainly supported and partnered with the NGO in northern Nicaragua, Waves of Hope, a community development organization that has focused lately on education. For those of you that have been to Coco Loco and participated in Waves of Hope projects, we wanted to send out a quick update!

The big Waves of Hope project, the high school, was built three years ago and began with 77 students. This year, the school is up to 270 students, and the crew built two more classrooms to accommodate the higher numbers. The demand for education keeps growing, so there are plans to build two more classrooms this December/January. 

Waves of Hope also just launched a scholarship program, which sponsors 14 recent graduates pursue post-secondary schooling. The cost to sponsor a student per month is only $40. In addition, they also just launched an arts program in December that includes visual arts, guitar, music theory, and dance classes. 

Waves of Hope and Surf With Amigas are currently (and always) fundraising to support all of these efforts- the high school expansion project, the scholarship program, and the arts program. Thank you, amigas, for your continued support. If you’re thinking donating– please remember that every dollar counts! For more information on donations click here.

 

Kickball with the Local Girls

Screen Shot 2016-03-06 at 9.04.18 AMSince the beginning of Surf With Amigas history, we have been committed to a community involvement aspect of the retreats. About a year ago, we heard that the Nicaraguan government started a kickball league for women country-wide and the local girls hopped on the chance to get involved in athletics. In the past, women never had such opportunity to play any sport on a team, let alone in a country-wide league.

10392380_962233223810005_5013192633953714238_n 11002634_962233043810023_4867035364185725417_n

Screen Shot 2016-03-06 at 9.03.50 AM14364_962232773810050_2700144753462593354_nWe began taking our groups of ladies to play against (or mixed up amongst) the local team. After a couple games, we were totally hooked, as the games were super fun, often times bringing on flashbacks to middle school kickball (or “soccer baseball”) matches. Lately, we have been playing against them every week that we have retreats. The girls have improved immensely and regularly squash any dreams we have of winning a game against them.11006442_962234237143237_8047925897231896106_n

We are so stoked to support women empowerment through playing sports and love the interaction that happens when ladies on retreats play sports with local girls. The local team, the “Mariposas Sociales” (translation: the Social Butterflies) is now sponsored by Surf With Amigas and recently went to their inauguration game as an official team- with uniforms and all.12790865_1681262738821673_7048946092478882243_n

Come join us for a northern Nicaragua retreat for an opportunity to get involved in the kickball action!

For more information on how to support the Mariposas, please email [email protected]. Any donations of sports equipment, athletic wear, sports bras, etc are extremely useful and appreciated!

Learn to Surf and Help Save Baby Turtles in December

For the second year, Surf With Amigas is sponsoring the Waves of Hope baby sea turtle project. By joining us on a retreat in Nicaragua in November and December you will get a chance to support baby sea turtles while also getting to watch them hatch. Can you say cutest thing ever? As of today the November retreats are fully booked but we do have spaces available Dec 6-13 and 13-20. Email [email protected] for booking info!

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

turtle jackie kiss

Your Chest & Shoulders Will ‘Be Ok’

10168132_10151971308201135_3609985482549125714_n

Christine is a yoga teacher at El Coco Loco that can be often be found sneaking some cute waves at the bay, on her hot pink funboard, in a Seea crop top and surf skirt. Originally from Canada, she comes from a fitness background and has picked up surfing in the last few years after a lifestyle change and move to Nicaragua. Check out this cute little video filmed in the yoga space at El Coco Loco. She writes,

“Whether you’ve put in hard work on the waves or at the office, our chest and shoulders can always use a good stretch.  Here are my go-to stretches in a routine that easily travels to the beach or to your living room — filmed in fast-forward mode so you’ll get all 5 stretches in less than a minute!”

In addition to yoga and surfing, Chris has created a project called Vintage Love Manzano, where she works alongside local women in the remote Nicaraguan community surrounding El Coco Loco resort to create designs to be sold in the global marketplace. The goal is to create fresh and stylish designs to be used as a vehicle for social change and women empowerment… And the stuff is really cute!

For more info about Vintage Love Manzano, check out Christine’s website here: http://nicalogical.com and her shop page here: http://nicalogical.com/vintagelovemanzano/shop-vintage-love-manzano.

Go Chris! You rip!323564_10152350008360251_168142154_o

Surfing for Baby Sea Turtles in November and December

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O2Dixa907c]

It’s that time of year again, baby sea turtle season! As of this year, Surf With Amigas has taken over the funding of the Waves of Hope Sea Turtle project.
For any long-time followers of this website, the video will seem familiar. We posted it a year ago, but nothing has changed so here it is again to get you fired up on the November and December retreats. Check out the schedule for dates and availability. Come surf and do yoga with Surf With Amigas and support baby sea turtles!

turtle sunset

Update on the Waves of Hope High School Project

Surf With Amigas is partnered with the non-profit Waves Of Hope on a variety of projects including the endeavor to build the first high school in the area. Check out a video by Surf For Life from a recent trip with a group of volunteers. Come down and help us out! During the 2013 season, each retreat will involve the option to spend an a few hours helping out with this project.

For more info:
Waves-of-hope.org

Painting a School with Waves of Hope

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29NtxeRr59c]

Surf With Amigas is mostly about surfing, yoga, and having awesome adventures with new friends, but we also like to help out the local community. We work closely with Waves of Hope – a non-profit working to improve the lives of local community members by focusing first on education on whatever project they have going on at the time. Right now they are engaged in re-vamping the local schools and making them more comfortable for learning. We took an afternoon to help clean, sand, and paint a middle school classroom.

hayla sophie school

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!

Surf With Baby Turtles in November and December

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O2Dixa907c]
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.