The El Salvador retreats are geared for advanced beginners and intermediate surfers. This week we had a good mix of shortboarders and longboarders. While the shortboard shredders chose to walk down the beach to a different break, the longboarders cruised right out front for some really nice rides.
Join us in October in El Salvador to get in on this!
[youtube=http://youtu.be/M31Nm7U4p9U]
Kira Harrison is from Seattle, Washington and came on a retreat with zero prior surfing experience. She picked it up super fast and achieved her goal of turning and riding along the wave. Here’s what she had to say about the experience at Surf With Amigas Surf Yoga Adventure Retreat in Nicaragua.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5T8gSoe3yk]
What’s the deal with surf leggings, you ask? Well, quite a lot! We first noticed Amigas wearing their yoga pants in the surf to protect them from things like jellyfish, rashes from wax, and the sun. They looked cute but we’d never tried them. Recently when designing our new custom rashguard (see photo of Sam modeling the Surf With Amigas rashguard below) we decided to add some leggings to the line (see Jackie in the leggings). We tried them ourselves and became addicted! They’re functional, cute, and they just feel good to wear. Perfect for surf, yoga, dancing, or whatever you feel like doing. Surf With Amigas surf leggings are only available in the SWA Suitcase Boutique by coming on a retreat with us.
Alli is a marathon runner from Chicago who had essentially zero previous surfing experience when she joined us on a retreat in July. On the last afternoon of the retreat we pulled her aside and asked a few questions about her experience.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsJYbNNeNvY]
http://vimeo.com/37014495
If you were lucky enough to grow up surfing, this should feel familiar. If you didn’t start surfing until you were 20, 30, 40, this is a reminder to get a bunch of girlfriends together and surf, skate, and do silly stuff!
By The Way is a fifteen minute short surf film by Hayley Gordon featuring Sara Taylor, Ornella Pellizzari, Silvana Lima, Margaux Arramon-Tucoo, Jenna Balester, Kim Kirch, Jen Smith, Courtney Conlogue, Danica Elbertse, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Rebecca Woods, Sofia Mulanovich, Malia Manuel, Leila Hurst.
Cooler Magazine is a high quality, glossy paged print and online magazine published in the UK. One of their contributors recently joined us for a retreat in Nicaragua and wrote the story of her experience. Click the link here for the full story and see below for an excerpt.
So many of us seem to be in search of that timeless travel fantasy. That of the intrepid explorer on the existential, perennial hunt for a pristine slice of paradise. Or that of perfectly crested, empty waves, tucked into a soft sand haven of coconuts and endless summer shred.
The Balis, Byron Bays and Biarritz’s of the world, with their populous swells and all too often intimidating line-ups of jocking bros and bras can all too often intimidate the tentative and budding surfer. Especially the XY chromosomed surfer. But for those with an adventurous soul, those who seek the unknown and the exhilaration of the journey in search of untouched breaks and exploration, taking that unknown, mysterious path, slightly off the beaten track, often leads to the most fulfilling and rewarding of shred odysseys. As Jack Kerouac, the beatnik king of travel prose so poetically penned, “Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don’t be sorry.”
Central America has been well chronicled in surfer’s travel guidebooks. Handfuls of Americans gradually began trickling down into Costa Rica and Mexico during the 1960s, hungry for empty breaks after hearing whispered tales of nature’s barreling promises. Fast forward a few decades, and the once elusive breaks that entranced the first intrepid voyagers are now happily packed out and a staple destination for any global surfer. Nicaragua, however, the largest of the Central American territories, was characterised by periods of political unrest and revolution, stability only coming to the equatorial tropic in recent years. Pockets of plucky surfers have slowly been exploring the verdant and diverse haven, and the mounting murmurs of balmy plentiful surf, welcoming and warm locals and unblemished pockets of paradise has been creeping into the adventurous surfers conscious. Thirsty for those promises of warm shred and discovery, it didn’t take much more than a couple of conversations with former ASP tour surfer Holly Beck, who is now based in Nicaragua and runs the Surf With Amigas surf camps throughout the year for those with a more gutsy disposition, and I was on my way. The scent of adventure and alluring warm waves dissolving any anxiety of my transatlantic solo voyage some 6,000 miles around the globe.
To read the rest of the story: Click Here
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWX79b6bVeM]
Sophie is an awesome Amiga from the UK who works for Cooler Magazine and Oakley. Needless to say, she’s hip, stylish, and tons of fun to hang out with. Unfortunately, she lives in London and doesnt get to surf very often. In a week of surfing with amigas, she improved so much as you can see in this video. We can’t wait to have her come back and take it a few steps further!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVZmoa2jmg0]
Six days of shredding awesomeness – very loosely to the tune of 12 days of Christmas
On the first day of shredding, my sister said to me – “I just don’t want to wipeout, please”
On the second day of shredding, an Amiga said to me – “Which one is a cute one?”, and “I just don’t want to Wipeout again, Please!”
On the third day of shredding, an Amiga said to me – “I’m not an ambi-turner”, “Which one is a cute one?”, and “I just don’t want to Wipeout again, Please!”
On the fourth day of shredding, an Amiga said to me – “Did she say shit-nipples?”, “I’m not an ambi-turner”, “Which one is a cute one?”, and “I just don’t want to Wipeout again, Please!”
On the fifth day of shredding, an Amigas said to me – “I want to marry a younger version of Richard”, “Did she say shit-nipples?”, “I’m not an ambi-turner”, “Which one is a cute one?”, and “I just don’t want to Wipeout again, Please!”
On the sixth day of shredding, the Amigas said to me – “Thank God for second breakfast!”, “I want to marry a younger version of Richard”, “Did she say shit-nipples?”, “I’m not an ambi-turner”, “Which one is a cute one?”, and “I just don’t want to Wipeout again, Please!”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi869QhE81M]
We are not alcoholics! But we do like to have a good time and indulge in the fine beverages available. Nicaragua is world famous for it’s Flor de Cana rum and we think it is delicious. In between surf sessions we get up to all kinds of craziness and fun. We laugh, talk about life, dreams, goals, and create friendships that will last long past the week-long adventure.
“The thing that holds people back from achieving their dreams is self-doubt” – Jackie George
Believe in yourself and anything is possible!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrww0uf0cII]
As an instructor, it’s really fun to surf with a group that is fearless, willing to listen to instruction, and just go for it! We started out with 3 ladies in the whitewash on day 1, but by day 2, they were all outside trying to catch green waves. Everyone was super stoked, which makes our jobs as instructors so easy! Check them out shredding!
