Nicaragua’s Best Surfing

Swells from South Pacific storms pound Central America during the North American summer months, especially in June and July.

The shape of Nicaragua [1]’s long, isolated beaches and direction of the shoreline help form these pushes of water into perfect overhead barrels. On the southwest coast around San Juan del Sur, lake-generated offshore breezes often blow year-round.

Waves are still being “discovered” and named, and more than once, we have been asked not to print details about certain legendary breaks and knowledgable boat drivers. One old-school surfer we encountered compared Nicaragua to Hawaii’s unspoiled North Shore in the 1970s.

Nicaragua, once a blank spot on the world’s surfing map, now hosts international competitions and draws an increasingly well-informed crew of sponsored and non-sponsored shredders from across the planet.

Meanwhile, a few young Nicaraguans have picked up the sport and caught the attention of surf journalists and documentary filmmakers, while small eco-surf camps spring up along the entire Pacific coast. In short, the secret is out.

Most surfers head straight to San Juan del Sur [2] (a.k.a. Sin City) where they can get oriented, rent or buy a board, socialize, and arrange transport to breaks north and south of town. You’ll find plenty of accommodations, guides, surf shops, and beach shuttles — none of which existed only a few years ago.

Start your research with the Nicaragua Surf Report (www.nicaraguasurfreport.com [3]), the longest-running online daily wave report in the country, plus a full complement of services for visiting surfers (rentals, equipment, transport, etc.).

Another option, especially if you’d prefer to explore the north coast, Rise Up Surf Tours Nicaragua (www.riseupsurftoursnicaragua.com [4]) offers fully-guided surf tour packages to Nicaragua’s Central and Northwest Pacific coast; the owners are surfers based in León [5].

Women surfers can check out the ChicaBrava Surf Camp (U.S. tel. 832/519-0253, www.chicabrava.com [6]), the first all-girls surf operation in the country. The second, Suave Dulce Women’s Surf Retreat (SuaveDulce [at] gmail [dot] com, www.suavedulce.com [7]), was opened in 2010 by pro-surfer Holley Beck, on the Nicaraguan north coast.