My First Time Surfing, in Nicaragua!
- 2 Comments
- Popoyo, Nicaragua
It’s taken me 6 months to post this…oops! Well long story short….I took a much needed trip to Nicaragua over the summer ’24 with the most amazing guy (who is now my boyfriend). He surfs. I don’t but I’m always down to learn something new. So, after much convincing that there were no sharks here, I decided to give it a go!
“You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”
Where we stayed
Nicaragua is known throughout the world for it’s great surfing and there are tons of surf lodges to stay in. We stayed at Magnific Rock Surf Lodge & Yoga Retreat and had a great time. While this hotel/lodge is far from a luxury stay, it was still amazing! The lodge is a very humble place nestled on a cliff overlooking the pacific ocean with some gorgeous views. It sits on a cliff overlooking the ocean and there is a massive rock that jutes out in front into the ocean, hence the name magnific Rock!
The property has a great restaurant/bar where we ate at every day as well as on site surf rentals. After grabbing your favorite board the beach is only a 5-minute walk so everything you need is right on site!
There are also some really awesome surf instructors that are there to help if you are a newbie like me! Our instructor everyday was Billy and he was awesome to work with and learn from. Between Billy and Joe teaching me the ropes I think I did pretty good for a newbie!
Magnific rock legend
I took this shot of the actual rock out in front of our hotel that it was named for …..THE “Magnific Rock.” The local legend says if you walk out on these rocks at night you will hear the “duendes”. Duendes are small mythical elves that call or entice you into their underground caves and play mind tricks on you.
I obviously look way less graceful surfing than Joe does, hahah! I guess you can tell who’s the surfer and who’s the photographer 🙂
Surfing was much easier than I thought it would be…probably because I had some awesome teachers and I generally have pretty good balance from skating for so many years so standing up on the board was pretty easy. As a first time surfer I obviously would start off with smaller waves and the hotel has an area right in front of it called Beginner’s Bay (obviously self explanatory) which was perfect for first time surfers like myself. Honestly, I was more afraid of sharks but aparently the waters in the area are very over-fished so sharks don’t typically hang around there looking for food (lucky me!)
In addition to surfing they offer daily yoga with instructors as well as yoga retreats for group travel. We didn’t have time for yoga because we were too busy enjoying the sun and surf. However, next time it’s definitely on my list of things to do.
Local Life in Nicaragua
Anytime I travel I love watching local people go about daily life in a different part of the world. At dusk when the guys were surfing I snapped a few pics of locals and expats. I loved seeing all of the families out together enjoying the warm weather and awesome waves. There were tons of people out with fishing nets catching fish by hand. Kids were being kids playing in the ocean and running around the beach. I didn’t see one kid with their face in a phone or tablet. It was beautiful. There were also lots of people on horseback.
Even the expats that now live in Nicaragua seemed to have assimilated to using horses. Since the area is pretty remote and there are very few paved roads, horseback is the way to go! For many, motorcycles and dirt bikes are also very popular. Many locals now also offer horseback tours on the beach as another income stream. One thing that I loved is that all of the horses I saw appeared to be extremely well cared for and loved.
I do wish I would’ve booked one of the horseback riding tours some of the locals offer but honestly we were so exhausted by the end of each day. Next time I go to Nicaragua a beach side horseback ride is definitely on the agenda, along with more surfing, of course!
Book YOUR TRIP
DETAILS: Our exact hotel is listed above as well as a few others nearby. Surf resorts book quickly so keep that in mind. Lots of people book for several weeks at a time so availability can be scarce and booking months in advance is the best way to go!
Looking to share your travel content?
Are you a travel blogger looking to share your posts with the world? Are you a reader just looking for inspiration for your next trip? Check out these blogs for more fun inspiration:
MY CORNER OF THE WORLD | MY RANDOM MUSINGS | GOOD & RANDOM FUN
Erica
Liked this post? share it on social!
Surfing in Nicaragua sounds like an amazing experience! How was the learning curve for your first time? Any specific beach you’d recommend for beginners?”
Or if you want to be more personal:
“That must have been such an unforgettable adventure! Were the waves beginner-friendly, or did you find it challenging? Would love to hear more about your experience!”
The waves were not very big but they were callenging in the sense that they were strong so as your trying to paddle out you can easily get pushed back hard towards the shore again. Other than that it was very easy to stand up on the board and coast. I was also in an area though that is really for beginners and we pretty much stuck to that area the whole time. I don’t know if the beach really had a specific name though. Its really just a remote stretch of beach right in front of the hotel itself. That beach the people at the hotel call “Beginners Bay” but im notsure if thats an official name.