Nervous For Your First Ever Surf Retreat: 9 Reasons Why You Can Ditch Your Fears Before Joining Us!
Grom, spotted.
By: Kayla Nielsen
New experiences can be scary, because they’re unknown. So, if you’re feeling nervous about diving into your first surf retreat with us here in Northern Nicaragua, don’t worry! This is to be expected.
Plus, we have some quick facts to help qualm your fears, and get you stoked on catching your first wave.
One of the most comforting thing in the water is just knowing that you have someone there who is helping you, supporting you, and watching you. All of the surf coaches we work with provide a high quality, supportive experience to all level surfers.
They’ll teach you everything you need to know about the physical aspect of surfing, as well as etiquette, and safety.
Land Practice
Don’t worry, we’re not just going to chuck you into the line up and expect you to know what to do! Before the first lesson, our instructors always provide a land lesson with your board, so you can understand paddling and pop ups.
Simply going over these motions is incredibly helpful in building muscle memory when you’re on a stable surf (on land), BEFORE applying all that you learned to a new element (the water).
Sand Bottom
One of the reasons so many beginners flock to Nicaragua to learn how to surf are the friendly conditions. And one of those friendly conditions is having sandy bays to practice on, as opposed to rocks or sharp reef.
Few People
This one is HUGE, and is hard to find in other surf meccas like Indonesia, Hawaii, California and Australia. While the waves are killer in all those areas, they’re also crawling with people. Sure, some popular surf spots in Nicaragua get crowded (like Playa Maderas), where we are in Northern Nicaragua is a quite mellow.
December and January are the busiest times of year, but because our town is so small, we always communicate with other surf retreats and camps to make sure we go to different places every day and don’t crowd each other.
Warm Water
Okay, real surfers would argue that this doesn’t matter. And I get it, that’s why I don’t call myself a surfer, I just like to surf (because I’m so particular about my conditions). But the truth is that warm water provides comfort, right? It’s also less gear, and more mobility to surf in only a bathing suit, as opposed to a wetsuit or booties.
White Wash First
Like I mentioned above, we’re not just going to chuck out out back and make you fend for yourself. You’re going to start in the white wash first (think hip to chest height water), so that you can get first just get that feeling of catching a wave and standing up.
Sometimes, people stay in the white wash for the whole week, because this is the most fun for them, and they feel safe- and that’s OKAY. As long as you’re having fun, we’re stoked for you. Other times, students move out of the white wash after day one, where they go out back to catch green waves with an instructor. Either way, you’ll have an instructor by your side every step of the way.
Pushing Into Waves
One of the most common things for an instructor to help you with is getting you in the right position, and then pushing you onto the wave to ensure you catch it. This is helpful for most people, because typically paddle strength is something that needs to build overtime. Again, this allows you to get the feeling of catching a wave, get used to standing up, and simply feeling the ocean underneath you.
If you prefer NOT to be pushed on a wave, because you want to build that paddle strength and practice, that’s totally fine too! Because most people come for a week long surf retreat, they want to know what it feels like to surf. Positioning your board, and pushing you onto waves will help to give you that experience.
Grouping By Experience
The last thing I see beginners nervous about is looking silly, getting in the way, or holding others back. Don’t worry! We’ll break you off into groups based on your level, so that you feel super comfortable with the people around you.
Plus, your instructor will teach you all about surf etiquette, which will help you to understand where to go and when, for safety and social purposes.
Photo or Video Analysis
When we have a photographer, we will always provide photo or video analysis during down time in the day. This is incredibly helpful, because (trust me on this one) you might think you’ve totally got the hang of it and you look real cool- and then you see a photo of yourself, and you’re like, “THAT’S what I look like?!”
Your instructors or retreat leader will go over photos with you to show you where you can improve in certain areas that you might otherwise not be aware of when you’re in the water.
As you can tell, we’ve got you! From the land, to the sea, we’ll be holding your hand every step of the way to ensure you’re safe, stoked, and of course….salty.
See ya soon amigos.