Meet Katherine. In just one week at Chica Brava, she worked on her technique, built confidence, and made real progress in the water. And this is what makes our program different: we don’t just take you surfing. We give you the coaching, feedback, video analysis, and tools to understand your surfing and keep improving, wave after wave. What can six days in the water do for your surfing? Katherine’s progress at Chica Brava gives you a little taste of what’s possible. Curious what that could look like for you? 👉 Watch Katherine’s progress. Learning to surf is all about showing up, trying new things, and being willing to learn from every wave. And sometimes, all you need is a little time, the right coaching, and a whole lot of practice. At Chica Brava, we combine daily surf sessions with surf theory, intentionally small groups, personalized coaching, and video feedback analysis to help you understand your surfing and figure out what to work on next. Instead of just catching waves and hoping things click, you get to see what you're doing well, identify areas for improvement, and put those lessons into practice every day, three hours a day. Our goal is simple: the create confident, independent female surfers. Over six days, Katherine’s progression is a reminder of what can happen when you make surfing your priority. Every surfer is different, and there's no magic formula for improvement, but dedicating a week to learning, practicing, and getting out of your comfort zone is a pretty great place to start. And it's not just about the waves. It's about building confidence, celebrating...
One Lady and Two Gentleman Come to Surf Camp Day 1 We started in a calm Playa Remanso. This place surprised us with nice small waves, and we got really comfortable on our first day! Mastering the pop-up was really easy, since our lovely guests knew already how to dominate this discipline. Day 2 - Challenge!! The surf report said there were no waves for the San Juan area, so we decided to go to Playa Maderas, and surprise! Large-sized waves showed us how is the real surfing in Nicaragua is. Our brave students, Sloane, Mark and Jeff, showed us how brave they were, putting all their effort into the paddle out. I was really proud of them that day. Day 3 Back to the normal surf, Remanso beach was calm and the size was so much better. This is when our team got more confident in the water, showing us how good they were getting in the surf. Day 4 Once again, Nicaragua impressed us with perfect conditions, and nice offshore winds. After a night of rain, we got to the beach and were surprised to find that the beach was glassy and perfect. It was one of the best days of the week! Our guests were doing spectacular, with Jeff getting the biggest waves, Mark surprising us with his awesome timing and pop-up, and Sloane doing some perfect angling and incredible fast paddling. Days 5 and 6 We felt all relaxed and confident with the surfing, and our guests knew what to do at the beach. Beach safety techniques were well dominated and the waves were with us....
Last week, we had the perfect surfing conditions, welcoming our 6 guests. Sunday and Monday We were mastering our pop ups at Hermosa, waves were really gentle with a perfect size, helping our brave ladies to earn the pop up with success. The beach was clean and not crowded, making us having a great time surfing and chilling, having a great moment connecting with nature. Ariane had an injured knee, she showed us how strong and determined a chica can be, putting all her effort in mastering the goal of the day. By the second day, Holly came into the camp, catching up to the girls with a really good performed pop up. Tuesday Paddle and dig deep!! Incredible day. In the beginning, our ladies were intimidated by Remanso, the new beach they were visiting. The tide was really high, this cove beach has rocky ground, waves were braking really close. But, following our instructors knowledge, we made it to the outside really fast and easy, getting used to the feeling of being in the water, catching our first waves from far out. Size was perfect, small and fun!! Barbara and Kyleigh showed us how strong and brave a sport woman can be, performing nice paddles and good pop ups. Wednesday Surfing down the line! Waves got little bit bigger, but that that didn’t even bother our guests, they loved it better! They were getting brave and performing wonderfully. Nicole went for every single wave, showing us really good paddling and pop up, and Lorraine impressed us with her natural surf skills: reading the wave from far out, and getting...
Chica Brava hosted a group of eight women at Cloud Farm from May 12th-May 19th. Marianne returned for her second retreat with Chica Brava and brought her sister Brittany, who came along with her for first retreat. On Sunday, the focus was on owning the pop-up at Hermosa Beach. Laura noted that she had a negative experience years prior with her first surf lesson with a different surf school. In her first day with us she was standing up within the first 15 minutes! It was exciting to share the stoke with Laura. Remanso was Monday with practical goal of learning to paddle. The women showed courage paddling to the outside. Wendy noted that she felt empowered from the experience. On Tuesday the practical goal of paddling was reinforced in the bay of San Juan del Sur. Wednesday was back at Remanso, with the practical goal of angling and learning about wave science and types of breaks. Chicas and the instructors enjoyed a post-surf pool party back at the Cloud Farm. Wednesday all the girls took a hike around Finca las Nubes before surfing in the bay. Thursday and Friday were also spent surfing in the bay, continuing to work on catching outside waves. Marianne began to work toward angling the board, and Brittany was consistently catching waves independently. On Friday everyone had a goodbye dinner at El Timon. Written by Brittney Leigh Surf Instructor
This week we had 7 chicas and one brave chico in the Surf House. We were happy to welcome 3 returning guests and a one birthday girl. There is no better way to celebrate your special day than a day in the water! The whole group started together in gorgeous Playa Hermosa, which is perfect for beginners in the white water and more advanced surfers out back. When everybody was mastering the pop up and ready to paddle out, we drove our chicas and chico to playa Maderas, the best known surfing beach in the area. For the the next couple days we split the group in two. More advanced surfers scored some epic waves in isolated playa Yankee and rest of the group were enjoying chill vibes and mellow waves in Remanso. Something for everyone's taste! Friday funday ended the awesome week in Play Hermosa. French tv-group was making a clip about Chica Brava for French TV. So our chicas can expect their fifteen minutes in fame soon! In France. Wicked week everyone!
Up the hill at Cloud Farm, just outside of San Juan Del Sur, we met eight women who came to Nicaragua for an empowering week of surfing, relaxation, and so much growth with Chica Brava surf camp. There were a few returning women to this week's group, one returning for her third time! The energy of the group was buzzing with excited and a little bit of curiosity for what the week would hold. The week was started off with a delicious breakfast to satisfy the soul and a round of coffee to awaken the senses. Our surfers were ready for their first day of mastering the pop up technique taught by our head surf instructor, Marie-Sol, and did an excellent job of maneuvering their boards through the strong winds at Hermosa Beach. After a full day of surf and sun it was time for our surfers in training to return to Cloud Farm where a lobster dinner was waiting for them. We soon learned the reason for the feast, it was two of the Tara's and Larissa's birthday, and a celebration soon commenced. Annie and Savannah, two members of the Chica Brava team, surprised the group with a delicious cake hand made for the pair that day. While eating the cake, the group shared their renditions of a birthday song for the pair, in multiple languages I might add. The celebrations were just beginning however, as Savannah pulls out the biggest surprise, a cat shaped piñata! After the first couple swings our birthday girls take a leg off the poor papermache cat, candy flying everywhere. The rest of the...
I can hardly hold my pencil to write this, so tired are my arms from all the waves we got this week! Our chicas were amazing. We had two wonderful ladies, Alix and Chloe, from the beginning of the week. Both of them stood up pretty much on their first go! Little bit work in their feet placement and bending those knees; after that, chicas were mastering their pop-ups. First day was so strong that we decided to paddle out already on our second day of surfing. And the wave count was mind blowing. Again. On third day we got a lovely addition to the team, Jenny. She catched up fast with Chloe and Alix, whom decided to have a little chill time and do a mid-week catamaran trip. By the sound of it, the Mai Tais are higly recommended. By the end of the week, I can honestly say, everybody had given 100% and made us feel very proud of our chicas. And big up to Chloe's commitment, she decided to stay couple more days with us! Such a good week in Chicabrava with inspiring ladies and tons of waves!
What a fun week we had at Chica Brava!! We had 3 amazing ladies with us who exceeded all of our expectations. Everyone was experiencing something for the first time; for some it was massage, for some yoga classes or green waves. And of course Tonas! All 3 ladies were beginners and we started in the white water in stunning Hermosa beach. They all were absolute rockstars mastering the pop-up in first day, so we got them paddle out and catch some green waves and some epic wipeouts in a second day all ready! Sunset Pina Coladas were well deserved after all that paddling. On 3rd day we had beautiful sunset surf in Remanso beach. On Wednesday we challenged our adventurous ladies and worked on those quick pop-ups in Maderas. After all that speed it was nice to chill and relax in Hermosa next morning. By Friday funday everybody was going down the line and definitely having fun each in their own style. Not only were these ladies taking up surfing, somehow they had energy to learn Spanish as well. They worked hard filling up little notebooks, I'm pretty sure they were 100% fluent after a week. Muy bien, chicas. Thank you for staying with us. Hasta luego!
This week at Chica Brava we had the privilege of hosting four lovely ladies at the Surf House and eight at the Cloud Farm location. Our amazing pack of women came from all over the U.S, all with unique backgrounds, and a few returning guests to learn to surf in Nicaragua. Sunday morning we picked the girls up from Cloud Farm after enjoying a delicious traditional Nicaraguan breakfast including gallo pinto and coffee to die for, harvested from the farm itself. We all met up at the Surf House where we talked practical goals with a little bit of theory before getting in the water. The week started out with a bit of overcast weather but that didn't damper the spirits of our Chica Brava surfers in training as we mastered the pop up at Playa Hermosa with ease. We returned to Playa Hermosa for another day with sunshine and worked both on the inside and outside with our surfers. Tuesday we headed to a new beach, Playa Remanso, where the forecast called for smaller waves and great conditions for learning to paddle to the outside and start catching some green waves. The big swell from over the weekend had defiantly died down but there were still a few big sets rolling in to challenge our surfers. They did an excellent job at pushing themselves outside their comfort zone, mastering the turtle roll and overcoming their fears of the bigger waves. We returned to Hermosa the next day for some outside and white water fun, focusing on paddling and looking down the line of the waves. The gang really enjoyed...
What a wonderful week with so many amazing ladies. This week we enjoyed the company of eleven women in our surf house location. We had a fun mix of beginner to advanced beginners, all some way or another interconnected from friends of friends. The week was more than we could have ever expected and definitely what we would consider super successful. Beginning with day one, we split our ladies up into smaller groups who would work with each of our instructors daily. Throughout the week we would rotate groups with our instructors so that everyone could enjoy the company of each other. Day one we focused a great deal on the pop-up on the inside, white water. This allowed each of our women to gain confidence and the muscle memory we would need later in the week. By day two, our chicas were already paddling out to the outside of Playa Hermosa and working on mastering their pop ups and getting familiar with the new feeling of catching open, green waves. We spent the next few days in Playa Remanso where each individual continued to progress to angling down the face of the wave. Friday was all about having fun and finding our surf style and although we had a large swell we managed to find the best of both worlds and surf the bay of San Juan. What a perfect decision as the bay provided us beautiful open waves all morning. To sum up the week... just amazing! We couldn't be more proud of our ladies for pushing themselves, stepping out of their comfort zones and trusting in us as their...
