8 Incredible Surf Camps in Nicaragua for 2025

Ah, Nica, we love ya’. No seriously, we really do.

Still largely overlooked when compared to other surf jewels of Central America, this swell-sucking surf mecca is pretty darn brilliant if you ask us.

Breaks range from super-beginner-friendly to ride-of-your-life sorta’ stuff. There’s a variety of beach breaks and points. Prices are low. The vibe is proper tropical paradise. Plus, Nicaragua is now more accessible than ever thanks to expansions to Managua Airport. If you’re keen to dodge the crowds, surf in warm water, and really improve in a range of surf environments, you can hardly do better.

Thing is, there are now oodles of surf stays vying for your hard-earned dollar in these parts and some simply aren’t worth their Pacific salt if you catch our drift. That’s why we wanted to put together this guide to the best surf camps in Nicaragua for 2024, which focuses in on a small shortlist of the places where we think you can rest assured you’ll get the good vibes, the best tuition, and the quality accommodation. 

You’ll notice that the vast majority of them are located in the southwestern Rivas Province.

That’s to be expected, since it’s the home of the major surf town of San Juan del Sur. As a general rule, we’d say that places like Playa Maderas are best for intermediates and chilled surfers, while surf camps in Popoyo are better-suited to advanced surfers. Anyway, let’s begin…

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• Amaru Wellbeing Resort – The best surf camp in Nica right now
• Dreamsea Surf Camp – A cracking all-rounder that’s easy to get to
• Mandla Resort Nicaragua x Independent Surfer – Beginners (but also luxury on the beach)
• Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge – A luxury, short-stay surf camp with surf trips by boat
• Verdad Nicaragua – Best for working and surfing (digi nomads)
• Wild Waves Surf-House – The best budget surf camp in Nicaragua
• Miramar Surfcamp – Best for advanced surfers
• Alive Beach House – Off the beaten track option that’s right on the beach

• Location: Punta Aposentillo
• Best all-round surf camp in Nica right now! Specifically great for surf skill progression and wellness focussed surfers

The location of Amaru is something special.

Tucked away on a spectacular 25-acre peninsular point near the world-class Boom Beach, Amaru Nicaragua offers something truly special for surf seekers, yoga practitioners, digital nomads, families, and couples.

Enjoy uncrowded, beautiful waves year-round with a 2:1 student-to-surf coaching ratio, expert guidance, video analysis, surf theory, and paddle school for a well-rounded surf education. Daily surf lessons and off-road transport to surrounding breaks ensure an unforgettable experience.

Included in all packages are daily yoga classes and organic meals made from garden ingredients enhance your overall wellness, which reflect Amaru’s core value of accessibility to health and wellbeing.

Feel at home with our friendly locals and international team. Amaru provides a one-of-a-kind all-inclusive retreat experience, leaving guests feeling connected, recharged, and inspired.

The 8-day package is the one we reccomend the most. It’s really well-balanced and weighted towards surf. There are up to 2x surf lessons included each day, plus a videography and photo session for technique analysis.

Perhaps most of all, you get off-road transport to all the surrounding breaks, which is essential in northern Nica, where things aren’t as accessible as down south.

These guys also do a more advanced package called Surf the Boom that’s all about chasing tubes on the region’s most famous beach break.

• Location: San Juan del Sur
• A cracking all-rounder that’s easy to get to

You’ll see the Dreamsea name a lot around here. We think they’re one of the top brands working in the industry right now.

Yes, they have outlets all over, from Sri Lanka to Portugal, but they haven’t fallen into the commercial trap of churning out run-of-the-mill surf experiences like some factory.

Nope – packages at Dreamsea are invariably exceptionally well planned, packed with features, and just a touch luxury.

Their Nicaragua camp offers a fantastic 8-day option that’s just about spot on for all levels of surfer. It’s tucked just back from the coast of Rivas Province, north of San Juan del Sur. That means you’ll be doing your daily surfs on a whole host of the very best beginner-intermediate beaches in the country, from nearby Maderas to Playa Hermosa further south.

Throughout the stay, you’ll get five surf lessons and free 4X4 transport to the best spots in the region. The week also has a trio of yoga classes with in-house instructors.

The biggest plus for us, though? The sheer quality of the accommodation. Anyone who’s stayed at Dreamsea will tell you they don’t skimp here. Get ready for tropical cabanas nestled in the jungle, complete with unique, palm-thatched cabanas and a glorious rainforest pool.

• Location: El Transito
• Best for beginners (but also for luxury accomodation!)

Every once in a while a surf camp comes along with sheer, sheer style and class. Mandla is one of those.

These guys have featured in lux travel mags aplenty. And for good reason.

Guests bed down in exquisite Bali-inspired rooms, featuring hand-wrought carpentry and exquisite outdoor volcanic rock showers. Every detail has been thoughtfully curated to produce a surf lodge that’s elegant and photogenic to the T.

I mean, just check the location: The swimming pool is huddled under a few palm trees, surrounded by a gorgeous deck, and overlooks the dual barrels of Pistols, one of the region’s most epic breaks that’s never, ever crowded.

The guys at Mandla have partnered up with Independent Surfer to offer some epic package for the 2025 and 2026 seasons (first camps starting April 1st). We think this 8-day option is one of the best we’ve seen in a while for beginners and improvers, because it comes with two daily surf sessions, highly focused technical feedback sessions, and video analysis.

• Location: San Juan del Sur region
• Best for: Luxury and intermediate+ surfing

The one thing that will strike you about Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge is that it’s downright stunning.

The hotel – and this really is a hotel, not a camp or a lodge or a hostel – is sat between the palm trees north out of San Juan del Sur. It’s home? The lush, rainforest-haloed bay of Playa Ocotal, which is smack dab in the mist of 20+ spots that are perfect for good, independent surfers.

This value-priced three-day package is all about giving you the freedom to explore all those. It includes 2x surf guiding by land, and two separate boat charters to find waves that no one else can get to.

It’s just two nights in all, but that includes accomodation in one of the most stunning coast hotels in the region, plus gourmet breakfasts and even two deep tissue sports massages!

Cheeck prices at Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge right now

• Location: San Juan del Sur
• Best for: Digital nomads

One of the few packages designed with remote workers in mind, the 8-day cowork experience at the Verdad Nicaragua retreat ticks all the boxes for the laptop warriors out there.

Most importantly, the place you stay is well-equipped with super zippy internet and loads of places for undisturbed sessions on the zoom meetings, sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean free of charge, of course.

What’s more, the week’s schedule isn’t too packed, leaving plenty of times to clear your Trello in tray. You get three surf lessons, which more advanced surfers can swap out for a guided session to more challenging breaks.

That’s backed up by unlimited use of the in-house equipment, so you can trot down to Playa Escameca (the local spot) and have a surf pre- or post-work if you like.

The lodge is stunning by the way – think a great pool space, really chill, and nice interiors with mod cons.

• Location: San Juan del Sur
• Best budget surf camp in Nicaragua

A mere $850 bags you a whole week at the highly rated Wild Waves. It’s a surf camp that really looks like a surf camp – think thatched roofs, a ramshackle cafe-bar on site, rooms that are authentic, rustic, but cosy, and a hammock strewn across the main patio.

The location can hardly be beaten: Right on the main beach of Popoyo, one of the surf meccas of central Nica, where there are barrels but also more accessible beach breaks, and constant offshores almost all year.

Price wise, you’ll hardly find better value anywhere in the country. The package includes all your accomodation and breakfast, plus 2x guided surf lessons and 2x boat surf trips to take you out to the harder-to-reach reef breaks of Popoyo and the surrounding region.

It’s chilled, good vibes sorta’ stuff, real close to the waves, with seasoned instructors. And it won’t break the bank.

• Location: Puerto Sandino
• Best for: Advanced surfers

The Miramar SurfCamp does a tailor-made package for advanced surfers that promises to whisk you away from the busy waves of Rivas and up to the remoter and more challenging breaks of northern Nicaragua.

The playground? Puerto Sandino, home to arguably the longest break in the country; a true intermediate+ peeler that rips across sandbars and reef for over 300 meters on its best days.

The focus of this six-day package is squarely on improvement. A daily boat ride out to the take-off zone is included in the price (that’s important because Puerto Sandino can’t really be paddled to), as are daily surf lessons from the in-house instructors. Prepare to be put through your paces – advanced manoeuvres, bottom turns, paddle technique and the like are the overarching focus.

Back in the Miramar SurfCamp, you’ll find loads of chillout spots to enjoy between surfs. The pad is set on a small piece of rock washed by the Pacific Ocean. It’s got a big infinity pool and lovely jungle-style rooms with air-conditioning. If you don’t want to go for the full package, you can also book just accommodation here and organize surf outings when you arrive.

• Location: Popoyo
• Best for: Barrel hunters
• Price: Deals start at $908 (£761) per person for six nights

Barrels and off-the-lip action are the focus of this 7-day package from Popoyo Surfcamp. A relatively new but well-rated tour provider, they are staffed by expert surf guides who really know when each point break on this stretch of shoreline is pumping. They also know the secret spots, which is – to be honest – why it’s worth forking out for a stay here. Past customers have noted how it’s basically like buying a ticket to empty line ups on barrelling waves. That’s priceless, no?

Because it’s aimed mainly at advanced surfers who know what they’re doing, this package swaps out planned lessons for guided surfs. There’s a 4X4 to help you reach remoter breaks, and good contacts with the local boats for getting to outer breaks, which you’ll do twice in the week. If you don’t bring your own board, you get access to the in-house selection for unlimited use.

• Location: El Transito
• Off the beaten track surf hotel right on the beach

Looking to escape the touristy buzz of San Juan del Sur?

Alive Beach House – our current top pick among the surf hotels of Nica – offers a blissful off-the-beaten-path retreat on Nicaragua’s wilder, quieter central coast.

This boutique option sits directly on the shoreline of El Transito Beach, so close that the sound of rolling waves will be your constant companion.

Step out of the lush garden or the sparkling infinity pool, and you’ll find yourself on a pristine stretch of sand with reef breaks like The Corner (a goofy dream) working on one side and plenty of beginner-friendly beach breaks on the other.

The rooms at Alive Beach House are a masterclass in understated elegance. Think minimalist beach-chic with a focus on natural materials and open-air living. Large sliding doors invite fresh ocean breezes inside and you’ll hear the waves as you go to sleep.

Most of all, it’s about the chill factor here. Relax. Surf. Relax. Repeat.