All is going Swell here in Cabarete on the North coast of the Dominican Republic.

We just had the busiest and most fun filled surf camp winter 2011/2012 season end. Not the best waves this season, (but definitely the best vibes). When we say the waves were not the best, we mean that we did not get many double overhead swells. But since most of our guests are beginners or intermediates, they got the best of the surf conditions, consistent waves in between the chest and overhead range, which is perfect for learning or improving your skills.

We are now in May, and the camp is still 80% full, so the social vibe at the camp continues. In fact the vibe has received a new impulse with some staff changes.

A new qualified surf instructor has joined Swell: Amanda, she’s 20 years old;  very very enthusiastic about teaching people how to surf in a structured, fun and safe way.

Besides being a great surf instructor she is also a very good surf photographer, so if you want a souvenir from your Caribbean surf holiday here in Cabarete, talk to Amanda to have your surf picture taken by her.

Amanda’s first client, Alex, was up and riding in no time.

Constant feedback to take it to the next level.

The next big change at Swell Surf camp Cabarete is that we have a new camp manager: Houdy, she will be replacing Martha, who has been with us for 2 years and did a great job, she will be missed.

Houdy has lots of experience in the hospitality industry, she loves cooking and gardening, so expect good food and a great looking garden upon your arrival.

Another new staff member is Luca, a young and very vibrant Dominican. He’s been with us for a month now and even though he doesn’t speak much English yet (he starts his English lessons tomorrow) the clients adore him, he’s very helpful and a great surfer and assistant instructor.

And the last change is Ashley, who will also be a member of the Swell Surf camp team, he’s a qualified kite surf instructor and will also be teaching surfing and doing guided surf trips when the waves are pumping.

Summer season is coming up, which means great news for kite and windsurfers, because the trade winds are very predictable for the afternoons.
This doesn’t mean however that the surf season has ended, in  fact summer is one of the best seasons for complete beginners, small gentle waves make perfect playgrounds for learning to surf without getting pounded by big waves. Also a great season for families looking for a safe surf holiday with their kids.

Oh and did we mention that we have low season surf package pricing in place between may and October? see the surf packages page here >>

Here’s some of the better pics from the last week.

Amy was a natural, taking chest high waves all by herself after the 1 week surf course

Dill is jealous since his new beach buddy has very cool sunnies.

Ok, that’s it for now.

Hasta pronto

Swell Surf camp team

Pre-surf stretching has been a vital part of the surfing process – using limbs in a way that is alien to most other daily activities or sports can take it’s toll, even on bodies whose owners consider themselves to be quite fit ordinarily.  Unless you are a seasoned swimmer, arms are not used to paddling as a rule so shoulders can react unpleasantly to the demands of catching those waves.  Good balance is also an essential part of the surfing process.  Yoga brings together many of the skills you will need to learn to surf well and perhaps most importantly, helps to stretch, relax, repair and tone aching limbs.

At Swell, we are very fortunate to have the lovely Molly O’Meara as our Yogi – Molly’s very friendly and relaxed way of teaching Yoga really concentrates on the individual…..she’s wonderful at pin-pointing your sore spots and gently encouraging your body to ‘give’ and relax.  Yoga sessions are held at least twice per week and can be increased on request.

For more info on the yoga and surf package prices at Swell have a look at this page: http://swellsurfcamp.com/prices.html

In case you have boundless energy and a love of music-based exercise, we also have unique access to our own Spinning® venue.  Clare and her team of superb instructors will take you on a high-energy ride sure to leave you feel exhilarated and nicely exhausted.

Swell surf camp has Kettle-Bells, Yoga mats, Gymnastic Rings, a Slack-line and genuine Indo-Board for improving your balance skills.

What else ?

It’s been a bussy season here, and whenever Swell staff had the time we’d go to the beach to take some surf pictures of the clients at Swell.

Here’s some more

And here’s some pictures we took on the weekly Swell Surf Camp river trip

More images of the Yoga at Swell Surf camp next week.

First off, very  happy to see lots of return guests at Swell in the next month.

Early morning sunrise at our local surf beach

Norm, as usual has brought the wind back with him; one of the luckiest men when it comes to picking the right time versus conditions in Cabarete, he’s back for the 5th time.  Daniel’s already here for his 2nd visit and right now is on the beach taking a kite lessons with Luciano.  Chris arrives for his 3rd visit in a few days and following him will be Joanne, Jamie, Pat, Danielle, Stan, Jeanne and also a lot of brand new guests joining the ever-growing Swell family. Everyone is welcome!

The surf has been good, consistent fun waves; ranging from shoulder to double over head.

We had some epic sessions at out favourite spot:

Morgan, our Australian client got a lot of good waves this day.

Martha, the excellent manager at Swell also caught some good right handers

And even I caught a few good lefts.

Now, not meaning to upset any of our North American friends, some more snow storms across the US would be welcome, as they often turn into a great North swell for us here in the Dominican Republic.

What else has been going here at Swell?

We launched the new website, http://www.swellsurfcamp.com

What other places can you find Swell:

on Google +:

https://plus.google.com/100365096369531562266/posts

 Facebook  fan page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Swell-Surf-Camp/162734790410280.

We won the 2011 Travellers choice award on tripadvisor:

Find photo’s of Swell Surf camp on Flickr

Or watch our video’s on Vimeo

Want to join us this season?

There are some some spaces open, but not for very long, so best to send Martha a quick email via this page:

Http://www.swellsurfcamp.com/contact.html

See you soon!

So here’s the rating for our surf camp.
Real clients, real reviews, none of that fake inflated stuff that a lot of other business have.
Contact the clients if you want via our facebook page.

We are very happy that our clients were happy on their surf holiday in cabarete with us.
So far we have seen clients return within 2-3 months to see for another trip, some of them have been back 3 times already, and we haven’t been open for a year yet.

What else has been going on?
Excellent surf in the morning, good stand up paddle surfing on the reef in Cabarete, and kitesurf lessons in the afternoon.

Even better, cleaner and bigger swell predicted for this weekend.

Hasta pronto
Swell Surf camp team

Martha is going to help Clare in the officer with the arrivals / organizing and answering the emails that clients send.
JP will be the helping Luciano, which is great, since Luciano has been working very hard in the last year and can now start to have more days off, once every while.
JP surfs, SUP’s, windsurfs and loves riding waves with his kites, so if anyone needs tips and guidance on that aspect of kiting, he’s the man to talk to ( so is Luciano BTW)

here’s some pics from this morning, waves were not great, but the light was lovely and the clients caught some good waves. ( mind you it was only half the camp present on the beach, since the other half was still on bed recovering from a party night out in Cabarete’s bars).

What else is going on/ what’s new?

We have restructred our Surf lessons at Encuentro, to make sure that besides having the best accomodation, our surf lessons will also be the best there are available with propper coaching and guidance. So if you need a good surf school / lessons at Encuentro: Swell Surf hotel is the place.

And here’s the video.
If you want to see it in HD , then click on the vimeo logo to watch it there in better quality.

What else has been going on at Swell?
We closed for 10 days, to tidy , renovate and built some new stuff, to make sure Swell will remain.
“The best place for surfers in Cabarete”
-JP has arrived as the latest addition to the Swell Staff (Martha is coming next week)
-New Stand up paddle boards are ordered and on their way to Cabarete.
-Big swell at the moment that will stick around for the next week, so expect more surfing and SUP pics and videos.
-Swell is also starting to be very full for the coming winter, so if you want to stay with us > Book….sooner rather than later….

Hasta Pronto
Team Swell

Hmm…. I’d love to think it’s because we have the best location, equipment and staff working for us. But the reality is that what makes Swell the best surf camp in Cabarete…The Dominican republic…The Caribbean….or even the world?

It’s the great clients that we seem to attract.
We have been getting people come and stay with us:
-Of all different age groups , between 11 and 64.
-From all over the world.
-Singles, couples and families.
-People that are into different types of activities, mostly surfers and kitesurfers, but we also get people that come for wakeboarding, horseriding, diving and Stand up paddle surfing (SUP) in Cabarete.

We have been very lucky that since we started we constantly seem to have a full house with at least 10 people staying with us, some for 3 days some for 2 months.

Here’s some pics from the last group of clients at Swell Surf camp.

Here’s Simon and Dave after returning from an all night party in town ( picture taken at 11.00 AM)

Why is Swell such a great surf camp in Cabarete? The following picture sums it up:
Some playing table tennis, some reading, some sleeping /lounging on the bean bags, and some in the pool (not in photo)

Ok, winter / hurricane swells are on their way in Cabarete, so aks for availability and get on a flight and join us in the Caribbean.

Hasta Pronto

(oh and i forgot to mention I bought a nice wide angle lens, so you’ll see a lot more funny close up pics like this one)

Nice title huh?
Well clearly we think so, and it’s good to see that our clients that have been visiting us in the last 8 months agree with us. The reviews of Swell Cabarete Surf camp have been great, we hear the feedback from the clients when they are with us in Cabarete, by email when the leave, on our Swell Surf Camp facebook page and on Review sites like tripadvisor ( were we even had some locals competitors post ridiculous false reviews, but fortunately they were flagged quickly by tripadvisor staff).

We are very happy with the kind words of our clients, and even happier when they have been returning in large numbers for a second (or even 3rd) visit back in 7 months.

So by the looks of it, it’s going to be a very happy and busy winter season with certain weeks already pretty much fully booked already, so if you are reading this and are thinking about coming down this 2010/2011 surf season in Cabarete; send an enquiry to Swell cabarete surf camp sooner rather than later to avoid disappointmen!

There’s another thing that makes me personally very happy and that is how the garden is growing, it’s really looking great.
Here’s some pics from the last week

Swell Surf camp

More Surf camp

And even More surf camp garden

happy surf camp client

Ok, forecast looks great for the next week, new camera should be back from the repair, so good pics to follow.
Oh and this is what i got up to today:
Testing the new waterproof GoPro camera ( expect to see a lot of action shots this winter from it)

Windsurfing in Cabarete

Hasta Pronto

team Swell Surf camp

It’s the middle of April now and the big wave season has ended, so does that mean that the surf season has ended?
No!
For beginners and intermediate surfers the fun begins now. With waves between waist and head high on average for the next 4 months, this is the time for you to improve your surfing skills here in Cabarete.

We are the newest and best surf school in Cabarete, why? Because we are the only surf school in Cabarete that teaches with the safest and easiest boards to learn surfing on: Bic soft surfboards.
They surf well, and are made of a hard inside core, but a soft outside, therefor, if you fall on the board, no injury will come of it. The other reason why the Swell surf school has such great results with introducing people to the sport of surfing is because Luciano Gonzalez is a top surf instructor: Speaks very good English, is very patient, a good surfer himself , and knows all the theories behind teaching people how to surf in a safe and fun way.

The next week looks perfect for learning to surf: perfect chest high waves, clean sets, hardly any wind and a lovely temperature.

Are you interested in learning to surf? Check this page on Swell Surf camp’s Cabarete surf school and then get in touch with us.
Not a client of Swell but still want to learn to surf? If we have space we do at times teach clients that are not staying with us. But send us an email first.

See you in the water this summer!

Regards

Swell Surf Camp

Strong wind and solid 2,5 overhead waves created the perfect setting for a photoshoot of Luciano Gonzalez riding strapless on a surfboard at Encuentro, the local surf spot here in Cabarete.
How big was it?

How was Luciano Gonzalez handling those waves…………. very well………why? Because he is one of the best wave kite surfers in the world.

How did he handle riding strapless in those big waves…….excellent…….most of the time……

At the moment 2 very talented film guys are making a movie about Luciano and Swell, and this epic day of kitesurfing at Encuentro, cabarete will be in it…stay tuned.

Want to improve your wave riding skills with a kite? Luciano works for Swell Surf camp full time, and especially in the summer months he will be available for our kite surf guests to give clinics and advanced kite lessons.

You like some white water?