Well the summer is in full swing and it’s been a good one so far; we have been pretty much at full capacity at Swell for 95% of the time, with surfers, kitesurfers, windsurfers and paddle boarders, and the good things is that the conditions here in Cabarete have been great for everyone:

-Fun waves in the waist to shoulder high have been great for our beginner and intermediate surfers that go for lessons to Encuentro beach every morning.

-The Stand up paddle surfers have also been able to enjoy good SUP lessons in Cabarete bay.

-The trade winds are very cooperative this year with the last 2 months showing great winds for people learning to kitesurf and for intermediates practicing the jumping and other  freestyle moves.

-We haven’t had that many windsurfers in the last year but now there’s a few clients enjoying quality windsurf lessons at Cabarete Bay.

-We have a new Yoga teacher, who comes in at the camp at around 5.30 to do a sunset yoga session, which the clients really enjoy (I will try it in the coming weeks).

What else is going on?

Unfortunately for Swell our surf assistant Brock got an offer to sail around the Mediterranean  with one of or guests (that has been back at Swell 3 times already) so he took the offer and is now living the good life on a boat for a few months.

Martha our manager has been doing a great job in the last 6 months running Swell, and keeping all the clients happy, but since she hardly ever wanted a day off, she needed a break, and so she is off roaming Central America  for a few weeks, in the mean time Clare is running the camp again, which she really enjoys.

What else?

Norm is now our record holding guests with 4 return visits to Swell in 14 months, and we are confident that we’ll see him back in Cabarete doing more Kitesurfing before the year is over.

Fonzy our surf camp dog, loved by all guests, got sick a few weeks back, but now seems to be in full recovery.

Ok, that’s about it for now.

I’ll finish with a few pictures from Richard , a solo traveler from Holland who came to Swell for Surfing, kitesurfing, partying and every other activity we can throw at him has been making some xtremely fast progress with the kitesurfing lessons by Swell Staff memeber Luciano.

here’s some pics of Richard after a few hours of lessons

The wind forecast looks great for the next week, so don’t be surprised to see pics of Richard  doing some jumping before he leaves cabarete

Interested in joining us in the the Caribbean? Visit our website : http://www.swellsurfcamp.com

or join us on facebook: www.facebook.com/surfcamp

Hasta pronto

In no particular order:

1. The kitesurfing season has started here in Cabarete; the last few days we had great wind; 20 knots plus,  sunny skies and the semana santa crowds of the last week have all left the town.
2. The surf has been great too, solid waves in the 4-6′ range make for great early morning surf or SUP sessions at Encuentro.
3. Luciano Gonzalez, our surf and kite surf specialist once again won the Cabarete master of the Ocean competition, making it 4 in total ( he says he wants 10 title’s like Kelly Slater)
4. Our ‘new’ surf instructor Brock is still working out every day and looking very fit, his surf skills are also becoming very impressive, ( now he needs to learn to kitesurf, and maybe windsurf?)
5. The new huge solid oak wood table has arrived, and it’s a stunning masterpiece , right in the center of Swell Surf Camp
6. Clients keep sending rave reviews to tripadvisor about our place ( we don’t ask them to, and contrary to most other places in cabarete we offer no incentive for them to do so), see Swell reviews here
7. We have seen many return clients coming back for a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th time ( in 18 months of being open)
8. We had a couple that stayed with us, then moved to a what they thought was a ‘similar place to Swell’, after 2 days the clients came back to Swell, saying that this place at Encuentro was in absolutely no way similar to Swell, for comforts, vibe, quality and location.
9. It’s going to be a busy summer looking at the amount of reservations that are already in, certain summer weeks are already fully booked, so if you want to come, book asap.
10. Something new is in the making at Swell……more on this in a few weeks…..

The new table

Luciano with Swell’s windsurf rig ( is there a cooler sail in Cabarete? we think not)

Gonazalez taking his 4th Cabarete’s Master of the Ocean title.

• Steady tradewinds in the months between April and September
• For all level of windsurfers ( flat water and light wind in the morning, bump and jump conditions in the middle of  cabarete bay and the reef for wave riding and serious jumps for the advanced windsurfers.
• Abundance of good windsurf schools
• Great wind surf rental businesses
• Safe, no rocks or shallow reef
• Side onshore winds: something breaks you’ll come in safely
• Warm water and waves.

20 years ago windsurfing was all I ever wanted to do in life, things changed, I started surfing , then kitesurfing but recently I find myself more often on a windsurfer then with my kite surf equipment. Windsurfing remains a very challenging, physical and great sport.

The last 2 days I have been enjoying some superb windsurfing in cabarete with my newly assembled ‘old’ equipment. Solid 20 knots wind and some shoulder high waves made a great arena for practising my jumps and wave riding again.

So if you are into windsurfing and have nevere been to cabarete, come and check it out the summer, you will not be dissapointed.

Here’s some pics taken around Cabarete recently.

Windsurfer doing a frontloop at Encuentro

Windsurf equipment ready for usage at the master of the ocean in Cabarete

Another frontloop by a windsurfer at Encuentro

Oh and if you are coming to cabarete this summer, we have a purpose built hotel for windsurfers a few minutes walking distance to the windsurf beaches of Cabarete

More info at Swell Surf camp cabarete, budget accommodation for surfers, kite surfers and windsurfers

See you on the water

The wind didn’t full cooperate, which is normal this time of the year, so the windsurf event wasn’t full finished, but that didn’t matter, the results that mattered where in and Swell’s own Luciano Gonzalez took the title righfully back.

I think there was no question about who was the best overall surfer and kitesurfer in the comp. Luciano’s surfing has been killer, ripping Encuentro’s waves every morning, taking spinning classes with Clare’s for his Fitness and stamina has paid off. Clear winner without a doubt.

Here’s some kitesurf pictures from him

More ripping the waves:

Congrats to Luciano
aspiring to be a Master of the ocean? Luciano gives surf and kite surf lessons here in Cabarete for Swell surf camp clients

Dominican born Luciano’s credentials are impressive and details of his acheivements are to be seen in his profile on our website.  He is also an honorary Ambassador to the Dominican Republic because of his skills in all 3 water sports, kite boarding, surfing and windsurfing.  As well as being resident in our surf hostel, Luciano will be hosting kite clinics for advanced riding techniques at various stages of the year – we will be announcing when those clinics will take place in the near future.

He will also be overseeing our surf lessons and available for you to pick his brains on all aspects of any one of the 3 sports Cabarete is so famous for.  Welcome Luciano, we are very proud to have you on the team

Jim says tomorrow looks very good for an SUP session in the main bay.

Whilst in Miami, we were concentrating on the sound system for the camp – buying a system that can provide us with music throughout the communal area and garden.   Shortly, I will go and visit the camp to see what was done whilst we have been away and update some photos later.  Hasta Pronto