Most surf camps are booked through a middleman who has never seen the place. We are not that. Swell is a single, owner-run surf retreat in one town, in one country, that we chose on purpose after spending twenty-five years and more than twenty countries looking for it.
This page is the honest version: who built Swell and why, who actually turns up, what we are good at, and what we are not. If you want the sales brochure, the surfing page is prettier. If you want to know whether you would fit in here, read on.
What is Swell Surf Camp?
Swell Surf Camp is a purpose-built, adults-only surf retreat and wingfoil retreat in the centre of Cabarete, Dominican Republic. It has been owner-operated since 2009 by Jeroen and Clare Mutsaars. Guests book a week, everything is included, and the retreat holds a maximum of 16 adults at a time.
Three things define the place, and each of them is a deliberate trade-off.
It is small. Sixteen guests is not an accident of building size — we designed and built the place around that number. It is the number at which everyone knows everyone by Tuesday, the surf coaching stays in tiny groups, and the dinner table still works as one conversation rather than six.
It is adults-only. Our guests are working professionals, mostly between 35 and 60, who have limited holiday time and want to spend it learning properly. That is a very specific room to be in, and it does not mix well with school holidays.
It is one location. We are not a booking platform with a portfolio. We live with the consequences of every decision we make here, which is a much better incentive structure than a commission.
Why we chose Cabarete, and what we turned down
We chose Cabarete because it is one of the very few places on earth that is genuinely reliable for a complete beginner in a single week. Our home break, Playa Encuentro, is a ten-minute drive away and produces rideable waves roughly 350 days a year, the water sits around 27°C (81°F) with no wetsuit, and the international airport is 25 minutes from the front door.
That answer took a long time to arrive at. Before a single foundation stone went down, Jeroen had spent 25 years in the surf travel industry and both of us had surfed, taught, or seriously considered building in more than twenty countries: Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru, Hawaii, Indonesia, Mexico and a long list of European coastlines. We lived in Sayulita, Mexico for ten months assessing it as a possible site. We loved the town. We passed on it, because the surf is not consistent enough to promise a beginner a good week, and a beginner who flies across an ocean into a flat week has wasted their holiday.
Here is the checklist a location had to pass before we would build a business on it:
- Consistency. Surfable waves at least 300 days a year, so a one-week trip is not a gamble.
- Room to improve. Mellow whitewater for day one, and real waves for the week you come back better.
- No hidden dangers. No heavy rips, no shallow reef in the beginner zone, nothing in the water that bites.
- Warm water. No wetsuit means longer sessions, and longer sessions mean faster progress.
- Short door-to-water time. A four-hour road transfer after a long-haul flight ruins the first two days.
- A real town. Somewhere with restaurants, a pharmacy and a life of its own, not a resort compound.
Cabarete was the only place that passed all six. Seventeen years later we have not found a reason to move. If you want the full comparison, including the places that beat us on some measures, we published it in our guide to the best places to learn to surf.
Who actually stays at Swell
The average Swell guest is 39 years old, travels solo, has never stood on a surfboard, and comes from the USA, Canada or the UK. Roughly two thirds arrive with no surfing background whatsoever. This is not a gap-year camp and it is not a pro training centre.
These figures come from our own booking records rather than an industry survey, so treat them as a description of this specific retreat rather than of surf camps in general.
| What | The number | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Average guest age | 39 | You will not be the oldest person here. Most weeks skew mid-thirties to late fifties. |
| Travelling solo | 65% | Arriving alone is the norm, not the exception. Nobody eats dinner by themselves. |
| Complete beginners | 60–70% | Most of the room has also never surfed. There is no experienced clique to feel behind. |
| Main nationalities | US · CA · UK | English is the working language of the retreat, with plenty of European guests too. |
| Maximum on site | 16 | Small groups in the water, and a dinner table that works as one conversation. |
| Minimum stay | 5 nights | Long enough to actually progress. Most guests book seven. |
| Ages welcomed | Adults | Adults only, every week of the year. |
Source: Swell Surf Camp booking records, 2009–2026. Figures rounded.
What Swell is, and what Swell is not
We would rather lose a booking than have someone arrive expecting a different holiday. So here is the unflattering half of the pitch alongside the good half.
- Are an adult beginner with limited holiday time
- Want small-group coaching, not a 20-to-1 group lesson
- Are travelling solo and want company at dinner
- Value a private ensuite room with air conditioning
- Want everything arranged: transfers, gear, food, transport
- Like the idea of a social, purpose-built retreat rather than a resort
- Are booking on price alone. We are not the cheapest bed in Cabarete
- Want a five-star resort with room service and a spa
- Are travelling with children. We are adults-only
- Want guaranteed waves. Nobody can promise the ocean
- Are an expert chasing a specific big-wave swell window
- Want a party hostel. Evenings here are social, not wild
We also do not chase you over email. We will send you an honest quote, answer whatever you ask, and then leave you alone to decide. Read the reviews, look at the galleries, compare us against the other camps in town properly. If Swell is right for you, you will know without being sold to.
The people behind Swell
Swell has been run by the same two owners since 2009, and the same general manager since 2012. In an industry with famously high turnover, that continuity is most of the reason the reviews look the way they do.
Dutch, moved to Cabarete in 2004 chasing wind. More than 40 years in watersports, from windsurfing and sailing to surfing, prone foiling and wingfoiling, and 25 years in the surf travel industry, including founding one of the first online surf travel agencies.
He designed the surf programme, scouted the location, and shot most of the photographs on this site. More from Jeroen.
From the south of England, and living proof of what we tell every nervous guest: she came to watersports late and caught her first wave at 52. She knows exactly what the first morning feels like.
Off the clock she kitesurfs, windsurfs, wingfoils and foil surfs, and swaps the water for a snowboard in winter.
Clare answers the enquiries, builds the quotes and runs the bookings, so the person emailing you back is an owner rather than a call centre.
Originally from Valparaíso, Chile, and a graduate in tourism, hospitality and marketing. She arrived in the Dominican Republic in 2001 and joined Swell in 2012.
After two decades on this coast she knows everyone in Cabarete, and Cabarete loves her back. It is the reason guests end up with the right guide, the good table and a taxi that actually turns up.
Haudy runs the retreat day to day. She is the name that appears in more guest reviews than anything else on this page, and deservedly so.
Alongside them is a team of local Dominican surf instructors, most of whom grew up in the water here. You can meet the wider crew on our Swell team page.
What the press and 367 guests say
Swell holds a 4.9 star rating across 367 verified guest reviews on Google and Tripadvisor, and has been featured in Frommer’s and Lonely Planet. Those are third-party verdicts, which is the only kind worth quoting on your own about page.
“Think of Swell as the anti-surf camp.”
Frommer’s Travel Guides
“Designed with the discerning surfer in mind, Swell is far from a crash pad.”
Lonely Planet
Seventeen years in Cabarete
Where to find us
Swell sits in the centre of Cabarete on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, 25 minutes by road from Puerto Plata (POP) International Airport. Direct flights run from New York in about 3 hours 45 minutes, Toronto in around 3.5 hours and Miami in 1.5 hours, with no internal connection and no long road transfer at the other end.
Cabarete, corner to corner: Swell sits in the centre of town, ten minutes from the surf beach at Playa Encuentro and a short walk from the wingfoiling bay, restaurants and shops.
Swell Surf Camp
Calle Principal, Cabarete 52000, Puerto Plata Province, Dominican Republic
Adults-only surf and wingfoil retreat · Founded 2009 · Maximum 16 guests
Arrivals any day of the week · 5 night minimum stay · 25 minutes from POP airport
Full route options, flight advice and transfer details are on our getting here page.
What a week here actually looks like
Mornings start early, because the wind does. The van leaves for Playa Encuentro around 6.45am, which puts us on the beach before almost anyone else, when the water is glassy and the waves are cleanest. Coaching runs in small groups, with an instructor in the water beside you and a head coach reading the sets from the shallows.
Afternoons are yours: wingfoiling in the bay, a yoga class in the garden, a day trip into the mountains, or a hammock. Dinner is cooked on site several nights a week and eaten at one long table, which is how sixteen strangers turn into a group by Wednesday.
The full breakdown lives on the surfing and wingfoiling pages.
Seventeen years, one town, one table
Three things to take away. We chose Cabarete deliberately, after ruling out twenty other countries, because it is the most reliable place we found for an adult to learn in a single week. We keep the retreat to sixteen adults because that is the size at which coaching stays personal and a solo traveller stops being a solo traveller. And we are still the people who answer your email, seventeen years in.
If that sounds like your kind of week, tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and Clare will send back a real price and live availability, usually the same day.
Come and see if we are telling the truth
Tell us your dates. We will send a custom quote with live availability, no pressure and no follow-up chasing.
About Swell: frequently asked questions
Who owns Swell Surf Camp?
Swell Surf Camp is owned and run by Jeroen and Clare Mutsaars, who founded it in the winter of 2009 and have operated it themselves ever since. Jeroen moved to Cabarete in 2004 and has more than 40 years in watersports and 25 in the surf travel industry. Clare handles bookings and enquiries personally.
Is Swell Surf Camp adults only?
Yes. Swell is an adults-only retreat, every week of the year. The average guest is 39 years old and most are working professionals between their mid-thirties and late fifties. Keeping it adults-only is what allows the coaching, the pace and the evenings to be pitched at that group.
How big is Swell Surf Camp?
The retreat takes a maximum of 16 guests at a time. That cap is deliberate: it keeps surf groups small, means instructors know your name and your weak spots by day two, and keeps the communal dinner table to one conversation rather than several.
Do I need to have surfed before?
No. Between 60 and 70% of our guests have never stood on a surfboard when they arrive. Our home break at Playa Encuentro has a gentle, chest-deep inside section with no rips or reef, which is why a complete beginner can realistically go from first lesson to riding unbroken waves inside a week.
Is Swell suitable for solo travellers?
It is built for them. Around 65% of Swell guests travel solo. Shared breakfasts, shared surf sessions and communal dinners mean arriving alone is completely normal here, and most solo guests leave having made plans with people they met on the first morning.
Watersport paradise
Tell us your dates, how many people you are thinking about coming with, and we’ll send you a custom price and availability quote; almost instantly. Hasta pronto, see you soon.