Kitesurfing in Cabarete

Kitesurfing in Cabarete

Yes Swell is a surf camp in the Dominican Republic, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t offer any other sports at Swell. In fact the reason we built Swell in Cabarete is because Cabarete is considered the watersport capital of the Caribbean.
Cabarete first became famous because of the world class windsurfing conditions in Cabarete in the mid 80’s. The popularity of windsurfing started to drop in the late 90’s and 2000, just in time for a new sport to arrive: kitesurfing (or kiteboarding same thing).

There are a few reasons that make Cabarete an ideal place for a kitesurfing holiday.

Reasons to go kitesurfing in Cabarete, Dominican republic

The tradewinds that pick up in the afternoon are steady and reach perfect strenght for kitesurfing: between 16 and 22 knots on average ( 4 to 5 beaufort).
The tradewinds are side onshore, which means if something happens to you or your kite, you will not be blown out to see but come floating into safety in a short time.
Large open spaces, cabarete bay, Goletta and kitebeach are big area’s were there is enough space for 100’s of kiters to enjoy the sport without getting in each others ways.
Large variety of conditions to enjoy: from Flat water at La Boca river mouth to the waves at Kitebeach and Encuentro; it doesn’t matter if you are in to freestyle kitesurfing or wave riding, Cabarete offers something for everyone.
Availability of good kitesurf schools in Cabarete: There are at least a dozen kiteboard schools in Cabarete. But just like with Surf schools some are better than others, at Swell we offer our clients the lessons from the most renowned kiteschool located at Cabarete bay. They employ qualified kite instructors, use top quality equipment and have the best safety record.

If you want a change of scenery from just kitesurfing in Cabarete, there’s a few more spots to enjoy in the Dominican republic: Las terrenas is a stunning beach with turquoise flat waters that many Cabarete kitesurfers go to for a few days to enjoy the tranquility of a different kitesurf spot.

Another popular spot going west from cabarete is Punta Russia: no development there, just gorgeous beaches with flat water and great views.

Swell Surf camp offer learn to kitesurf packages for complete beginners. See our kitesurfing page or pricing page for details.

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November 27, 2013July 5, 2024

Surfing Encuentro

SURFING ENCUENTRO

Playa El Encuentro on the North coast of the Dominican Republic is where we do most of our surfing. Why? Because it’s the most consistent surf spot on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic. Unlike most other surf spots in the Caribbean, Encuentro is a beach that has surfable waves almost every day of the year, ( I think on average it has waves bigger than waist high on 340 days of the year. Besides it’s constency it’s also a place that caters for surfers of all levels, from complete beginners that have never surfed before to die hard surfers with 20+ years of surfing experience.

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How do we get to Playa Encuentro?

Playa Encuentro is about 3 miles out of the Cabarete town center ( where we are located), as a result we take our guests by taxi to Encuentro for their surfing. Contrary to what places that are located at Encuentro try to make you believe, staying in Cabarete is by far the best way to enjoy the best that this surf town has to offer. We are within walking distance to most great restaurants and bars. Encuentro is great for surfing, but there’s absolutely nothing else to do, eat, drink there during the day.

Feel like you are missing out on good surf?
Not when you are staying at Swell, we are always the first ones in the water ( if you choose to go on the sunrise surf session) and we go back to the beach several times during the day if the conditions are good for it. If you stay at basic accommodation at Encuentro yes you canb walk to the surf in the morning, but you are stuck way out of town for the rest of the day and night. Moto taxi’s; not if your life is dear to you.

Ok, here’s some surf spots of surfers of all different levels at Encuentro

Interested in Surfing Encuentro?

We still have places open at our surf camp, so have a look at our packages and contact us.
See you soon

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October 8, 2013June 6, 2021

Surfing Cabarete

Here’s some information regarding the different surf spots , conditions and what to expect on a surf holiday in and around Cabarete, Dominican Republic.

Surf spots close to Cabarete
The most popular surfspot on the North Coast of the DR is Playa Encuentro, it’s 3 miles west of Cabarete town.
The beach of Playa Encuentro or ( or just plain Encuentro as everyone calls it) has several different surf spots:
From West to East they are:

Destroyer: like the name suggests, not a wave for beginners, it’s fast and barreling and best in the winter months. It’s shallow with pretty sharp reef so kamikazes and bodyboarders only!
The left at Encuentro: a quality left hander that can peel for a good distance, barrel sections, works in NE and North swells, and when it does you will not be the only one out there, so can get a bit crowded with good surfers
Encuentro main peak: a fun , consistent ( breaks all year round) wave, the right is longer, the left shorter and faster. Great for short and longboarders, also good for intermediates and experts.
Bobo’s point: right in front of Bobo’s surf school, a fun left and right wave for surfers of all levels.
Coco Pipe: good right hand wave, that only gets good in a North swell with some size. Barrels and good walls to hit. Shallow and uneven reef below the surface, so not for beginners

Cabarete’s main bay also has waves that you could surf, but it’s a long paddle, 30 minutes on a shortboard. Not the easiest place to surf since it’s hard to predict the peaks, No crowds, just the occasional Stand up Paddle surfer.
East of Cabarete is Mananero: best in East swells, without wind, so early summer mornings. It’s fast & it has a good punch for intermediate and experts surfers.

About 45 minutes east of Cabarete is Playa Grande which has several surf spots in the region. Playa Grande itself has a fun beach break, great for bodyboarding & bodysurfing. The next bay has several surf spots, the most well know spot in Preciosa, a world class reef break in front of a headland, the left is better and longer than the right.

These spots are the most well known surf spots in the Cabarete region, there’s a good amount more spots, some are surfed less frequent in their consistency, some are secret spots, so you’ll need a willing local to share the info. At Swell staff has lived here for over 10 years, so we know all the major spots, but will not publish them here on the web ( maybe at Swell after a few beers, we can be bribed;-)

More info about Surfing Cabarete

Surf forecast for Surfing Cabarete can be found here.

More photo’s of surfing on the North coast of the DR.

Interested in other sports on your surf holiday in Cabarete can be found here or click here if want to stay up to date on the Swell Costa Rica Surf camp

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October 5, 2013July 5, 2024

Water sport holiday

Snorkeling activities dominican republic

WATER SPORT HOLIDAY

If you are looking for an active water sport holiday in either the Dominican Republic, then Swell Surf Camp is your place to be!

Why Swell is the ultimate watersport holiday

It’s not just surfing at our surf camp, there’s a ton of other water sports you, your family or your friends can do with us in the Dominican Republic.

Kitesurfing

Cabarete is widely considered one of the best kitesurfing destinations for beginners and advanced kiteboarders. From flat water at La Boca to the waves at Encuentro and kitebeach there’s different types of kitesurfing conditions to keep everyone happy.
Steady tradewinds: No gusty offshore winds here, steady trade winds that are side onshore make this a very safe spot( if something happens you float back to the shore in no time)
Top kitesurf schools: There’s a ton of kite schools in Cabarete, we work with the 2 best schools at Swell, that have been in business for 10+ years and that work with a large school of professional & qualified kitesurf instructors.
Warm water: no need to bring your wetsuit!

Stand up paddle surfing

Cabarete has great SUP conditions, and just like kitesurfing, the North coast offers a wide variety of SUP conditions to keep everybody happy: From paddle surfing in the waves at Encuentro, to the flat water SUP tours on the La Boca rivers.
Lessons and rentals are available, from easy beginner stand up paddle boards to advanced wave SUP boards, all is available in Cabarete
Fun for the whole family on their water sport vacation, kids as young as 6 years old to 70 year old seniors can enjoy the sport of paddle boarding.

Windsurfing

Before kitesurfing and surfing made the DR a popular place, Cabarete was put on the map by the windsurfers 20 years ago. Cabarete bay offer unique windsurfing conditions for windsurfers of all levels. The morning when the wind is light and the water flat is ideal for beginners, when something goes wrong, the side onshore wind will return you to the safety of the beach in no time.
For intermediates and advanced windsurfers, there’s the slalom and freestyle conditions with medium chop and waves inside the bay, for advanced waveriders the reef offers plenty of waves to practise your jumps and wave riding.
Quality windsurf lessons and rentals are all available on Cabarete bay

For kite, wind and wave surfing check the forecasts on Windguru and MagicSeaweed

Canyoning, rafting and white water stand up paddle boarding.
We work closely with “Kayak river adventures” they offer great trips. The waterfall / Canyoning trip is weekly trip most Swell guests do, and they love it. Climbing up waterfalls, sliding down natural slides into turquoise water and doing big jumps. Gets the adrenaline going and is highly recommended

Sailing
Cabarete has 1 main sailing center in the upwind part of the Bay called the Bic center. They give sailing lessons in Laser’s and a 4 person sail boat

Bodyboarding
When the waves are too big for the surf spots to work properly, some good BodyBoarding and bodysurfing can be done inside the Cabarete bay.

Horse Riding and Mountain biking in and around Cabarete, Dominican Republic
Ok not watersport holiday activities but still great things to do when you don’t want to be in the water for a day.

Keep in mind that all these active water sport activities are optional at Swell Surf Camp, if all you want to do is Surf and chill, then Cabarete is a great place.

See our package pricing page for more details or have a look at even more stuff to do in Cabarete

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September 19, 2013July 5, 2024

Learn to Surf

A CARIBBEAN SURF HOLIDAY

More info about our Learn to Surf Holiday can be found here >>

What is the core business of Swell Surf Camp? Hard core surfers? Travelling surfers? Nope, teaching people that are completely new to the sport of surfing all the basic essentials of how to ride the waves. We want to provide high quality surf lessons for our clients, and one way to ensure this is by using quality surf material: Safe big soft top boards for the first time surfers, rashguards, leashes but most importantly by using internationally qualified surf instructors that are fluent in English.

Our surf instructor to student ratio is pretty much guaranteed to be below 6 students for 1 instructor. We have 2 international surf coaches working at Swell with years of experience teaching surfing in a safe, fun and structured manner.

Besides those 2 coaches we also have a permanent Dominican Surf instructor, who is widely regarded as one of the best surf instructors in the country: Neno, He speaks English fluently, is very patient and an all round nice guy with a huge smile.

Quick tip: Swell is a popular place and as a result we can sometimes fill up months in advance, so if you are interested in joining us, don’t wait too long; send us an email today.

Learning Surfing

What kind of people take lessons with Swell? Well we only give lessons to the clients that stay at Swell, to ensure that the student / instructor ratio is kept low. So unlike other surf schools and surf camps in Cabarete, we do not give lessons to non clients.

Interested in a yoga surf retreat holiday? Visit our Yoga page

Swell Clients:
What else sets the surf lessons from Swell apart? Besides the actual beach lessons, we also give at least 2 surf theory classes per week at Swell. These are highly informative classes that go in depth into things like: How waves are created, tides, currents, dangers but also about positions in the line up that are best to sit in order to catch the best waves.

More info about learning to surf with Swell Surf Camp

Have a look on our ‘Surfing’ page to find more info about the learn to surf camp packages we have created. Interested in a surf & yoga holiday? See this yoga & surf page

So what are you waiting for? Cross one thing of your bucket list , and learn to surf with the professionals in the Dominican Republic on your next surf holiday

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September 5, 2013June 6, 2021

New Swell blog

Now that we launched the new Swell Surf Camp site successfully last week, we are now going to be working on this blog.

We will be posting about all things related to our surf camp; reviews, photos and news but also about special events in Cabarete, surf news or other thing we think you might like to read about.

Stay tuned

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