Firstly, just to clarify, there’s actually no surfing in San Juan del Sur, per se. The pretty beach right in town is very sheltered and doesn’t have a break. But San Juan del Sur is where you want to base yourself, and explore the beaches immediately north and south of town. There are beginner-friendly beach breaks less than 5km (3 miles) away, and the many surf shops in San Juan offer lessons, rental boards and transportation at very reasonable prices. It’s a good idea to pop into two or three different surf shops and see which one you feel comfortable with before you sign up for lessons.

It’s not just the beautiful scenery, and the accessibility and affordability of surfing in San Juan del Sur that makes it so great. It’s also kind of nice that there are many (but not too many) other beginners surfers around, and the atmosphere is rather jovial. So there’s no need to feel self-conscious wobbling about on your board.

We stayed in San Juan del Sur for three weeks and dedicated some of that time to learning how to surf. Here’s a bit of a rundown of our experiences.

San Juan del Sur surfing: Playa Remanso

After popping into a few surf shops in town, we ended up going with Moke Huhu Surf School for our first surf lesson. The guys at Moke Huhu are super chilled-out and fun as well as professional. On our first day we headed over to the very beginner-friendly waves of beautiful Playa Remanso about 5km (3 miles) from town. Although we both have tried surfing before we’re VERY much in the beginner category. It was great to take a lesson just as a [Read more…]