All that was fun and exciting, but the real reason for their trip was to give back by helping to build a new classroom for 4th, 5th, and 6 graders. They painted, dug trenches, and learned to mix cement.

Click “play” above to watch their story.

Imagine you’re a 12 year old kid growing up in a remote fishing village in Northern Nicaragua. You’ve spent most of your life barefoot, chasing chickens and skinny dogs through barbed-wire fences. You learned to ride a horse at age 5 and by age 7 your dad had you herding cattle between pen and pasture. Your parents keep you busy with the chores of survival. There’s a two room school house just down the street but not much incentive to attend so you don’t know how to read.

Then one day, some gringos show up and buy land nearby. They give your uncles jobs in construction building a small eco-resort called El Coco Loco. Your mom gets hired to help out in the kitchen and your older brother scores a job as a night watchman.

Coco Loco founds a community development focused non-profit called Waves of Hope to improve the lives of the community they’ve fallen in love with. Volunteers come down from the US and Canada, girls with big smiles that spend mornings in the little school helping the one teacher that is assigned to teach three grades at once. In the afternoons they organize soccer games on the Coco Loco field, do art projects, and teach English. On Saturdays any kid that has attended classes Monday – Friday gets to borrow a surfboard and feel the joy of riding a wave.

Suddenly, there’s a lot of incentive to go to school. Attendance skyrockets. The tiny two room school house is no longer big enough.

Then Waves Of Hope announces that it will build a new school room for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. But we need your help!

The new classroom will cost $9,000 to build. You can help by donating to Waves of Hope. Every little bit helps.
Email hollybeck27@gmail.com or jamie@elcocolocoresort.com for more info on how you can make a difference and help kids go to school!

Escape reality for a week of unforgettable adventure!

It all starts with surfing.
Whether you are ready to catch your very first wave, become more confident in the water, transition to riding a shortboard, or improve your existing skills while making new surfing friends, we will help you achieve your goals. There are great waves for beginners, advanced beginners, intermediate, and experienced surfers all within walking distance. Getting you into the best waves is our top priority. If you are willing to think positively, push yourself, and listen to feedback you will leave the retreat a better surfer.

A perfect beginner's wave

Lindsay McDonald from Halifax Canada on the wave of her trip!

After surfing we’ll do yoga.
Yoga is so good for your body and mind. After a morning at the beach and an awesome meal, we’ll head up to the elevated ocean-view yoga studio. Yoga is a great way for surfers to work on core strength, flexibility, balance, and breathing. The yoga sessions will vary between strength building and restorative yoga. The instructor will provide modifications of poses so that every yogi will feel supported and challenged.

Afternoon Adventures
If the wind cooperates and the waves are good in the afternoon, we’ll head back to the beach for a second surf session. Otherwise we’ll set off on an adventure. We’ll hop on horseback and gallop down the beach, take a day-trip to the colonial city of Leon and hike up, then board down an active volcano, get dressed up and indulge in incredible French food at a hilltop restaurant with a 360 degree view. If conditions permit we may take a boat cruise to check out a secret surf spot.

Open air travel

Gourmet dining

The Difference
The difference between Suave Dulce and other women’s surf and yoga retreats is attitude and experience. Unlike other places where the instructors are barely intermediate surfers themselves, when you stay with us you will be coached and supported by Holly Beck, a professional surfer with a keen eye for how to help you specifically improve. We video every session and go over the footage so that you can see what you’re doing right and what little changes might help you really improve.

We also create a culture of support. The other girls will become your new surfing sisters, yelling and cheering and clapping and dancing in celebration of your awesome rides. You just don’t get that anywhere else.

$1,700 all inclusive package includes ($1,600 early bird special if booked 2 months in advance):
- two way airport transfer (if you get a flight that arrives on the first date of the retreat and departs on the last day.)
- 7 nights accommodation in a shared cabana
- 3 deliciously healthy meals per day
- all beverages (juices, sodas, beer, rum)
- daily surf lessons with professional surfer Holly Beck
- all afternoon activities such as yoga, horseback riding, volcano boarding, estuary cruising, and other surprises
- professional video footage and photos of you riding the best wave of your life

Typical Daily Schedule looks like this:
6:30am wake up for buffet breakfast of coffee, juice, cereal, toast, yogurt, fruit
7:30am – 11am surfing, surfing, surfing!
11:30am delicious lunch
2pm yoga
4pm second surf session or other adventure
7pm dinner with new friends

See the Schedule Link for available dates

A 50% deposit secures your spot. Contact SuaveDulce@gmail.com for booking info or other questions

I’ve been practicing yoga since 2006, and completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training in April 2011 with Semperviva Yoga studios. I am Yoga Alliance Certified in classical Hatha. I was fortunate enough to study with such inspirational teachers as Seane Corn, Janet Stone, Gloria Latham, and Cameron Gilley. I have been teaching since April at various studios in Vancouver. I have also completed a number of classes for charity organizations (such as Easter Seals) with plans to continue weekly charity classes in June and July with 100% proceeds going to my favorite charity, Waves of Hope.

My classes are a mix of Hatha and Vinyasa Flow, integrating alignment, core work, and breathing techniques with basic poses and creative sequencing. Each class is designed to energize the body, calm the mind and give greater vitality and health. It is my dream to take students to Nicaragua to practise yoga and experience the raw beauty of the country and it’s people.

Check out http://sukhaline.com/ for more from Cydney Gurvich

Jackie George is hanging out with Suave Dulce and ready to become your new favorite amiga! She learned to surf as a kid at San Onofre, growing up in the wave rich town of San Clemente, CA. After graduating high school, she moved up to the cold waters of Northern CA to attend college at Humboldt State, partly to be closer to her namesake “Aunt Jackie”, an awesome woman living solo on 300 acres in the woods who has made friends with wild stallions and eats daily out of her organic garden.

Jackie has worked as a lifeguard in San Clemente and a rafting guide in NorCal, but is loving her current job in Northern Nicaragua. She is always smiling and laughing. She can cross-step to the nose, and crank a bottom turn on a green twin-fin.

Come down and surf with us!