It’s been way too long since I’ve been to my favorite surfing getaway destination up in northern Nicaragua.
The protests a couple years back, COVID, the elections, etc. all took a toll on the Nicaraguan populace. Flights into the country are less frequent than years past and tourism is something many Nicaraguans need in order to provide for their families.
My birthday present this year was my family chartering a plane from Nosara to Liberia, then to Managua and from there about a 2.5 to 3 hour drive to my favorite area of the country near the beaches of Chinadega.
Our friends Etienne and Belen are driving up from Nosara and meeting us there.
Most surfers know about the Boom already from the many movies, magazines and constant web clips of incredible surfers doing incredible things right in front of Chancletas (arguably the best located surf hotel in the world)… This is a powerful, barreling type of wave which breaks super close to the beach normally in shallow water.
But my favorite thing up here is the variety of waves a short distance apart. There’s rights, lefts, reef breaks, beach breaks, etc.
Beginners can surf at calmer locations like Aposentillo. This is Belén’s favorite wave.
Beginner, intermediate, and advanced surfers all might enjoy diversity of Playa Nahualapa.
While the advanced & pro surfers can get barreled at the Boom.
There’s several other waves but for now I’m sharing info about already exposed, well known, waves which surfers and surf camps visit on a daily basis.
Back to the story of Day 1: The flights from Nosara to Liberia to Managua went smooth and was beautiful. Seeing Nosara from the air plus the beauty of the coastline and flying in between smoking volcanoes is an adventure I hope my kids will remember for many years. It only took us a couple hours between flights and customs to get to Managua.
Etienne & Belen made it from the border in Costa Rica in 5 hours to their charming hotel, Amaru. Amaru is managed by a lady named Marcia who is full of creative energy and has something special going on. A popular surf camp called Rise Up used to operate from this stunning location which is now a hotel and restaurant open to the public.
The houses in Chancletas are all booked up, as are the houses in Brisas, due to the popularity of the wave at the Boom and an upcoming contest… So my family started the trip at a house at Nahualapa bay. Nahualapa is probably my favorite overall wave here and it was an absolute pleasure to have my family together here.
Many thanks to everyone in this community for a great start and I’ll update more soon. Lots of wipeouts at the boom already and tons of great waves at Nahualapa surfing with my family. Hopefully this info is helpful for some people.
