The surf camp journal

The best time to surf Nicaragua

This is the question we get more than any other, and the answer is simpler than people expect. Nicaragua’s Pacific coast has warm water and rideable waves every month of the year. What changes between seasons is the flavor.

December to April: the dry season

Blue sky on repeat and swell that is a little smaller and friendlier on average. The offshore wind is at its strongest, which keeps the waves clean. If you have never stood on a board, this window is the gentlest way to learn. It is also high season, so the coast is at its busiest.

May to October: the green season

South swells arrive and the waves get bigger and more consistent. This is the improver’s window. Yes, it rains, but usually as a heavy afternoon or evening shower that clears, and the mornings are often glassy. Everything turns green and the beaches are quieter.

The wind is the secret

Trade winds from the Caribbean cross the low land around Lake Nicaragua and blow out to sea on the Pacific side. Offshore wind holds a wave’s face up and grooms it into something clean and makeable. Most surf spots get that for an hour at dawn if they are lucky. This coast gets it on most days, which is the best thing that can happen to someone learning.

We run our surf camp in May, right at the start of the swell season. Here is the full breakdown of what surfing Nicaragua in May is like.

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Playa Maderas, explained

Maderas does not look like much from the road. You come over the hill, the trees open up, and there is a horseshoe of sand with a few peaks and a big rock in the middle of the bay. It just happens to be very good at its job.

It breaks mostly over sand

Beginners underrate this. A lot of famous waves break over reef or rock, which is fine right up until you fall, which you will do hundreds of times in your first week. At Maderas you mostly fall onto sand, and that removes the fear that stops people committing to a wave.

The sand moves, so the peaks multiply

The banks shift and the beach serves up several peaks at once: whitewater on the inside for someone standing up for the first time, a soft corner for the person who got it yesterday, and a punchier peak out back for whoever is ready to turn.

It is consistent enough to surf twice a day

That reliability is why a camp works here. It is not a secret and it is not an expert-only slab. If you want to get measurably better in six days, it is about as good as it gets. The full details are in our Playa Maderas surf guide.

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Strangers on Monday, friends by Friday

Most people who come to Nicaragua with us book alone. Not lonely alone. They just did not wait a year and a half for four friends to agree on dates, budgets and a country.

It is not awkward. The airport shuttle does a lot of the work: somewhere in the drive to Playa Maderas the conversation gets going and something relaxes. Surfing helps too. It is hard to keep a polished persona after a small wave has cartwheeled you in front of everyone.

There is no pressure to do everything. Want to skip the afternoon session and read on the deck? Do it. That freedom is why people choose to be in the group instead of feeling stuck in it. Boat day and theme night do the rest.

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