Trip Prep
Planning for your trip: CHICABRAVA™ Survival Guide (printable PDF version)
Expect the unexpected! Just Kidding; here is a list of helpful hints to consider while packing and planning for your Central-American excursion:
Suggested Packing Checklist:
- Bathing suits (tight fitting)
- Rash guard (longsleeve)
- Board shorts (longer length)
- Beach towel
- Toiletries
- Sunscreen
- Bug spray
- Sundresses
- Shorts/tank tops
- Tennis shoes for hiking
- Jeans for horseback riding
- Jacket and pants for cooler weather
- Earplugs and eye mask for noise and light sensitivity
- Wet-dry bag for keeping items dry
- Wetsuit top or Spring suit (Nov – March)
- Small First-Aid kit/supplies, especially epi-pen or Benadryl if you are allergic to bee stings, jelly fish, and/or stingrays.
- Extra cash and ATM card
Rashguards (long-sleeve), board shorts (longer-length) and tight- fitting swimsuits are essential! Stronger waves have a tendency to tear off loose tops and bottoms. Rashguards and board shorts help with this and also help protect skin against sunburn and rashes from the wax, board and sand. You don’t want to have to worry about losing your swimsuit on a wave while you are trying to paddle out!
Wetsuit tops and/or spring suits are a must if you are attending the camp anytime from November to April. The water can get cold due to upwelling caused by stronger offshore winds in these months. It’s always best to be prepared. The summer months (May to October) are warm so you’ll not need them at all in the peak season.
Sweatshirts and pants are smart to pack for the Cloud Farm. The camp is located near the top of a mountain and though the climate is generally tropical and hot in Nicaragua, it can get drafty up on the mountain. In the evening the drafts can make it a little chilly, so with a sweatshirt and light pants you will be cozy and comfortable. Jeans are good to bring if you plan to ride horses on our farm while here.
Beach towels are important to bring. Bath towels are provided at the camp, but are only intended to be used in camp. Please bring at least one beachtowel if you would like to bring a towel to the beach or on the boat.
Earplugs and Eye mask are a good thing to bring if you are staying at the Surf House as we are right in the middle of town. If you are extra sensitive to light, sound and/or snoring it might be a good idea to pack these for the Cloud Farm location as well.
Extra money is another essential. Be sure to bring smaller bills such as $5’s, $10’s, and $20’s. You should expect to pay a $10 entrance fee at immigration upon entering Nicaragua (there is also a $30 exit fee, but most airlines include this in their ticket price). There’s plenty of shopping to be done in town – CHICABRAVA even has its own beachfront clothing store and surf shop! The zip-lining canopy tour is another fun activity in San Juan and costs $35 a person. Touring the Cloud Farm on horseback is amazing and costs $20 a person to the farm hands. If you are staying at the Surf House, please be sure to bring enough money ($10-$15/day) for lunches, dinners, and to be able to go out at night, as these things are not included in the Surf House package. There are ATMs in town that dispense US Dollars. Costs for transportation, breakfasts, lodging, instruction, surfboards, yoga, and massage are all included in the price. At the end of your camp week, you’ll have the opportunity to buy a full length photo CD of your trip including lifestyle shots and surfing – so bring an extra $25 for that as well for the photographer!
Tipping is another thing to bring a little extra money for. Please keep in mind that it is optional but customary to tip surf instructors and the cooking/cleaning staff at the end of the week. To give you an idea of how much to tip, a minimum of $20 for the week from each guest is typical for the house staff at the Cloud Farm ($10-$15 at the Surf House). Your tip will be combined with the tips from all of the other girls. For your instructors, a minimum of $20 per instructor from each guest is also an average tip. Of course if you feel that someone’s service was exceptional you can tip more; if you feel that it wasn’t that great than you can tip less or not at all. Tipping is always up to you. If you do the math, than you will figure that this is $3 a day, which doesn’t seem like much, but is greatly appreciated.
Study a little Spanish. It’s smart to learn more phrases so you can ease your way into the culture. It’s also respectful to try to speak a country’s native language and can be an enlightening experience to communicate in another language even if you can only say a few broken words.
Surfboards and other equipment that do not belong to you are provided for your use. We expect that you treat these items with care as if they were your own. Surfboards are fragile and can easily be dented and the fins broken. If you damage something please understand that you will be held responsible for their repair and or replacement as though it were your own.
Safety in and out of the water is our number one priority. When you come to the camp we will have an ocean safety and board safety lesson to protect all of our chicas before we enter the sea. To keep you safe out of the water, we implement that buddy system. We encourage this as it is also our goal for you to have fun, but it is important to not stray from the group. Always make sure the instructors are aware of your whereabouts. For safety, security, and privacy at the camp, we do not allow any non- camp guests to return to the camp. Always keep track of your buddy, the instructors, and try to stay with the group!
Transportation is provided from the airport at 12:30PM on the Saturday of arrival (which will take you through Granada for lunch and/or touring, arriving at the camp around 4:00PM). A shuttle is also included leaving San Juan del Sur to the airport on the Saturday of departure at 7:00AM (arriving at the airport at 9:30AM). Shuttle transportation outside of these days/times can be provided for an additional cost of $45/per person each way, and $85/each way if requiring nighttime travel or private shuttle. San Juan del Sur is 2.5 hours from MGA. The roads are poorly lit and bordered by farms on both sides, making for frequent animal crossings and thus hazardous conditions for nighttime travel. If you are only able to find flights arriving MGA at night (or departing MGA early morning), we then recommend coming in a day early (or leaving a day late) and staying overnight in Managua for travel to the camp (or airport) the next morning. We pick up and drop off at the two hotels near the airport. The nightly rates for each are as follows and include taxes and a light breakfast: Best Western: $92/Single, $102.50/ double. Camino Real: $115/Single, $136.50/double
Challenge is the word that best defines learning how to surf. It is one of the hardest sports to learn, but also one of the most rewarding. It is important to keep in mind that with this sport what you put in is what you get out. Only time in the water will bring results. Please be prepared to surf the majority of each day as our goal and main focus is to have fun and progress your surfing at whatever level you are on. If you are determined to get the most out of your week at CHICABRAVA surf camp there are some ways that you can get yourself ready for surfing action. Please see our conditioning and pop-ups guide and start doing your homework!
And ask yourself… are you CHICABRAVA?
