Swell offers a surf and yoga retreat for people who have never surfed before, and for surfers who want coaching to move up a level. Alongside the surfing there is yoga three times a week, and adventure day trips for the afternoons you want something more.
We have been doing this in Cabarete since 2009. We built the place from scratch as a purpose-built watersport retreat, and we cater for adults — mostly working professionals with one or two weeks of holiday who want to come home able to do something they could not do before.
Traveling solo?
If you are traveling on your own, Swell is an easy place to arrive at. About 70% of our guests come to Swell by themselves, so there is no established group for you to break into — everyone got here the same way you did.
We surf together, have breakfast and dinner together, and go on adventure day trips together, so meeting people could not be much easier. Generally speaking our guests are between 35 and 60 years old, though we get younger and older ones too. English is the common language, and all our surf staff and management speak good English.
It works for couples and small groups as well. If the social side is the part you are weighing up, our page on solo surf holidays goes into more detail.
The surfing
For people who have never surfed before, or who have limited experience, we run surf classes and coaching with experienced instructors who have taught the sport to thousands of students in a safe, fun and quick way. Our local surf beach is consistent, safe and stunningly pretty — on average there are surfable waves around 350 days a year.
Our beginner coaching program gives you two surf sessions a day. The first is the lesson; the second is practice, with coaches still on hand throughout. Groups are small, boards are matched to your level and the day’s waves, and nobody is pushed up the levels before they are ready.
- Safe, consistent waves at our local surf beach
- Chest-deep water with an easy entry from the sand
- No dangerous currents or marine life
- Small group sizes and personalized coaching
- A step-by-step progression system
- Professional surf instruction in English
Full detail on how the coaching is structured, and the beginner, novice and progressive levels we teach, is on the surf coaching page.
Where the yoga fits in
Yoga runs three times a week at 16:30, after the surfing is finished for the day. No experience is needed and the classes are mixed-level, so a first-timer and someone who practices weekly can be on the deck together.
Scheduling it in the late afternoon rather than the morning is deliberate. A beginner surf day is two sessions of paddling, which is a few hundred repetitions of a shoulder and upper-back movement, plus popping up, which asks a lot of the hips. Do that several days running with nothing in between and day four is where people tend to stall — not because the surfing got harder, but because the body is sore.
Yoga is included in the standard package. You do not book it in advance and you are not charged per class. More on the classes and the teachers is on the yoga page.
A typical day at Swell
This is the shape of a normal day. Surf times shift a little with the tide and the swell, but the rhythm holds: surf early while the water is glassy, eat, surf again, and keep the afternoon for the heat.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 6:45 | Get ready — a quick coffee or tea with a light bite at Swell |
| 7:00 | Leave for the first surf session |
| 9:45 | End of the first surf session |
| 10:00 | Legendary breakfast at Swell |
| 10:45 | Second surf session |
| 12:45 | Back to Swell |
| 16:30 | Yoga |
| 19:00 | Surf theory, twice weekly |
| 19:30 | Dinner at Swell, three nights a week |
| 20:30 | Chill and play |
Afternoons are yours. Some people nap, some head into town, some add a kitesurf or wingfoil lesson once the trade wind fills in. There are also day trips — canyoning, horse riding on the beach or in the mountains, and a few other things worth the early start.
Paradise
If you are looking for an active watersport holiday in warm water, a Swell surf holiday should be near the top of your list. Warm water, white sandy beaches and thousands of palm trees are what the north coast of the Dominican Republic has to offer. You never need a wetsuit — sea temperatures sit between roughly 26°C and 29°C all year.
It is not only surfing on offer. You can combine your week with kitesurfing or the newer sport of wingfoiling. Waves in the morning, wind sports in the afternoon. We can put together a customized package for you with different sports, activities and length of stay, and arrival can be any day of the week.
Comfort
We built our accommodation from scratch with the help of a renowned Swiss architect, to be a purpose-built boutique surf retreat made for comfort and socializing.
At the heart of it is a large communal open living space where everyone gets together for surf theory, meals, drinks and the evenings. For solo travelers there is no easier way to meet like-minded people on holiday. All our rooms have an ensuite bathroom, air conditioning and fans, and clean sheets, so you will sleep (S)Well.
Food matters on a surf trip and we take it seriously: home-cooked meals at the camp, and on the evenings guests go out, a wide choice of restaurants a few minutes’ walk away. Our holidays are not only about the water either — we bring guests into the local culture, from the food served at Swell to trips out into the country. We also run the retreat as an eco-conscious operation, because the ocean and coastline here are the reason we are in business.
Think of Swell as the anti-surf camp. There’s plenty of surfing, but the similarities to other surf camps end there.
Frommer’s Travel Guides
The spare clean lines, plush bedding, modern photographs and funky furniture say ’boutique surf retreat’.
Lonely Planet
Some quick questions
Is this a women-only surf retreat?
No. A Swell surf and yoga retreat is not exclusively for women — it is open to men as well. In fact around 45% of the guests who join us at Swell are men.
Where is Swell located?
Swell is on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, in the center of the Caribbean surf town of Cabarete. We are a 25-minute transfer from Puerto Plata (POP) International Airport.
Getting here from the US east coast and eastern Canada is fast. New York (JFK) is a direct flight of around 3 hours 45 minutes with JetBlue, roughly daily. Toronto is about 4 hours 15 minutes direct, and Montreal about 4 hours 10 minutes, several times a week with Air Canada, Air Transat and WestJet. From Boston, Miami and most other US cities, a short one-stop connection gets you here. Coming from Europe, there are seasonal direct flights from Germany and Switzerland, or you can connect in New York or Miami. Routes and airlines are listed on our getting here page.
From most places in the USA, your door to our surf beach is quicker than a surf trip to Costa Rica or Nicaragua, which usually need an internal flight or a three to six hour taxi transfer.
How does the Dominican Republic compare to Costa Rica or Nicaragua?
- Shorter flight times from the US east coast
- No long taxi transfers — 25 minutes from the airport
- Warm water year-round, no wetsuit needed
- Safer surf conditions for beginners
- More consistent waves
- Boutique accommodation with a surf camp community
Before we opened Swell we looked around the globe for the ideal beginner surf destination. We visited Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua, and on consistency and safety the north coast of the Dominican Republic simply came out best.
What is the average age of Swell guests?
It varies week to week, but generally the people who come to us for an adult surf holiday are aged between 35 and 60. Some weeks lean more toward the 30s, others toward the 50s. We have had people well into their 70s learning to surf here.
Most guests are from the USA (New York, Boston, LA and Florida), Canada (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) and Europe, and around 80% are working professionals who want the comfort of a boutique retreat with the social side of a surf hotel. Swell is a social place, but we are not a drink-till-2am kind of place.
I am new to surfing — is this right for me?
Teaching people how to surf is what we specialize in. When we started in 2009 we set out to be one of the best surf camps for beginners, and since then our instructors have taught more than 10,000 people using a structured, personalized instruction plan.
The surf spot where we teach is an ideal place for beginners: sandy bottom, chest-deep water, no dangerous currents. Most first-timers start in the whitewater on a soft foam board with a coach in the water beside them, and by day three the majority are riding to the beach on their feet. Packages include all equipment, daily surf sessions, food, accommodation and airport transfers.
I want to know more about the surf lessons
Jumping into surfing can feel intimidating, especially if you have never done it or have not spent much time at the beach in recent years. That is normal, and we build the whole experience around making it approachable.
Every lesson is tailored to your ability. We break down the basics and give clear instruction, and you will pick up more than just riding waves — how the ocean works, safety fundamentals and surf etiquette. You practice on the sand before you get in the water, so the first waves are not a surprise.
One thing worth being straight about: we specialize in taking people from beginner to progressive level, with unpressured lessons focused on paddling into a wave, standing up and riding. If you want advanced coaching with video analysis, there are other, more expensive retreats better suited to that.
Can we stay longer or shorter than 7 days?
Staying longer is no problem. We get a lot of returning guests who would rather not spend the winter at home and stay with us for several weeks. Even in our winter you never need a wetsuit — leave the warm clothes behind and bring plenty of sunscreen. Ask Clare about long-term rates.
Staying shorter is possible too, though the minimum stay for most of the year is five nights. Saturdays are the ideal arrival day, but if we have availability you can arrive any day of the week. Best to see what flights work and then get in touch.
I am travelling solo — is that OK?
About 70% of the guests who come to Swell travel solo, so it is very much the norm.
It makes meeting people straightforward. We surf together, we have breakfast and dinner together. Look at reviews on Tripadvisor and Google and the social side is the number one recurring theme. It is not only solo travelers who get something out of that — couples and small groups make friends here too.
Can I combine surfing and wingfoiling?
Yes, and plenty of guests do. The surfing is finished before midday, and the trade winds usually fill in around 13:00 to 14:00 — ideal for kitesurfing and wingfoiling.
Wind sports are charged by the hour and taught one-on-one, so it is easy to add a couple of hours and decide from there rather than committing up front. You do not pay in advance for those. If you already know you want to combine sports, tell us when you get in touch and we will put a package together: surf in the morning, a wind sport in the afternoon.
Who is behind Swell?
After living in the Dominican Republic for eight years and loving the outdoor watersport lifestyle here, Jeroen (from the Netherlands) and Clare (from the UK) decided to share what this country has to offer with visitors from around the world.
They already knew surf retreats, resorts and camps in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Europe, and had stayed in some very ordinary places while chasing waves and wind. Something was missing in the market: somewhere still social, but with better accommodation, better food, nicer beds and cleaner rooms. So they hired a Swiss architect and set about designing the world’s first purpose-built surf, kite and foil camp — the place they would want to stay in themselves.
Since opening in the winter of 2009/2010, Swell has won multiple awards and collected hundreds of reviews from happy guests. More on the story is on our about page.
Still comparing retreats?
If you are looking at several places and want a neutral checklist rather than a sales pitch, we wrote one: choosing the best surf and yoga retreat covers coaching ratios, daily schedules, what all-inclusive should actually include, and the questions worth asking before you pay a deposit.
Tell us your dates, who you are coming with and what you would like to do, and we will send you a custom price and availability quote. Arrival any day of the week, minimum stay five nights.
Watersport paradise
Tell us your dates, how many people you are thinking about coming with, and we’ll send you a custom price and availability quote; almost instantly. Hasta pronto, see you soon.