BEACHFRONT VILLA, PROPER COACHING, AND NO CROWDS ON NICARAGUA'S CENTRAL COAST
BEACHFRONT VILLA, PROPER COACHING, AND NO CROWDS ON NICARAGUA'S CENTRAL COAST
The 90-minute drive from Managua Airport heads west to the Pacific coast through farmland and volcanic lowland, past villages that thin out the further you go. The Rise Up Luxury Escape is in a small fishing village on a crescent-shaped beach. No loud beach clubs, no crowds, just a handful of properties on a stretch of coast that most tourists never reach.
The 90-minute drive from Managua Airport heads west to the Pacific coast through farmland and volcanic lowland, past villages that thin out the further you go. The Rise Up Luxury Escape is in a small fishing village on a crescent-shaped beach. No loud beach clubs, no crowds, just a handful of properties on a stretch of coast that most tourists never reach.
Rise Up opened this location in 2022. The design reads somewhere between beachfront compound and polished private villa: open-air palapa spaces, volcanic-rock bathrooms, handmade wood details, and a swim-up pool bar that keeps everything angled toward the ocean. Eight rooms. Maximum twelve guests per week. But most importantly, you are right on the beach, which means you can surf in your backyard.
The format is a seven-night, all-inclusive programme running Saturday to Saturday. Six days of coached surfing with daily video analysis, yoga, breathwork, surf skate sessions, horseback riding, and a weekly visit to one of Rise Up's community projects.
Even at full occupancy, the retreat stays intimate. Rise Up calls it "laid-back luxury". It is not an unreasonable description.
Rise Up opened this location in 2022. The design reads somewhere between beachfront compound and polished private villa: open-air palapa spaces, volcanic-rock bathrooms, handmade wood details, and a swim-up pool bar that keeps everything angled toward the ocean. Eight rooms. Maximum twelve guests per week. But most importantly, you are right on the beach, which means you can surf in your backyard.
The format is a seven-night, all-inclusive programme running Saturday to Saturday. Six days of coached surfing with daily video analysis, yoga, breathwork, surf skate sessions, horseback riding, and a weekly visit to one of Rise Up's community projects.
Even at full occupancy, the retreat stays intimate. Rise Up calls it "laid-back luxury". It is not an unreasonable description.
Rooms
There are just eight rooms. All have air conditioning and private bathrooms with hot showers; three also have ocean view. The room types suit the crowd. Gender-split twin rooms work well for solo travellers who prefer company, or friends who want separate beds. The double has a queen bed for couples. The single offers privacy for those who want the retreat without a roommate.
The rooms are modern, clean, and understated. After a day in the water, it is exactly what you want: cool, quiet, and comfortable, whether you need a proper night’s sleep or a short retreat from social life.
There are just eight rooms. All have air conditioning and private bathrooms with hot showers; three also have ocean view. The room types suit the crowd. Gender-split twin rooms work well for solo travellers who prefer company, or friends who want separate beds. The double has a queen bed for couples. The single offers privacy for those who want the retreat without a roommate.
The rooms are modern, clean, and understated. After a day in the water, it is exactly what you want: cool, quiet, and comfortable, whether you need a proper night’s sleep or a short retreat from social life.
Food & Drinks
Four meals a day plus appetisers and dessert, all prepared by Rise Up's in-house kitchen team. Dining is open-air, communal, and family-style. The welcome dinner on Saturday night sets the tone for the week, and most evenings the table keeps people longer than they planned. It has more in common with a very good group dinner than a hotel restaurant. Once a week, the group heads out to a local restaurant for a change of scene.
Dietary requirements are handled without fuss. The cooking is generous and fuel-oriented, built around fresh local ingredients for people burning through calories in the water.
The swim-up bar anchors social life between sessions. People drift in and out with a coffee, a juice, or something stronger. As the sun drops, the pool deck becomes the place for a drink while the sky turns pink over the Pacific.
Four meals a day plus appetisers and dessert, all prepared by Rise Up's in-house kitchen team. Dining is open-air, communal, and family-style. The welcome dinner on Saturday night sets the tone for the week, and most evenings the table keeps people longer than they planned. It has more in common with a very good group dinner than a hotel restaurant. Once a week, the group heads out to a local restaurant for a change of scene.
Dietary requirements are handled without fuss. The cooking is generous and fuel-oriented, built around fresh local ingredients for people burning through calories in the water.
The swim-up bar anchors social life between sessions. People drift in and out with a coffee, a juice, or something stronger. As the sun drops, the pool deck becomes the place for a drink while the sky turns pink over the Pacific.
Activities
Daily yoga on an ocean-view palm-shaded deck, breathwork sessions, an evening of guided meditation, an ice bath. The wellness programme is practical, designed to keep you loose and functional across six days of surfing.
The weekly programme extends beyond surf and wellness: a fishing trip, horseback riding on the beach, a bonfire, a movie night, and a visit to one of their community projects.
There is also space for whatever version of idleness you do best. Pool chair. Beach walk. Hammock. Nap. The pool bar remains available as an alternative recovery protocol.
Daily yoga on an ocean-view palm-shaded deck, breathwork sessions, an evening of guided meditation, an ice bath. The wellness programme is practical, designed to keep you loose and functional across six days of surfing.
The weekly programme extends beyond surf and wellness: a fishing trip, horseback riding on the beach, a bonfire, a movie night, and a visit to one of their community projects.
There is also space for whatever version of idleness you do best. Pool chair. Beach walk. Hammock. Nap. The pool bar remains available as an alternative recovery protocol.
Surfing
The home break is right out front. El Transito is a crescent-shaped beach break over sand, with multiple peaks producing lefts and rights. Offshore winds blow over 250 days a year. The wave is consistent, rarely flat, and when the swell gets smaller, it becomes one of Nicaragua's better longboarding waves: soft and peeling.
Twenty minutes away, the coaches take guests to what they call the "Secret Reef," an A-frame breaking over a deep water reef. The depth keeps the wave slow, soft and predictable. It is a favourite spot for intermediates who want a step up without a step too far. Perfect to improve turning down the line without getting in survival mode.
Rise Up's coaching is the centrepiece. Daily surf coaching. Every session is filmed. Video analysis four times a week. The guest-to-coach ratio stays at 2:1. The programme starts with goal-setting and a personalised coaching map, then builds through beach briefs, ocean IQ theory, and pool-based paddle drills. The approach suits beginners through to advanced surfers looking to break through a plateau. All equipment is included, with a quiver from longboards to shortboards.
Dry season (November to April) brings smaller, cleaner conditions. The wet season (May to August) delivers a more consistent size. Crowds are manageable, if crowds is even the right word for the area, where the defining characteristic of the lineup is space.
The home break is right out front. El Transito is a crescent-shaped beach break over sand, with multiple peaks producing lefts and rights. Offshore winds blow over 250 days a year. The wave is consistent, rarely flat, and when the swell gets smaller, it becomes one of Nicaragua's better longboarding waves: soft and peeling.
Twenty minutes away, the coaches take guests to what they call the "Secret Reef," an A-frame breaking over a deep water reef. The depth keeps the wave slow, soft and predictable. It is a favourite spot for intermediates who want a step up without a step too far. Perfect to improve turning down the line without getting in survival mode.
Rise Up's coaching is the centrepiece. Daily surf coaching. Every session is filmed. Video analysis four times a week. The guest-to-coach ratio stays at 2:1. The programme starts with goal-setting and a personalised coaching map, then builds through beach briefs, ocean IQ theory, and pool-based paddle drills. The approach suits beginners through to advanced surfers looking to break through a plateau. All equipment is included, with a quiver from longboards to shortboards.
Dry season (November to April) brings smaller, cleaner conditions. The wet season (May to August) delivers a more consistent size. Crowds are manageable, if crowds is even the right word for the area, where the defining characteristic of the lineup is space.
The People Behind
Phil, from Barbados, first came to Nicaragua on a surf trip in 2003 and never fully left. After owning and selling Bigfoot Hostel in León, he headed to the coast to build what became Rise Up. In 2014 he met Corina, Swiss-born, who had left the rolling hills behind for the ocean. Together they laid the groundwork for what Rise Up surf and yoga has become today: a leading surf & yoga retreat in Central America, across Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Barbados.
Rise Up backs its community engagement with actual projects. Its NGO, Rise Up Kids, focuses on children's education in northern Nicaragua and projects have included renovating a school in the region. The team runs a local surf club that teaches community members, many of whom couldn't swim, to ride waves.
Phil, from Barbados, first came to Nicaragua on a surf trip in 2003 and never fully left. After owning and selling Bigfoot Hostel in León, he headed to the coast to build what became Rise Up. In 2014 he met Corina, Swiss-born, who had left the rolling hills behind for the ocean. Together they laid the groundwork for what Rise Up surf and yoga has become today: a leading surf & yoga retreat in Central America, across Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Barbados.
Rise Up backs its community engagement with actual projects. Its NGO, Rise Up Kids, focuses on children's education in northern Nicaragua and projects have included renovating a school in the region. The team runs a local surf club that teaches community members, many of whom couldn't swim, to ride waves.
Booking
FROM
$2,750
USD
per week
THE SURF HIDEAWAYS ADVANTAGE
Complimentary professional photo and video package when you book with us
What's included
Stay
- 7 nights accommodation
- Airport pick-up and drop-off
Surf
- 6 days of coached surf sessions with experienced instructors
- 6 days of video analysis or surf theory
- All equipment provided (except rash guards)
Meals
- Full daily meals prepared by in-house chefs (breakfast, brunch, lunch, appetisers, dinner and dessert)
- One dinner out at a local restaurant
Move
- Daily yoga
- Daily breath work and mobility sessions
- A guided meditation evening
- An ice bath session
- 2 surf skate sessions depending on surf conditions
Explore
- Weekly visit to one of Rise Up's community projects
- Adventures like horse riding, sunset bonfires, fishing trips and movie nights
FROM
$2,750
USD
per week
THE SURF HIDEAWAYS ADVANTAGE
Complimentary professional photo and video package when you book with us