Swell Surf Camp Cabarete

Swell is amazing - BOOK YOUR TRIP!! I am recently home from a 10 day solo adventure at Swell and I can honestly say it was an incredible experience. From the airport pick-up where you are met with a hand drawn sign with your name and "Welcome to Swell" to the airport drop off you will be in the best of hands. The instructors kept me motivated to reach my goals & celebrated my surfing victories! They are energetic, safe, fun(ny), and easily work with all levels and abilities. The food is outrageously delicious - killer breakfasts every morning - you will have a hearty appetite after 2 hours of surfing! The staff is gracious, friendly, and always helpful. The rooms are clean and provide just the right amenities. Cabarete is a fun, vibrant eclectic mixture of athletic/water sport enthusiasts and vacationers. You will explore and push your boundaries and meet interesting and like-minded people from around the globe. You get your surf on in the morning and then enjoy the mellow, loungy, relaxing, cooool. THE SWELL VIBE IS SUBLIME...

I almost passed on Swell. The website suggests it caters to novice surfers - which it does - and having surfed around the globe for 40+ years, I feared it might offer a watered down version of a surf trip. But after confirming with Clare that I could hitch a ride to the beach with the other Swell guests (who were all taking lessons) but surf on my own, I took a chance. And after spending 11 nights at Swell over Christmas and new year, I’m so glad I did.||The Swell staff, starting with manager Haudy, are all amazing people. Kind, welcoming and helpful. The property feels larger than it is with gorgeous tropical landscaping and a central pool. The dining/lounge area is perfect for encouraging conversation and laughs amongst guests. The food is outstanding and the rooms are perfectly comfortable, especially for a solo traveler. Visitors to Swell - which include folks from many different countries - quickly become friends. ||The surf was legit. Almost everyday was head high plus and Coco Pipe at that size is a serious wave…. Racy lefts and rights. Winds and conditions weren’t always perfect but that’s surf travel. The good days were really good. ||Highly recommend Swell!!

Just returned from a wonderful week at Swell. Such a charming, beautiful retreat. The staff, instructors, owners, all of them provide real care and attention to the entire experience. I couldn’t have had a nicer time or have been more satisfied with my trip. Thank you all. It’s a special place.

What an awesome place. I look forward to going back. Everyone was super nice and went the extra mile to make our stay incredible. This experience has me shopping for a surfboard, lol. All the food was fantastic. We always felt safe. Do the canyoning trip, it’s well worth it. I loved this place.

All members of the Swell team combine to make for an engaging, fulfilling experience. Great place for new surfers. A little less consistent for experienced surfers than the waves in Costa Rica. The town is vibrant and easily walkable. Great supermarket on the corner. The highlight for us, was the group of people we ended sharing our stay with. The communal dining was new for us. Food is outstanding both in-house and nearby. Highly recommended.

Such a great experience!||Loved my stay here as a solo trip to learn to surf. Was easy to connect with others since you’re surfing together and having breakfast together. Dinner is served at the camp 3x/week too. The camp food was super tasty. ||We had a morning surf session, came back for breakfast, went back out for a mid-morning second session each day. Instructors Luciano and Daniel were fantastic, lots of individual attention and helpful feedback. ||When you’re not surfing the camp can organize other excursions for you, you can take a short walk to the kite surfing beach and hit restaurants and bars on the beach, or just relax by the pool at the resort. ||Overall a 5 out of 5 experience!!! Will try to come back next year for kite surfing.

Small, hostel-like place. Rooms were clean and comfortable. Air conditioner and fan worked well. Surfing from the hotel via private transport to the beach twice each morning. First surfing at 6:45 am. After first surf, full, cooked breakfast and coffee after the surfing. Surfing instructors were the best I've had. Great beach for beginner surfing with nothing too scary like big rocks. Only drawback is that the community surrounding Swell is quite loud. There was music with deep bass nearby until 4 am. Lot's of nearby restaurant choices. Bring ear plugs and all will be well.

Swell surf camp is an absolute gem. I'm so glad that saw an Ad pop up for this place as the Dominican Republic had never been on my radar for a surf trip. I'm an 'out of shape' workaholic but had wanted to learn to surf for many years (until now, I'd not been able to find time). I'm also a little bit older than I'd like to be, but that did not stop me having an absolute blast at the camp with the other guests. I guess that the fact everyone is there to do the same thing (or things) means that ages are levelled up and I never felt younger on vacation.|Haudy runs a tight ship and makes sure that everyone has everything they need. She's in charge of the awesome food (it's mouthwatering, every meal) and is arranging guests' trips outside of surf time. My surf lessons were awesome with Luciano and the team (and they had their work cut out with me, let me tell you!). They managed to make the surf lessons really fun as well as rewarding. Goodness, I slept well at night!|I even tried a couple of hours of wingfoiling, which was so fun, but I left it too late (I'd already been at Swell for 5 days when I took a couple of hours because another guest was learning and doing great). I'm going back again asap to learn wing foiling in the afternoon and carry on with the surfing where I left off.|I don't write many reviews, but this place was worth the time. Thnx.