Located on the Southwest Pacific Coast of Nicaragua, a two-hour drive from the capital city of Managua, Rancho Santana is a world class resort complete with world class breaks out front.
Affectionately referred to as “the Ranch,”Rancho Santana offers a variety of luxury accommodation options located on 2,700 remarkable acres, surrounded by rolling hills and tropical dry forests.
For those looking for activity and adventure, the Ranch is renowned for its surf breaks, riding stables, hiking paths and for five unique beaches making up over two miles of shoreline along the country’s serene Pacific coast.
Rancho Santana offers the perfect balance of chilled-out luxury and ticks all the surf and adventure boxes. So if you are looking for a surf-trip as a couple, a solo traveller or for the whole family, read on to fall in love Rancho Santana…
THE ACCOMMODATION:
Along with 3 clubhouses, 4 dining venues, 3 pools, on-site market and organic garden, in-home dining facilities, airport shuttle service and on-site rental facilities, the cherry on the cake of Rancho Santana is the amazing accommodation options and varieties….
The Inn at Rancho Santana The Inn at Rancho Santana is a two-story, 17 room “boutique” inspired oceanfront retreat featuring an art gallery, courtyard, café, and lounge. Located on Playa Santana, The Inn offers a variety of unique and intimate guestrooms and suites complete with spacious, private ocean-view terraces and forward-thinking amenities.
The Residences of the Inn The Residences of the Inn are newly completed condo units offering the same elegance of The Inn but with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and full kitchen amenities. These units comfortably sleep six adults. The Inn & Residences are available for private event bookings and personal accommodations.
Puerta del Mar Villas These charming two-story beachfront villas are located just steps from the sands of Playa Santana, providing easy access to one of Nicaragua’s best beaches. These villas offer incredible ocean views and are a short stroll away from all of the amenities at the Clubhouse at Playa Santana.
Garden-View Casitas The Casitas (“Little Homes”) at Rancho Santana form a picturesque village of 21 two-bedroom villas delightfully landscaped with tropical flora. Each villa is fully furnished and has all the conveniences of home including kitchen appliances, and the community atmosphere is perfect for socialising with other travellers.
Ocean-View Homes A collection of 20+ privately owned and stylishly decorated ocean-view homes situated in six neighbourhoods across the ranch —each offering its own unique decor, personality, stunning Pacific views and many offering pools as well.
Away from your luxury abode, there are plenty of activities on offer to keep you as active or relaxed as possible including SUPing, daily complimentary and private yoga and fitness classes, the riding stables, hiking, biking, bonfires, monkey scouting, off-site excursions and of course the surf camp Surf Rancho Santana.
THE SURF
The southwest coast of Nicaragua is renowned for some of the best uncrowded surf breaks in Central America; three of which are on the five beaches of Rancho Santana. The Ranch’s two miles of perfectly angled coastline provides world-class waves formed by consistent off-shore breezes and that surf rarely drops below two feet.
We caught up with the Rancho Santana surf team to find out more about the surf on offer….
What are the surf seasons? The surf season typically starts in late April and early May and goes all the way up until November. The Ranch offers off shore winds almost year round though so even in the middle of the low season there are still fun waves at some of our more exposed breaks. For example Playa Los Perros works year round with chest-shoulder waves.
How big are the swells? It's usually a minimum 3-5 ft and offshore all day. Which for the beach breaks is well overhead. Normally 4-6 with swells sometimes into the 6-8 ft range or bigger. With the bigger swells the reef breaks and the point breaks really start to fire, over head to double over head is common.
Who can surf in the area: Beginner –Advanced
Any big names out-and-about in the surf? The ISA World Games have held their championships here multiple times, the most recent being at Playa Popoyo. The Rusty team visited the Ranch in 2017, Josh Kerr was getting ridiculous barrels off first peak in front of the hotel and ending with 5-10 ft airs. Plus we have spotted Tia Blanco, Ryan Sheckler, Anastasia Ashley, Rob Machado and all the boys from Hawaii come to surf the outer reef when it gets big.
UPCOMING RETREATS
Along with a Lux Surf Package which includes 5+ nights at any of the accommodations options, transportation, equipment rentals and daily breakfast, Rancho Santa also offer a number of retreats though-out the year:
Alley Oop 540, or is it an ally oop 360 to revert? I dunno. I’m just making this shit up.
‘Probably the best feeling air of my life. Thanks for being there to capture @takeshelterprod even though we spent two hours thinking the clip was corrupt haha.” says Albee
Born to a well-known surfing family in Florianopolis, Mateus has earned a reputation of his own in the surf world. He’s won a varsity of international events, including the 2015 TCT World Championships at Lower Trestles, and released a handful of must-watch edits from trips all over the globe. His surfing is fast, fiery and futuristic — and it keeps on getting better and better.
“I’m super excited to join the Quiksilver team,” Mateus said. “The brand has such a deep history in surfing and I look up to a lot of the guys that are currently on the team. I’m stoked to do some trips with everybody and represent Quiksilver in Brazil and around the world!”
According to Mateus, the future of surfing is going to be all about going bigger, higher and deeper. That he’s determined to contribute his very own part to this future strikes you pretty clear when watching him surf.
Report by Craig Butler. Photos Irish Surfing Association – Gerald Maher and Patrick Hartley.
Bundoran Co. Donegal over the weekend the inaugural Bundoran Junior surfing Championships was held in some big conditions. Tramore junior surfers showed up in force to claim their spot on the podium and they finished the contest by turning heads and amazement from other competitors and their clubs. See Tramore isn’t known for it’s world class surf or big waves compared to that of Bundoran or Lahinch in Co Clare. But every surfer from Waterford who entered the contest broke through the qualifying rounds, knocking out competitors from more well known surf towns and every single one of them made it to the final. Which is truly an achievement in itself and speaks volumes about the level of surfing that we have in Tramore and the extensive work of the personal trainers and coaches the local surf club in Tramore.
The day kicked off early with the first heats in the water at 8am with the U14 boys. Tramore’s Ben Maher and Jai Widger, despite the big surf on offer these two youngsters battled their way through the rounds and on to the finals where Ben finished in 2nd place and Jai in 4th.
Next up was the U14 girls. With a strong Tramore contingency 4/5 of the finalists where surfing for Tramore. The girls put on a great display of surfing and showed their capabilities and what to expect from them in the future. Jude Lee took the win for Tramore, followed closely by Alex Fanning in 2nd place, Heather Breen in 4th and despite being her first ever surf contest Tess Hartley took 5th spot and contributed to putting Tramore back on the map along with the 3 other Tramore locals
Whilst the U14 girls was leaving the water, the U12 girls was entering. Akiya Moore despite her young age and the big conditions on hand, gracefully surfed a great heat with a style matching her father’s and came away with the win for Tramore. Then followed by the U12 boys. Odhran Bolger representing Tramore walked away with a 2nd place finish, despite his incredible efforts he came up just that little bit short of making it to 1st place. You can expect to hear great things of Akiya and Odhran in the future as they will most definitely grow to become future standouts in the sport.
The bodyboarders entered the line up. They put on an incredible display of what can be done on a bodyboard, but despite being members of the irish junior surf team and representing Ireland at the European championships this coming July, the two young Tramore dudes unfortunately came up short. Even with a break through performance, Joe Breen took 3rd place and Ben Maher took 4th place respectively.
The longboard heats in my eyes is where Tramore really shined. They battled through the rounds in the large surf on their big boards and made it an all Tramore final. All 4 surfers in the final are local standouts. Their places in the final backs up that statement. Knocking out surfers from more well known regions in Ireland. Tom Breen took 1st place after putting on an amazing show for the spectators. Tom is also a member of the Irish junior surf team and will be competing for Ireland at the European championships this July. Second place went to Tramore Surf Shop worker and all round dude Callum Condon, despite being one of his first times riding a longboard he put on a performance that left every body proud to say that he is representing our town. Joe Breen battled against his brother Tom in the final, but unfortunately for Joe he came up short and took 3rd place and again put on a proud display of what can be done on a longboard. Despite the invaluable coaching from his father who is a legendary Tramore surfer ‘Brent’, who moved here from the sunny shores of Sydney 18 years ago, Luke Ennis took 4th position. But after his stand out performance and win whilst surfing at the Tramore junior championships last month, Luke has earned his spot on the Irish junior surf team and rightly so as he is already putting some of the old guys to shame with his smooth style.
Unfortunately for the other Tramore surfers who surfed through the rounds in the open event the only surfer who made it into the final of the open was Kilian Maher. But what an incredible display of surfing Kilian put on. With his family and friends making noise for him on the beach of Bundoran, Kilian put on a display of surfing that even the veteran surfer would be delighted with. Though only 14 years old, Kilian surfed to standards of surfers twice his age and put on another break through performance for Tramore and to the cheers of his peers he managed to come away with the win in the open surf.
The U16 girls, the daughter of local hero Henry Moore, Sarah was a finalist. But despite her efforts and excellent abilities whilst surfing on a surfboard that her father had shaped for her, she came up just that little bit short of a 1st place finish. When I say a little bit short, I mean 0.5 of a point short. But still happy to of done well in the event. she was delighted to take 2nd place.
Another incredible final was the U16 boys. 3/4 of the finalists where local Tramore surfers. They went round for round, knocking out surfers from all over the country. Tom Breen still on form after the Longboard final took the win. Followed closely by his close friend James Power who despite putting on a great display, just came up a little bit short and walked away with a medal for second place. Then we had Kilian Maher who despite putting on an incredible performance in the surf open, Kilian finished in 3rd spot. But with a gold medal already around his neck, he walked away absolutely stoked.
Last but not least was the U18 boys. Scott Widger was the last man standing through the qualifying rounds. He faced some stiff competition in earlier heats, but his excellent knowledge and ability to read the waves secured him a spot in the final. He put on an incredible performance in the final and showed his excellent capability of wave riding. But unfortunately his amazing efforts just wasn’t enough and unfortunately he wasn’t on full form this day. But nevertheless Scott walked away with a 4th place finish and helped put the final touches to an incredible day for surfing in the south east. The U18 girls final was followed quickly after where Sasha Moore put on another incredible display of surfing for Tramore. Her great efforts in the water secured Sasha with a 2nd place finish. Once again Tramore has shown it’s worth on a national level for surfing and proved that we grow some of the best surfers in Ireland. I am excited to see what the Tramore contingency will achieve this July when they compete at the European Junior Championships in Portugal. It would not surprise me to see these kids making the finals on the global stage with their amazing talent.
Article credits:
Craig Butler at Humans of Surfing
U12 Girls
1. Akiya Moore, Tbay
2. Ellie Hoey, BBR
U12 Boys
1. James Cloney, WCSC
2. Odhran Bolger, Tbay
3. Henry Ferguson, Killiney
Congratulations to Quiksilver’s Andy Nieblas for winning the Duct Tape Invitational this weekend in Zarautz, Spain! The 23-year old from San Clemente, California, stole the show in epic conditions on the festival’s final day. Andy impressed the judges with his one-of-a-kind mix of crazy manouvers and smooth style that was celebrated by an enthusiastic crowd in the picturesque Basque town. Winning through the final against Alex Knost, Taylor Warren and Ryan Burch, the Quiksilver rider did not disappoint with a standout performance in pumping 3-4 feet waves, raising the bar of modern day longboarding.
Starting off with two days of flat to small surf, the Atlantic come to life on the third and final day of the event, providing plenty of opportunities for the 16 invitational hand-picks to showcase where surfing is at these days. Mixing up fresh faces in the longboarding community such as local up-and-comer Nico “Niki Dora” Garcia, Levi Prairie or Kai Takayama with visionaries of progressive logging like Alex Knost, Tyler Warren, Ryan Burch or James Parry, the invite list couldn’t have been more diverse while the atmosphere of the event was as relaxed as it can get.
After already taking top honors on Saturday’s expression session, Andy Nieblas rocked the final with plenty of tip time and effortless creativity, bringing on radical movements when you’d least expect it, while showing off his signature style one can hardly put in words.
Chad Wells, Quiksilver US Team Manager, is excited about Andy’s win: “Andy is an amazing surfer! Stylish in and out of the water and visually pleasing on the eyes, you could watch him surf for hours and never get bored. I am super stoked to see him take the win at this event because the Duct Tape Format perfectly suits his surfing.”
Full list of Vans Duct Tape Invitational Invitees starting at the event:
Zach Flores
Ryan Burch
Andy Nieblas
Harrison Roach
Saxon Wilson
Tyler Warren
Justin Quintal
Alex Knost
Levi Prairie
Jordan Spree
Kai Takayama
Robin Falxa
James Parry
Adrian Lopez
Nathan Sadoun
