Witch's Rock Surf Camp

Compré una reparación de abolladuras en la tienda de surf. Estaba todo seco y era muy caro. En general, una experiencia terrible: (

I joined Witch’s Rock Surf Camp with my 9-year-old son for a week. As beginning surfers, I would say the overall experience was great! Friendly stuff, convenient location, and most importantly, my son had a great time and really enjoyed surfing. He and his kiddo friend had a wonderful instructor, Valy, who taught them how to surf and made sure they were both safe.

On the other hand, I was not happy with my own instructor, Sebas, who I shared with another mom. Other people have mentioned their instructors helped them progress each day, but he only taught us how to pop onto the board the first day and that was it. What was worse was that I never felt welcomed by him, so it felt like I was bothering him during the lesson each time.
It also felt like we were being ignored. One day, we unintentionally missed our 6am lesson. In the next session at 8am, he refused to take my son even though there was an available spot (another kid couldn't make it). He said the waves were too big to take 2 kids, although he was booked to have 2 kids. And again, on the last day of surfing, when all the instructors had 4 students instead of 2, he said “I have 2 kids, it is a lot of responsibilities, if you need my help, you have to stay close to me”, and so I did (staying close to him), but he was ignoring me the entire time.

I mostly wanted to write this review to inform other people that having a nice and helpful instructor is a key element of the surf camp, since you spend 2 hours together each day. From talking to everyone else at the camp throughout the week, I believe most instructors at Witch’s Rock are very good, I just wasn’t lucky this time.

First time lessons for my girlfriend and I and her 2 sons. I would have to say the experience of learning has totally been stolen from us.the instructors were rude, inattentive, not tailoring their teaching to each individual student. They complained about the cold water, were more interested in the friends surfing around us and angry with us for not learning instantaneously. My girlfriend quit almost immediately. The boys and I stuck it out. Only wish there were less stars I could give.

Incredibly rude girls at the counter, when we were asking about packages and renting boards we were met with sighs and eye rolling. Iv personally have been to the camp two years in a row now after this experience where they can not even be bothered I will just go elsewhere and tell my surfing friends in New York to also go else where. Shameful. Even worse, we came back for a refund, because they didn’t have boards available for us! Incredible every other spot of the street had taken care of us immediately.

Service was terribly slow even though we were close to the bar. We had to go up and ask for our drinks and such. Not impressed.

Nice location
Ordered a burger
The bun could break the plate
Returned the food
Still had to pay full price

We came for sushi at 6: 30pm. Restaurant was about 1/3 to 1/2 full. Ordered our sushi. After over an hour, we had to prompt the staff about our order. It took another 20 mins to get our ordered sushi. When not came, it was quite tasty. If it hadn't tasted good, it would have been a 1 star.

Other than getting ripped off on the advertised happy hour, it was great! The bartenders were nice and the drinks were fine but being in the industry, I know what a 12 oz and 22 oz glass looks like. The live music was awesome!

Short version - A mediocre experience but not worth my money.

I had high expectations and was disappointed. Maybe it was good once?

I spent my time off and a decent fortune to surf with WRSC in winter of 2018. I've surfed a bit and I was hoping to go from a floundering beginner to a confident surfer in a nice hotel with a good vacation experience - WRSC didn't measure up to that for me and they now ignore my emails.

-The rooms are hostel level - they have good climate control but the beds are basic; you might get new soap every day, and don't expect a TV, clock, or even a working safe.

-They promise individual video but we were never sent ours, despite multiple emails asking for it. Honestly, this one bothers me the most. They're ignoring our emails.

-The off-site excursions cost more than buying directly from the vendor.

-The instructors can teach to a broad type of student. Beginner instructors will only help you learn to catch a wave and learn to get up. I filled out a pre-trip survey asking to be taught how to ride a wave left/right and how to use my shortboard better. I doubt anyone ever read that.

You are much better off getting a well managed hotel and going with third party surf instructions (see iguana surf shop, kelly's, or blue trailz).

That said, they have many great members on the staff (Daniela is fantastic), the rooms are clean, and the amenities are comprehensive. I wouldn't expect an individual experience or anything beyond your stay though. They make a fairly customer-friendly experience for someone who just wants to show up and stand up on a board. Anything beyond that, go somewhere else.

Overall we had a really fun week in Tamarindo at WRSC and my kids loved learning how to surf and dipping their toes into the shallow end of “3rd world” travel. Tamarindo is overrun by tourists and quite expensive but has great restaurants and a beautiful beach with incredible sunsets. Everyone is friendly and speaks English and you can pay with dollars or CC everywhere. Easy for us gringos.

One star off because WRSC informed us of an Imperial-sponsored festival at the adjacent brewery only days before we arrived when they obviously knew about it when we booked. We would have NEVER stayed here if we had known. If it was a last minute offer from Imperial, management should have prioritized the families that had already booked their stays. Everyone we met was upset about this. Room 10 (“Penthouse”) has a lovely patio overlooking the beach but little shade so we didn’t spend too much time up there. The bedroom door & window overlook the street. Between the Imperial festival and the busy road, it was a VERY noisy place to stay and we slept poorly. Music did shut down at 10p but the road was noisy. It was Easter weekend, so perhaps it’s quieter at other times. Rooms were fine - simple and clean - but expensive for what you get. A sign of the times for Tamarindo…

They must have their plumbing vented into the gift shop, which smelled like a sewer and sold grossly overpriced items. Men’s surf trunks $80-100 when I found the same items down the road for $35-45.

Food at “Joe’s” was fine for included breakfast (burrito w avocado was best) but with so many other great options for lunch/dinner I wouldn’t eat there otherwise unless you want simple pub fare.

Watching Endless Summer with Robert August there was a really cool experience - he’s a very friendly guy and surfing legend. Can’t believe he does this every week with a handful of people there!

Front desk staff and others were very friendly and helpful, really nice to be able to arrange a variety of activities right there - ziplining, horseback riding, massages, etc. You can certainly arrange these outside the hotel (probably for less) but convenience was nice. The estuary tour was basically a hot 2h boat ride - saw a couple birds and a few monkeys. Not worth it to us.

The surf camp has many things going for it - mostly good and friendly instructors, variety of boards to choose from, video analysis and classroom instruction to complement the in-water experience. Boat driver Pru Pru is a sweet guy who cut up fresh cold pineapple, melon, etc when we got on the boat after each session - a lifesaver! I didn’t get nearly as much instruction/guidance in the water from Andrey as expected, although he was a nice guy and really good surfer. I was perhaps on the upper end of intermediate, so I really just need practice, but I would have appreciated more specific feedback. I learned more going to the beginner feedback sessions for my family than I did going to my own (intermediate). I basically paid for the boat ride so we could surf better waves than right in front of the hotel, so it was worth that. I expected to hit a few different spots but we only hit Playa Grande. Although it has many breaks, we hit the same exact spot every day. Conditions are unpredictable, but I got the sense that we went there every day because it’s easy.

It would really be nice to have the exercise class for everyone every day, and also a yoga class for everyone every day. Why separate us? Moreover, why have such different schedules for the beginners and intermediates? With my wife/kids in beginner class and me in intermediate, we barely saw each other the whole week! Management should take this into consideration and create more overlap. Everyone was stiff and achy from surfing, as expected, so some yoga would be a welcome addition to the surf camp experience.

Esteban was so good with my 7 year old - he made sure the #1 priority was fun and she absolutely loved surfing despite being very apprehensive beforehand. He gets 10 stars!

Solo pasamos a comer, una cocina para tres locales según nos indicaron, con 45 minutos de espera por la comida. Obviamente no esperamos y fuimos a otro lado.

1st time we went the server was awesome and so was the food, we liked it so much we went to the bar and the bartender was awesome as well we stayed till close and had a great time. The second time we came different staff and we felt so unwelcome we left after our first drink.

Primero, muchas gracias al personal del hotel, a Joe's y a la tienda de tablas. ¡TODOS ustedes brindaron una experiencia memorable y el servicio al cliente fue excelente! Mi esposo y yo nos quedamos 10 días y nos entristeció despedirnos. Lavina, Juan Carlos, David, Melanie, Henry, Luigi, Brandon, H. Diego, Carlos, Oscar V.y Vally hicieron que esta experiencia fuera tan especial. Todos ustedes nos hicieron sentir como en familia. La comida era muy buena, las vistas son increíbles y la seguridad está al día con su patrulla nocturna. ¡El personal de WRSC realmente da el 100% para brindar una experiencia de calidad! Gracias a todos.
Val Wilber

Fuimos dos veces en los tres días que estuvimos y volveríamos sin ninguna duda. Excelente opción para comer y pasar un buen rato.

Good pina coladas, get them to go so you can still walk the boardwalk. Picnic table seating on the beach.

My grand daughter said this place is the best in town! I wish I was young enough to try it! Thanks witches rock!

Fui a dos escuelas de surf diferentes en Tamarindo y Witch's Rock fue la mejor. Altamente recomendado

Lo que no me gusta del ambiente relajado y del personal súper servicial. Vine con mi hija al curso de iniciación. Los entrenadores son excelentes con el equilibrio perfecto entre impulsarte a mejorar y un amable estímulo. Las habitaciones son ideales: cómodas y limpias.
El equipo aquí quiere que ames el agua y descubras la alegría de las olas.lo lograron.
Reserva ese viaje.no te arrepentirás.

¡Pasé el mejor momento de mi vida en Witch's Rock! Oscar L es un instructor increíble y PruPru es el mejor conductor de embarcaciones del mundo. Todo acerca de este lugar es increíble. No puedo esperar a volver.

Positive & patient instructors, who know how to make it fun for all ages & levels. The surf camp includes one ~90-min session every day for 6 days, plus you can grab a board any time to go out on your own. Very convenient location - lodging, pool, & restaurant are right on the beach.