Surfing Popoyo Nicaragua: The best 5 surf spots

Looking for a place where you can find good surf on any given day? Popoyo is known for having some of the best waves in Central America. You can behold the beauties of the coasts, warm waters, perfect reefs and slabby beach breaks.

Popoyo nicaragua surf spots

With more than 15 different spots and wind that blows 300-plus days offshore, it’s one of the most consistent surfing destinations in the world. We made a list of the 5 best surf spots in Popoyo, that you can easily reach from Las Plumerias by a short car or boat ride depending on your level of experience.

 

Popoyo – Inner reef

wave breaking in popoyo inner reef surf spot

The main break of Popoyo nicaragua, is a classic and well-known surf spot in Nicaragua. It’s located between Playa Popoyo and Playa Guasacate. This break is situated on top of a rock reef, so it’s the perfect wave to get into reef surfing.

The wave is suited for advanced and intermediate surfers. It creates amazing lefts and rights and has an easy channel to paddle out. Mid-tide works best for the A-frame wave and it has a little barrel opportunity.

Popoyo waves : Outer reef

surf spot popoyo outer reef

Popoyo outer reef is known to be one of the best big-wave spots in Central America when the big swells come in. It’s a well-known spot for advanced and experienced surfers. From Popoyo inner reef, it’s a few minutes paddling further out to sea or you can get there by boat. On bigger swells, the wave turns to life and is probably the heaviest and most dangerous wave in Nicaragua.

The whole ride has some incredibly shallow sections and surf that’s two to five times overhead. You can expect machine-like barrels as wide as they are tall, with some serious wave power. You’ll need a fair amount of balls and experience as it can get very dangerous if you have no prior experience with surfing big waves.

Popoyo surf spots : Colorado

surf spot colorado nicaragua

Playa Colorado has two famous waves; the wave of the Colorado river and Panga Drops. The wave of the Colorado river is without a doubt one of the best waves. A lot of intermediate and advanced surfers make a trip to Nicaragua just to surf there. You can take a boat or a panga.

On a quiet day, you will sit in the lineup next to no one else. The wave offers a punchy, hollow break with many faces and throws perfect barrels on the right and left. It’s a surfable wave on most tides but gets more tricky when you combine mid to low tide with overhead surf. When it gets good, it’s worth the effort. But be prepared to get slammed as it is known to be a heavy break.

Panga Drops

surf spot panga drops nicaragua

The second wave of Playa Colorado is called Panga Drops. Panga means a small powerboat that is used to close the shore. This wave got its name when a panga captain saw his boat eaten up by a wave and sank to the bottom of the reef. To give you an idea of how unpredictable and unusually large sets come out of nowhere.

In general, it is considered to be a softer wave but because it’s a deepwater wave, it usually breaks on a slightly bigger scale than your average wave. On long waves, this means wide-open faces with high speed. You can find occasional barrels from time to time. When looking for high waves, it’s best to go there because when the waves are knee-high everywhere else in popoyo nicaragua, they are head high at Panga.

Punta Manzanillo

surf spot popoyo manzanillo

When you’re looking for fun waves, Manzanillo is the surf spot to be, at the right Nicaragua surf season. It’s a great left-hand point break, a real must when surfing in Nicaragua. In general, it’s a great spot for intermediate surfers. It works great on a variety of swells, with a nice long ride, rip-able faces, and consistent waves. Once it gets bigger, it becomes more dangerous with heavy risk factors.

When the big swell is in, it’s a better place for confident surfers. Manzanillo is a big favorite of many because it’s a beautiful place with a picturesque cliff background. It needs the right southwest swell direction to work however, and a decent size. A boat is most commonly used to get there as the beach only has private access.

Perfect stay for a perfect surf

Want to know more about all the surf spots around Las Plumerias surf lodge? Click here to find out more. Looking for a place to stay? We’ve been chosen by the inertia to be one of the best surf stays around the globe.

 

 

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