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The Real DR will not only teach you how to “surf” the world wide web at your fingertips, but how to really surf, with body soul and mind at some of the best locations on the planet, all here on the wonderful island of the Dominican Republic.
History of Surfing
Riding the waves goes back hundreds of years to Hawaii. This is where is all started from and not from humble beginnings either. Once considered a Royals only pastime to now one of the hippest and coolest pastimes to master on beautiful plant earth. Combining the finest elements of water, wind and waves there could not be a more natural way to pump your body in a mere matter of seconds to a thumping adrenalin rush climaxing in the pure joy of surfing back to the beach, thousands have been doing it for years and it is now the fastest growing sport in modern history.
Hawaiian royals used to surf or wave-slide in style, called “he’e nalu”. Before commencing they said their own prayers and chants to call in the big swells and had their own board shapers. Their boards were so heavy they were left on the beach as no body would dare steal their boards anyway. Competitions were held often with hundreds of locals lining the shoreline cheering on their favourite royal; betting would take place on the outcome.
Earliest recorded entry
During Captain James Cook’s third and final expedition to the Pacific both his ships the HMS Discovery and the Resolution made the first ever recorded European visit to Hawaii in 1778. They had been looking for passage for over a year for some way back from the North Pacific to the Atlantic when Cook stopped at the western end of the island chain. He stopped at Kealakekua Bay and unfortunately was then killed by Hawaiians after trying to kidnap their high chief hoping this would force the Hawaiians to return back a stolen boat. After his demise Lieutenant James King took over and was given the job of continuing the narrative of Captain Cook’s journals.
Because of this 1779, we now have the first ever written recorded description of Hawaiians surfing thanks to Lt. King and his ships log.
He writes about a common diversion upon the water where there is a very big sea. Later describing how between 20 to 30 men lie themselves flat upon an oval piece of plan about the size and breadth of their body, keeping their legs close on of it and using their arms to guide the plank. They wait for the highest/greatest swell that will eventually set upon the shore and push with their arms on top, sending them at a most astonishing velocity back to shore. The great art being able to keep the plank in a proper direction on top of the swell as it changes direction. He continues to mention about the danger of the rocks close by and how the men quit their plank and dive under the water until the surf is broke. A great number of men are overtaken by the break of swell which they dive and swim under the water out of it’s impulse. He further quotes that these men may be almost amphibious. He realizes that the above diversion is only intended as an amusement and in a gentle swell he conceives this must be a very pleasant motion which this exercise gives.
An Extinct tradition
The Tradition of Kings was an integral part of Hawaiian culture much as is religion for most people or a specialized sport you follow like a religion with the same passion and beliefs. High chiefs were free to demonstrate their skill in the surf. With the arrival of more white men and a super onslaught of puritanical Christian belief rammed down the poor Hawaiians throats, surfing was practically outlawed and became more or less extinct by the 1900’s.
If it was not for the dedication of people and especially a Hawaiian King named David Lalakau a staunch advocator of sport and surfing for his country then this sport may not have survived at all to see the 20th century.
Another advocator of the sport was Duke Kahanamoku who was also a two time Hawaiian Olympic swimming champion. He was eventually beaten by the original Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller in 1924. However the Duke was an avid surfer at Waikiki and would later become one of the nation’s great ambassadors by taking his peoples culture to the world on a surf board.
Board History
Traditional Hawaiian boards did not have fins and to control and direct your board it was a hard job as your foot did all the work by dragging it behind in the water! One person credited with putting the first fin on a board is Tom Blake. Solid and heavy wooden boards were made and ridden right until the early 1940’s. During wartime hollow plywood boards were introduced, known as toothpicks, these were laminated with redwood for better floatation but were still heavy and most surfers could just about drag them down to the shoreline!
By the 1950’s balsa wood and fiberglass had thankfully made boards lighter and easier to control, (not that much lighter though a typical board would weigh in at around 45-50pounds/20plus kilos). Surfing was taking off in California big time and Australia was just dipping her toes in the sport by then. Famous surfers of this era were Phil Edwards, Dewey Weber and Mickey Dora.
Late 50’s introduced foam boards on the marketplace but they were not super strong and needed three stringers and dozens of layers of fiberglass.
Surf movies made in Hollywood and music gave a huge leap in popularity to the surfing realms as before surfers were seen to be dangerous layabouts and general rebellion youth hell raisers.
In 1964 the first ever World Surfing Championship was held in Manly with Midget Farrelly from Australia winning, bringing more surfboard companies to flourish in both Sydney and California. However the more competitive surfers wanted smaller boards so they could get better performances in big or small waves. Most of the surfboards in the mid late 60’s were a standard nine foot in length. A lot of the pro surfers were cutting down in length and by their own experimentation altering fin and rail design too. By 1968 surfboards were being cut short by most avid surfers throughout the surfing world from one minute being a nine foot board right down to a five footer in a week.
Modern Board Innovators & Designers
During the 70’s the professional world of surfing grew with the Australians dominating the championships, one person in particular who should be named is Geoff McCoy who developed the single fin board to its most evolved state. Meanwhile back in Hawaii Gerry Lopez expanded short board capabilities on big waves. Mark Richards won four world championships in a row from 1979 – 1982 on his famous two twin fin surfboard, however this didn’t suit everyone so Simon Anderson from Sydney put another fin where his foot was and created the triple fin “thruster” which enabled him to surf to glorious victory at Bells in 1981.
In conclusion to board history and board making some of the best ideas and innovations of recent times have come from six time world champion Kelly Slater and board designer Al Merrick both of who work closely together. Kelly can maneuver and balance no matter where he’s surfing be it big or small waves and he sums up that it is a matter of just matching individuals to their boards.
Dominican Republic Wind Surfing, Surfing & Kiteboarding
For the last two years the greatest income puller in the Dominican Republic has been on the north coast in Cabarete the Kite, Wind and Surfing Kingdom of the Caribbean, some may argue it is now in fact a world class resort for all water and wind enthusiasts on the planet. From being discovered in the early 80’s the mile or so long stretch of Cabarete town has seen vast changes, no longer a sleepy surfing hippy hangout, Cabarete offers first class accommodation, wind, kite and surfing tuition, and can proudly boast to being host to many a world championship in both kite, surf and wind competitions.
A too good a lure of passing trade winds, reef protecting the beaches, near year round perfect conditions and friendly local surfers have all attributed to this phenomenal piece of paradise, making Cabarette a sophisticated surfing sojourn.
Windsurfing in Cabarete Cabarete has a reputation as being one of the best places in the world to windsurf which is heavily reflected in the amount of windsurfing centers you can take a look around in. Most of them are located on the beach and the choice is yours enabling easy rigging and direct launch right from the beach at their sites. Do shop around as rental prices vary but the advantage is there are plenty of places to choose from and most centers offer storage for your own gear too. From every level of instruction available, to what more could you ask for…..?
Who put Cabarete on the Map?
Cabarete was discovered and seriously put on the map in 1984 when Canadian Jean Laporte arrived. He loved it so much he not only opened a windsurfing school but wrote several articles for Voile Libre wind magazine and Hifly Canadian Rep. A few years later in 1988 Claude Marois from Quebec introduced the first ever windsurfing championship to Cabarete, this was the Professional Windsurfing Association World Cup and again in 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1997. Some of the famous names in windsurfing who have experienced the Cabarete surf are Robby Naish, Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Anders Bringdal and Robert Teriitehau.
Conditions & Where to Windsurf
Windsurfers practically revel in the progressive daily winds from a light breeze in the morning to the thermals kicking in the afternoon creating strong and consistent winds blowing average 15-25 miles per hour side shore.
Closer to the shore flat water sailing conditions are born due to the protective reef on the windward side of the bay. Go about half a mile out and there is another reef creating some brilliant wave sailing all year round.
Windsurfers say that from mid December to March the waves are larger with chop inside and occasional shore break making the conditions a little bit more harder if you are a beginner and just learning. The summer months June through to August produce good flat water. May, October and November are considered the wet months and you may come across some non wind days too. Don’t worry too much if you can’t make it in the summer months as wind conditions vary all year round and you’re still going to have a lot of fun what ever time of year.
Competitions
If you can make it when Cabarete Race Week is happening, then even if you don’t windsurf just sitting back on the beach and watching the play out on the water is awe inspiring and exciting enough to make you want to jump up and join in!
Race week takes place usually mid June and attracts some of the leading amateur competitors from around the world for a hectic week consisting of windsurfing by day and partying by night. The competitions are organized in the: - Open Class
- Masters
- Grand Masters
- Women
- Junior
- Sports Class Categories.
Kiteboarding in Cabarete
Known as the number one hot spot in the world for kiteboarding, just walk down to kite beach (located near Punat Goleta Hotel) and you will be amazed at the amount of kiters out on the water from serious professionals training for their next world championship competition to learners on the beach trying not to look too helpless – fascinating viewing for everyone and you just can’t help but smile and admire the prowess of the true pro’s at work. They are tireless, full of energy and their mastery at trying new moves is simply incredible.
According to some of the professionals they choose Cabarete as their favourite spot and return here for competitions and training, month after month.
Several kiteboarding schools (and dedicated kiteboarding hotels) are located right on the beach for those who want to perfect their skills or take up this extreme sport offering beginner to master classes, rental and hire of equipment and clothing and storage too.
Conditions & Where to Kiteboard There is only one main beach for kiteboarding and that is the officially designated Cabarete Kite beach. There is an agreement between the windsurfing schools and kitesurfing schools that the kiters will not teach and encourage kiting in the main bay of Cabarete. There is the exception of Bozo beach which is found on the western side of Cabarete beach. This rule has been made for your own safety as the bay is too crowded with windsurfers, kids and people on the beach too.
Kitebeach can be found at the far end of Cabarete heading towards the airport or Puerto Plata, it is near the large all inclusive Punta Goleta Hotel and just around the corner past Bozo Beach. If you walk along the beach from central Cabarete it will take you about 20 minutes. When you get near you’re going to be able to see all the kites in the air anyway. Kitebeach is long and sandy making launching very easy to do, reliable and constant side on shore winds from the right prove this to be the number one spot. The reef is about 200m out from the shore so you’ll usually find beginners on the flat water inside the reef and the pros high on the reef. Waves are generally 0.5m to 2m high on the reef.
There are some other great places to the east and west of Kitebeach, Bozo Beach is where the Kiteboard World Championship in 2001/2 was held (Bozo Beach held the World Cup in 2003). There is also Encuentro Beach which is popular with surfers early in the morning when the waves are best for them, however it is a fine place to wave ride in the afternoon as the winds pick up.
La Boca de Yasica is a fantastic place, word of warning though, only experienced kiters should venture out here. It generally has a hundred percent flat water to fool around in, and then you can just kite back to Cabarete by traveling down wind for about 6 kilometers.
Winds
Like for windsurfing, the same applies the winds are pretty consistent all year round with the better months falling on June and July. If you are coming down in Winter time, try and make it sometime between February and March. The waves are generally much bigger and more frequent in the Winter. (Bear in mind the rainy season between late September through to early December).
If it’s wind you’re after then its best to arrive between the middle of June to the end of July. Any other time of the year there is a good chance you will see at least fifty percent days sailing.
As an average wind speed for Summer is around 20 knots from 1pm to 6pm. Winter averages about 14 knots most days. Best kite for an 80 kilo sailor in summer is between 9m and 12m sq.
Figures from last year are:- from May to July the most used kites were between 10 -13m sq and from August to April most people used kites between 13 – 16 meters.
Competitions
The Professional Kiteboard Riders Association (PKRA) 2006 World Tour was held right here in Cabarete. Bozo Beach hosted and featured the third stop in this six stop tour. It has been hosted in Cabarete since it was founded in 2002. This years prize money was $40,000 dollars. The competition is always held early June. Other stops on the tour are all over the world from Austria, Venezuela, Brazil and Germany.
The competition area is held close to the shore enabling spectators to take in all the action from a beach fronted advantage. You will be privileged to see some of the best kiteboarders in the world competing and watch their astounding displays. Some of the moves they make have names like the ‘back side handle pass’, the ‘Mobius’ with plenty of the competitors making and naming their own individual style and moves as well.
Progressive rounds of heats usually with 4 riders each are conducted with the winner of each heat advancing to the next round and so on. There is a panel of 8 judges looking for overall impression, the judges will also take into consideration technical difficulty, height achieved, power and the general smoothness of each move.
There is also a pre-qualifying event held before hand in Cabarete for Dominican Nationals only at Kitebeach. Dominican kiters compete against each other in a similar format as the World Cup lets say with the top 6 riders going on to compete in the World Cup usually 4 men and 2 women.
For your information
Regular kiters to the DR say that getting new material in Cabarete is usally not a problem, however getting spare parts like fins and bladders can be a bit of a problem so bring some spares with you just in case. There are a couple of very good board and sail repair shops in Cabarete, one can be found at the entrance of ProCab with the other one further into ProCab near the tennis courts.
Generally the waters in Cabarete have an all year round pleasant temperature of 27 – 29 Celsius so a lot of kiters don’t bother bringing their shorty’s just lycras for sun protection!
Surfing in Cabarete
Anyone from the ages of three to ninety years old can lean to surf, anyone from any walk of life, once only the sport of Kings, surfing brings together a cross section of ages, cultures, different ethnic backgrounds as everyone has that one same dream – the perfect wave! It has often been said that this is the one true sport, pure of heart and belief.
If you are fortunate to be vacationing on the north coast then head off towards Cabarete the center of the Caribbean universe for all water sport junkies. On the main drag in Cabarete there are plenty of places to hire your board, exclusive surfing hotels, high class boutiques selling the latest in baggies, tops and other surfie clothes paraphernalia, watches, sunglasses and shoes to name just some of the stuff. Shop around as a lot of the shops can be a bit on the high pricey side.
Where to Surf
Encuentro beach has to be the most popular spot for all surfers, enjoying a north, north-west swell most of the time with waves breaking right and left it is a sure surfers paradise. With lessons, schools and equipment hire right on the doorstep it is an attractive location for beginners and die hard surf professionals. A note for beginners:- there are a lot of sea urchins in the white water so you might want to bring some booties or just hire them from one of the local surf schools.
Encuentro starts breaking at 2ft and is mostly a right hander although the shorts left can be good fun as well and it can hold waves of up to 10ft.
For more expert surfers go left of Encuentro and there is another wave, a short and sucky lefthander that breaks in very shallow water, short boards only – you have been warned! Also check out another spot called Destroyer which has the same characteristics.
It is worth mentioning just further east of Cabarete in Playa Grande, Rio San Juan you will also find fantastic surfing locations. Playa Grande for example offers long and glassy lefts all day because of the cliff which stops the wind making this wave surfable even in the afternoon when the winds start to pick up.
When the waves close out in Cabarete for super big sessions head out for El Canal or Sosua Bay. Both these locations offer the big wave riders mega powerful and deep pipes to ride that perfect tube!
Winds
From Winter, September through to May the Atlantic Ocean generates big swells that offers fun all winter season. The size will diminish during the summer months but still provides good little waves to ride long-boards, alternatively this is the perfect time to learn this amazing sport.
Competitions
Watch this space for up to date details of forthcoming surfing events in Encuentro Beach (updated soon).
Conclusion The north coast of the Dominican Republic holds a surfing gem in its hands and that is Cabarete, like a perfect margarita, sweet, sour and salty this once small hippy fishing village is now a classy and sophisticated resort for wind, kite and surfers alike offering top class accommodation, equipment hire, restaurants, lively nightlife, beach dining, schools and camps, bed and breakfast, villas and near perfect year round conditions. No wonder so many water enthusiasts come year after year and no wonder so many people eventually make Cabaret their home.
For a complete listing of:- Hotels for every budget
Schools for kite, wind and surf
Restaurants in Cabarete
Holiday Packages
See The Real DR Business Directory
A great place to come and spend your vacation, Cabarete is only a twenty minute drive from Puerto Plata International Airport. There are no restricitions on you bringing your equipment into the county.
Plenty of places to stay and lodge or splash out on, a plethora of dining options, from beach front candle lit chill out bars to lobster and fresh caught fish.
The night life is legendary in Cabarete attracting non surfers alike who flock just to hang out in cool bars, listen and dance to great music, take in a band or dance on the sand.
During competition weeks accommodation may be booked or go up in price but the atmosphere is charged and exciting, with hundreds of international travellers from every age group, film crews and the like, there is always somewhere to escape to in Cabarete and find that perfect spot for sipping a cold Presidente and just reflecting on your good fortune at being right here in the gorgeous Dominican Republic.
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Dominican Guide 
