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THE SURF SANCTUARY - Specialty Resort Reviews (Nicaragua/Rivas)
This was my second trip to the surf sanctuary. Tony and his crew put their heart and soul into the sanctuary and ensuring that we were well taken care of. Everything from the surf spots to the food and accommodations were amazing. Our guides always made sure to take us to the best spots and took care of all our daily needs. I recommend this place to any surfer and I will definitely be back! Much love to the surf sanctuary!
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Date of stay: August 2018Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
As someone said - if you're expecting a full-service, all-inclusive resort - stay away.
If you want an amazing, comfortable stay on a well-thought out piece of property that has hammocks, a pool, quiet, billiards & ping pong tables, friendly dogs, and truly hospitable staff that care about your stay & experience - all close to some kickass waves - then you cannot go wrong with Surf Sanctuary.
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Date of stay: March 2016
Value
Rooms
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I absolutely loved The Surf Sanctuary! Stayed for a week, I wish it was for longer. Tony and Nancy, the owners, are great! Very friendly! They were more like hosts then "owners". They gave me great advice, and gave great suggestions for activities in Grenada. And it was nice having people to talk to , since I did not speak Spanish.The atmosphere was very laid back and relaxing. THe grounds were well kept, between the landscape, pool, and very clean.The pool had a swim up bar, and a table to relax around. Next to the pool they have like 6 hammocks, pool table and ping pong table. A great place to have a excellent time. Very peaceful and quiet. The food was great, my favorites were the fresh fruit and Hawaiian Chicken, but everything was yummy!! They offer a water bottle to purchase and the restaurant fills it up during your stay with purified water :) The property was a short 3-5 minute walk to the breath-taking beach. I am not a surfer, but enjoyed watching the surfers. GREAT LOCATION!! They are a short walking distance from Magnific Rock, awesome sunset spot! One day I just wandered the beach and explored around and it was nice to come back to the A/C and the cool pool with a Tona! THey offer surfing packages, and from the other guest I hear they are great!! I highly recommend staying here and I plan on going back!!!
I do not understand how anyone would have anything negative to say, and if they do, they must not have . Perfect place for relaxing and having a good time. Closest city about an hour away. So if you are looking for the party scene be advised. But looking to have a no worries place here is your place
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Date of stay: July 2014
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
First off, arrange your own transportation from the airport, Tony just tacks on $20 to the cost of a taxi each way. We rented one of the house, the house its self was nice...clean..not so much, someone puked or left a melted piece of powerbar on one of the beds and the cleaning crew "missed" it. so the one bedroom was full of bugs eating the puke. (not to mention the smell of puke fermenting in 100 degree room for a day or two) the Camp was nice, they have a outdoor pool table/bar thing set up, a nice pool..if they would skim it once in a while, restaurant was just ok and over priced. Service (or lack of service) was terrible, Tony was nice, but wasn't to concerned about anybody but himself. We wanted to take a boat trip to some different spots...it took him 3 days to even give us an answer if he would do it. we would have to pay of course (I believe $300) for a half day. What he didn't tell us is 1/2 the time is getting the boat to the water and back. the camp is a good 1/2 mile from the beach and they get the boat there and back by rolling it on two logs (which he thinks your party should do most the work) So if you want to pay $300 for nicaraguen style navy seal training...have fun because you ll be to tired to surf. So we never ended up doing a boat trip....also trying to get a ride to Popoyo - never happened. In fact...just walking to the beach, he'd drive right by us..you think he would stop and give us a lift...nope..just keep drivin by. This place could be run so much better. We wound up hanging out at Villa Jiquelite which was right on the beach, Jose and Mama would watch our stuff let us hang around..drive us to popoyo for a couple bucks (there is also a trail which takes about 20 minutes to walk and is mostly in the shade untill the end.)
so besides that the house was nice; not much good stuff to say about the Surf Sanctuary If you rent a car and just need a place to stay..ok, but if you want tours/local knowledge...go somewhere else. oh and i see he has tour packages online for like $1500pp. I drank, ate and partied for 8 days and only spent $300. If you have a group of 4+ people willing to spend 6k your going to get hosed at the Surf Sanctuary....that is a joke
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Date of stay: September 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PROS: - Met some really fun and excellent people - Laid back atmosphere during the day. Decent mini party with other resort people vibe at night. It was a fun place to spend NYE. - Pool area was pretty relaxing. Loved the hammocks. - The surf instructor Justin - what a sweetheart. Loved getting to know him. - The house was really clean and cute and had a nice layout. There were definitely some missing pieces (see below in CONS).
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN PRO AND CON: - The owners (American). I liked them personally - very nice people BUT they were not helpful during our trip and they are not made for the hospitality industry. They clung to the friends of friends that they had in town and took them to a few cool little places. There was very little assistance in terms of recommendations on where to go and what to do (other than recommending a pizza place up the road) - and considering you're in the middle of nowhere that would be a very helpful thing to do. A book in the room with suggestions and directions and a map? They seem to think that they aren't running a resort and are instead just property managers (which might be half true) but they are setting people up for disappointment with this attitude. We were ready to leave after two days (but were there for four).
CONS: - Very difficult to get to and little to no signage along the way. I recommend opting for the airport pick up if you can (we couldn't as we were driving from Leon and then to another resort after). - Beach is sub par (if you've traveled to beautiful beaches you know this one is not it). A lot of people who come here seemed to think it was great but they were also from areas of the world where they haven't seen white beaches and blue water. I know it's not the Caribbean but it's still a totally "eh" beach. Grey sand. Yucky water. The Gulf of Mexico provides better. - The A/C was a joke. And we're from a hot place. It was really warm with the A/C cranking. Easily in the high 70's / low 80's. - 3 out of 4 of us got sick while staying here / immediately after staying here. It couldn't have been the water so it must have been the food? We all needed to take antibiotics to kick it. Brutal. - The safety factor. Basically we were told that if you don't lock your house - something is going to get stolen. This was not what I wanted to hear upon check in. And if that's the case - provide safes in the houses! Most people who are coming to another country for 2 plus weeks are carrying a lot of cash and when you don't have a place to lock it up - it doesn't make you feel great. Yes they said if you lock the door that's enough but it didn't feel great to have to hide your laptop in the oven every time you left the house. I mean come on. - They don't provide pool towels - really? What's that going to cost you? $250 for a few towels. - The beds only have sheets. No coverlet / quilt, etc - pretty uncomfortable for sleeping - even if it was hot. - The maids were pushing us out before the check out time on our last day because they had overbooked. Not our problem. - No pool side drink service
WHAT TO DO: - Absolutely go to Mag Rock. Food and drinks are excellent and the views are nuts. Go about two hours before sunset and walk the beach then settle in for dinner and drinks an hour before the sun is going to set.
LAST WORDS: Overall I would not recommend this place. They have a lot of work to do but they don't seem to think so. I've stayed all over the world in hostel's and in 5 star resorts and if the people who own the place take great care and pride in the property and of the people staying there I always leave happy. I think that was my main issue here. The laissez faire "that's not what this is or what we do" approach was just a huge turn off. Go elsewhere.
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Date of stay: January 2015
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Wow, I wish I would have read Brenncc's review before my trip! Thank you for such a detailed review, all of which I could not have agreed with more after our trip here in February 2015. Your point about the owners is spot-on. Nice enough people for sure, but not cut out for customer service.
My husband and I have traveled all over Central America and I have never had an experience quite like this one. I knew the area was remote, so I expected that The Surf Sanctuary would be a true oasis. After reading other TripAdvisor reviews, I felt pretty safe in the fact that I was going to have a great time here. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Since Brenncc covers a lot of the same points that I would, I'm going to skip over a lot of my own comments and encourage you to read her review, which is very thorough. Instead, I would like to offer some suggestions to the owners:
1 - For airport service, have your driver at the ready with bottles of water and maybe even a snack. We asked our driver to stop for water and a bite to eat. He stopped at a gas station. After traveling for 14 hours, it was more than a disappointment to not even have water available in the car.
2 - Teach the kitchen staff how to cook and speak a few words of English. I realize we're coming to a Spanish-speaking country and we need to speak Spanish. But probably a vast majority of your guests are English-speaking. The kitchen staff were obviously doing their best, but it wasn't very good. They have no customer service skills at all.
3 - If your guests get eaten alive by mosquitos while sleeping in a casita, don't accuse them of leaving their door open and not offer to help them in the least. It took a local home owner to get a few Claritin and a small dose of pity. Even better -- put mosquito nets over the beds! After 12 days, my arm still looks like I'm recovering from a case of the mumps.
4 - Don't advertise that you have a swim-up bar and Tiki lounge when you don't even have a bartender on site. We had to teach the kitchen staff to mix a pina colada. There was no alcohol in the tiki bar and the swim-up bar is a nice idea if you plan to put booze & a bartender in it. Sorely disappointed.
5 - Last, but definitely not least, do not ever vent your frustrations about your business to your guests. Within 48 hours of being there I knew how much your electric bill is, the water shortage issues, the problems with up-keeping the pool. I just gave you $2100 dollars for an eight-day stay. I don't care about your problems, I'm on vacation!
If you are a young surfer who doesn't give a crap about where you stay, what you eat, and you just want to have hours upon hours of awesome surfing with your own personal guide, this is your place. If you are married to the surfer, take a separate vacation and call it good.
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Date of stay: February 2015
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:If staying in a casita, bring bug spray and use it every night before bed.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
While this lodging "sanctuary" as they call it was decent, it's just too amateur and simply too far from where you'll want to be for your surfing and other jungle or ocean excursions. If it were half an hour closer to San Juan del Sur, it would be a better deal. Too far out of the way for the cost to get there. Some people are willing to go this far for their vacations but expect a first-class celebrity style retreat once there - and this (sadly) disappoints.Roosters in this rurally located surf spot woke us every morning while still dark outside! Not a peaceful retreat as far as that goes.For the same cost, you can go elsewhere and save a lot of time. Sorry, Surf Sanctuary.
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Date of stay: May 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Seriously go somewhere else, you will be massively disappointed. I travel the world surfing in third world countries and this is my second time in Nica, so I wasn't expecting much. But this place is a dump. We got the top package they offer $1,750 for a week in hell. This is not a resort, this is a guy who has a some land and a few houses that drinks all day and has a stoner for a surf guide.
ACCOMMODATIONS I am used to third world, but the thing is when you give up the luxuries you get CHEAP, this is FIFTH world at best and a total RIP OFF. I have been to Popoyo Surf Lodge, which wasn't too bad, so I wasn't expecting much. Where to start.
Power outages at night, means no ac, no water, 115 degree room Beds, lol, honestly these can't be called beds, I slept better on the boat. Pool, falling apart Water smells like sewage everywhere As an added bonus you get scorpions in your room, there's bugs too, but ants, flys and mosquitos don't bother me at all. Scorpions kind of stuck, so we found out about them by a nice guy that rents a house there, he tells me to shake everything out cause he lived in the house we were staying in and it's loaded with them, glad he did, cause my friend found one in his shirt. We actually got a kick out of this, I want you to know I am not picky at all, so for me to HATE this place it's really really bad.
GUIDES Surf guide too stoned to take pictures, asked several times while he sat there watching us surf not taking pics. Lunch on boat for 6 guys = 6 slices of bread, 1/10 jar of peanut butter, 1/10 jar of jelly and a dirty spoon to make your own PB and J's. Never enough water, guide said I bring you one a day then you are on your own, if you know Nica you need like 3 liters daily, it's hot. Paid for top package, only once we had beer on boat / cooler. Snacks of cookies here and there, but never packed a lunch. We knew more about the breaks and when / where to go and I have only been there once. Forgot to bring my boards twice.
BOAT They only have one boat and they only give you half days cause they over book so don't expect much time on the water. Daily they said you are on the boat and then swapped us cause it was double booked. The boat captain is awesome by the way, loved him. They don't bring enough food or drinks on the boat, we were starving every time we went out on it, never enough water. Just sodas, which I don't drink but man when you are that thirsty and salty you drink that crap.
FOOD Lol, How many ways can you serve the same exact ingredients? Nachos, tacos, quesadillas, beans rice, you get my drift that's it. Meat, cheese, starch beans. We walked over to Ranchos nightly to eat something different.
STAFF Erik rocks, great attitude, great person, only one that cares. Hopefully I run into him again cause I owe him a tip. Kitchen staff was cool and would customize my orders, you need to know spanish, but I dig that, you should speak spanish in a spanish country anyway. I loved them to be honest and they could cook, they were just highly limited due to the bad menu.
All and all, I have spent 3 months in the jungle of costa living on solar power and if you offered me $3,000 to go to the Surf Santuary in Nica again, I would say heck no keep you money. I rather walk to Costa barefoot in the Jungle then stay is this piece of Sh$$ dump again.
All and all, I am a laid back non picky guy who is used to bugs, dirt and grudge. But man oh man, this place is bad. Avoid, go somewhere else. please. you will thank me.
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Date of stay: April 2016
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:Stay somewhere else. Seriously
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We did a ton of research before we went to NIcaragua and really wanted to stay with surfari charters they were booked and recommended the "sanctuary" to us. We went with it and while it was a super nice place to stay, we were completely disapointed with their hospitality we wanted to know about the local breaks and when and where the surf was going to be good but no one was much help. We asked for rides (we were willing to pay) to other beaks and the respone we got back was oh it's just a 15 min walk(which that wasn't accurate)! The most helpful was one of the locals that worked in the kitchen. They also were very discouraging about us going to San Juan and informed us if we wanted to go to take the local bus to Rivas. The bus ride was fine but once we got to Rivas it was crazy, we speak spanish but for someone that isn't familiar with being harrassed and can't speak spanish this is a horrible idea for them to reccomend guests doing. If you want to go to Nicaragua and it's your first time I wouldn't reccomend this place.
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Date of stay: November 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed in a villa at The Surf Sanctuary for about 9 days in April, 2014. We liked our villa very much. It was a simple 2 bedroom villa, but it had everything we needed. All was pleasant and good.
The pool, at the center of it all, was well kept. Numerous hammocks were available for lounging. Food from the kitchen is good. I balk at calling the kitchen a restaurant simply because of the mellow manner in which it is staffed and food is served. It's open all day, starting early (5:30am - 8:00pm?) for those seeking an early surf break. The ladies who staff it are always flexible and ready to make you a meal or help you get a cup of coffee or a beer. I think the prices for this type of flexibility and individually made meals are very reasonable and everyone is very pleasant/friendly.
The disclaimer that needs to be made with this review is that your satisfaction will be dependent on your expectations. Note that this is an awesome place near great surfing in a remote part of Nicaragua. We liked it. We liked the people who own/run it and we think they do a great job. Remember that this is a remote place with little other action and few luxuries. We found it clean, well kept, and it offered a fair value, but this is not the place for someone who wants a fancy resort.
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Date of stay: April 2014
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:We loved the villa we rented - go for that if you want a kitchen.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Rivas area.
LOCATION
NicaraguaRivas DepartmentRivas
NUMBER OF ROOMS
4
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