SURF NICARAGUA 2012

2012 ISA World Masters Surfing Championship Colorado Beach, Hacienda iguana, Nicaragua
July 14-22, 2012

For the first time, Nicaragua will host the 2012 ISA World Masters Surfing Championships this summer. It is the biggest surfing event in the world for over-35-year-old surfers, with nearly 150 competitors from more than 20 countries. Many of these competitors are former professional surfers; some are former world champions. The exciting week-long competition will be held at Colorado Beach (Playa Colorado) in Hacienda Iguana on Nicaragua’s southwest Pacific coast, two hours southwest of Managua, the nation’s capital.
 
The 2012 ISA World Masters Surfing Championships will begin with an Opening Ceremony and Parade of Nations on Saturday, July 14, 2012. The Parade of the Nations is a colorful and energy-filled event, complete with teams chanting, waving flags and the cheering of the locals who come out to watch the spectacle. In the Sands of the World Ceremony, alongside a team flag bearer, each team sends one athlete to pour the sand from a favorite beach from their country into a custom glass container. The layering of the sands represents the peaceful union of the nations through the love of the sport of surfing.

The competition will run through the week – complete with nightly beach parties! – until the Finals and Closing Ceremony on Sunday, July 22, 2012. Athletes will surf the waves from powerhouse teams including Australia, Brazil, France, Puerto Rico, South Africa and USA (the defending team champions). They will be seeking a place on the podium in the overall team standings and in five divisions, as follows:

• Men's Masters [over 35 years],
• Men's Grand Masters [over 40],
• Men's Kahunas [Over 45],
• Men's Grand Kahunas [over 50],
• Women's Masters [over 35].

For additional travel packages and information go to visitnicaragua.us.


Surfline Surf Forecasts

Why Surf Nicaragua?

Nicaragua is not only a hot new tourist destination and the safest country in Central America. Among surfers, Nicaragua is known as “the land of constant offshore winds,” because its southern Pacific coast beaches are exposed to the “Lago de Nicaragua effect.” Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America, is within 12 – 50 kilometers (east) of much of the Pacific coast, including Playa Colorado in Hacienda Iguana, where the surfing championships will be held. Due to the lake's large expanse of water, winds blow offshore more than 300 days out of the year and make the waves perfect for surfing. In addition to the constant offshore winds, Playa Colorado has consistent swell year round. Depending on the tide, the waves can be hollow beach-break barrels, or perfect, rippable left- and right-handers.