The Dominican Republic is riddled with surf breaks. You can drive along the coast and find various surf spots throughout the entire island. Some are full of surf schools while others are hidden gems. Unfortunately for you, I won’t be giving away any secret spots in this post, but I will be letting you in on one of the best places to learn how to surf on the island.

For now we’ll be covering the North Coast, specifically Cabarete, of the Dominican Republic. There are plenty of schools around the island but Playa Encuentro seems to be the most “learner friendly” break that we’ve encountered.

The local spot in this small town is called Encuentro beach. There are about six surf schools located right on the beach so there are plenty of places to chose from. All in all, I’ve heard good things about every school. In the end, the happier they make you, the more likely they are to have returning visitors. With five other schools to compete with, all of the schools need to put out their A game. Here’s a list of all the schools that can be found at the break, in no particular order.

321 Take Off Surf School – Facebook
Pauhanas Surf School – Facebook
Chinos Surf School – Facebook
Bobo’s Surf School – Facebook
Antoños Surf School – Facebook
LG Surf Camp – Facebook

Looking out into the ocean you can see multiple breaks scattered throughout the water. Some are lefts, some are rights and some break both ways. If you’re a new surfer, at any break, always make sure to get a general run down of what each wave is like. Especially if you’re a beginner. At Encuentro there are four main breaks which include:

(From right to left looking out into the ocean)

CocoPipe: This break is great for riders looking to get barreled. I recommend being careful during low tide here as it gets pretty shallow. If you’re a new surfer only go right, if you’re a good surfer, do what you want =D. The best swell direction here is North, North East.

Bobo’s Point: This really varies with the swell. Sometimes steep drops, sometimes mushy, sometimes left, sometimes right, you get the point.

The Right: A great wave with a nice drop but the crowd here is pretty aggressive. Generally though, it will not result in a physical fight (unless you’re begging for it). This wave is mainly a right but there are some nice lefts that form. The best swell direction here is East, North East.

The Left: This is mainly a local surf spot and is wayyyy left. This break is also shallow and you’ll find most of the better surfers here so bring your A game. The best swell direction is North-East.

Check out this awesome video done by EyeFly Films of a local surfer ripping it on this break.

Andddd here are some surfing pictures from Encuentro: