Swell Cabin › Mexico & Central America › Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur surf guide

Nicaragua's beach town, with Playa Maderas, Remanso and Hermosa a short drive away and a lively backpacker scene.

Location

Rivas, Nicaragua (11.2530, -85.8700)

Best season

Mar – Nov: March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November

Water temperature

24–29°C (boardshorts)

Waves

Beach break, Reef break

Suits

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced surfers

Surf spots in San Juan del Sur

• Playa Maderas: Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces SW (offshore wind from the NE), best at all tides. Suits all levels. (11.2907, -85.9099)

Where to stay in San Juan del Sur

227 places to stay within 16 km: 109 hotel, 37 holiday rental, 22 guest house, 21 hostel, 13 bed and breakfast, 11 resort, 7 villa, 4 surf camp, 2 camp site, 1 caravan site. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: Lorena Surf Hostel, Inti Wasi Surf House, The Big Drop Surf House, Playa Maderas, Rapture Surfcamp Nicaragua.

Hostels: Hostal Elizabeth, Casa Oro Eco Hostel, Sunset guest house, Casa Romano Hostel, Hostel Rossy, Casa Floresta SJS.

Cafés, food and surf shops

19 cafés and bakeries, 119 restaurants and bars, 15 surf schools and 6 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Madera surf school and rents surfboards, Grateful Surf Yoga & Ayurveda, San Juan del Sur Ocean Surf and Sport, Alvarez Surfboards / Alex's Surf School, One Love Surf School, Nicaragua, Bahía San Juan del Sur, Playa Madera, Son of a Beach Surf.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in San Juan del Sur?

The best surf season in San Juan del Sur is Mar – Nov (March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November). The sea ranges from 24°C to 29°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in San Juan del Sur?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at San Juan del Sur's best spot were good or better most often in October (87% of days, 40% great), June (86% of days, 40% great) and May (95% of days, 30% great), and least often in February (19%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in San Juan del Sur?

Water temperature in San Juan del Sur is 24–29°C: boardshorts.

Is San Juan del Sur good for beginner surfers?

Yes. San Juan del Sur suits beginner, intermediate and advanced surfers; spots that work for beginners or all levels include Playa Maderas.

What are the surf spots in San Juan del Sur?

San Juan del Sur has 1 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Playa Maderas (Beach break, lefts and rights, all levels, faces SW (offshore wind from the NE), best at all tides).

Where should surfers stay in San Juan del Sur?

Swell Cabin lists 227 places to stay within 16 km of San Juan del Sur, including 4 surf camps such as Lorena Surf Hostel, Inti Wasi Surf House, The Big Drop Surf House, Playa Maderas and Rapture Surfcamp Nicaragua, 21 hostels, 22 guesthouses and homestays, 44 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the surf forecast for San Juan del Sur this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for San Juan del Sur and each of its 1 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/san-juan-del-sur: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

When is the best tide to surf in San Juan del Sur?

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for San Juan del Sur weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the San Juan Del sur tide gauge (1 km away).

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about San Juan del Sur?

Trust in this page's data is medium (55/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 0 of 1 spots fully verified, 1 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; no open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Is there a live surf cam in San Juan del Sur?

Swell Cabin hasn't found a live surf cam it could check in San Juan del Sur yet (it only lists cams it has opened); the surf forecast on its page shows the waves this week.

Where can I take surf lessons in San Juan del Sur?

Surf schools in and around San Juan del Sur include Madera surf school and rents surfboards, Grateful Surf Yoga & Ayurveda, San Juan del Sur Ocean Surf and Sport, Alvarez Surfboards / Alex's Surf School, One Love Surf School and Nicaragua, Bahía San Juan del Sur.

Nearby surf towns

• Popoyo, Nicaragua (best Mar – Nov)
• Tamarindo, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
• Nosara, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
• Santa Teresa, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
• Jacó & Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)
• Dominical, Costa Rica (best Mar – Nov)

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