Winter surf season kick off – Playa Encuentro, DR

[HookedCabarete]

What a week here in Cabarete. 2 swells after another hit the north coast and delivered some of the best waves you can imagine here. Coming back to the DR from a 4 month trip from Indo I was still a bit spoiled concerning the wave quality but those last days were just amazing and as good as the best day in Indo. From my point of view even much better as I didn’t have to hustle with those annoying crowds there. It started with really easy and perfect conditions. 4 -5 ft, super clean and lined up lefts and right with barrel opportunities before a little breeze came in around 2pm. The next day it got bigger and the swell really turned north so the three peaks in the middle of Playa Encuentro had a bit of a current and weren´t working as good anymore but the two advanced waves left and right from the peaks were peeling off perfect and only a handful guys were out. Some 6-8ft sets came through and again super clean conditions until the early afternoon. The day after it went a bit down to 5-6ft but coco pipe and the left were still working great. On Sunday then it got smaller and also a bit crowded again, good to get an easy surf and gain some energy back. Monday then the next swell hit and overnight the waves turned from 3ft up to 8-10 ft sets. All the peaks in the middle of the beach were closing out but we saw some amazing rights coming in at coco pipe. Getting back out there was not much of a problem due to the high wave periode but it was a bit hard to catch those big ones as we didn´t want to sit too deep in case the cleanup sets come and the take offs were quite steep as well. We could get a couple of waves but in the end everyone took a beating and a couple of boards snapped so we decided to see how the next day will be. On tuesday morning it was less humiliating and perfect rights and lefts coming in at cocopipe and the left. Sunny, clean 6-8ft and again a handful guys out! I think I had some of the best surf ever this day and surfed for more than 3 hours. Today the swell went down to 3-4ft but still nice waves and also good to get some rest again. Can´t wait for the next swell to hit as this is just the beginning of the season! Have a look at our facebook profile if you want to see some of the action. Here the link: [url][/url]
If anyone wants to escape the cold and jump in a last minute plane to the DR, we made some last minute deals until December 10 with more than 20% discount on our accommodation. Check out our website[url]http://[/url] to see more infos and pics.

Aloha from Hooked Cabarete

[TheSweatyButcher]

I was there from the 14-26 of Oct and the swell gods didnt give me anything like that to work with.

[HookedCabarete]

Sorry to hear that but maybe you are more lucky next time. From Novemeber - April the waves get more consistent here and there can be some big swells in the winter.

[mabs01]

I am going to start taking surf lessons there, any advice?

[Wetstuff]

I have been kiting in Cabarete three times.. each time rented a horse multiple mornings (no wind until about noon) and rode up to the surf break. Twice there were nice little waves, and not as crowded as CAL or FL ..but you were not going to pick off waves like rose pedals as there were plenty of people in the water.

As much as I like the cheap tickets and speedy trip from Miami to the DR, I would stick to the Pacific side of Panama, CR or NICA because I would pretty much know there will be something ridable without a crowd to fight every day.

Puerto Rico is close to the DR, but I do not like their razor coral breaks where the best spots suck up shallow and can get real fast. With less than perfect timing, I prefer a longer, more mellow wave. ..Pacific style.

Jim