This is a hard review. The owner, Travis, did us a favor by getting us in for a surf lesson. I've…read moresurfed before in several places. The problem we had was the surf instructor. There was a language barrier and an instruction barrier. His name is Manuel and his nickname Unca. We just didn't jive. That said, I thought two or three other instructors seemed great. We were all in the waves at the same time. I'd recommend the school but not the instructor we had.

So we were here for a wedding and was looking to take some surfing lessons in September and the…read morehurricane season. My GF does basically anything on a board and wanted to try regular surfing for a change. Myself 42, 100kg and 193 cm tall never been standing on any kind of board. So this was a challenge worthy Rincon Surf School. :) We found the school online and got it recommended by Billy at Casa Verde Hotel as well. Since we were here for 10 days we wanted to talk to the people at the surf school straight away so on the second day we went passed the school and talked to Whit. Whit he's the typical surfer dude skinny, around 175-180cm maybe, long dark hair with highlights, kinda look like Ryan Gossling with long hair. Lol Anyway, when we told Ryan... Whit about our plans he started with booking us for one day and also since I didn't know the basics, he went through everything in 30 mins with us about the waves, places, safety and some rules all for free. Then on the day we met up with two teachers Mike and Johnny and some other students, they even picked us up at our hotel at 07:00. Then told us that we're heading down to Middles to surf. Mike, who's a smaller version of Whit is the nice talkative guy. He knows a lot and want to tell you everything as fast as possible leaving you with a pair of sore ears afterwards. :) Johnny, also a copy of Whit with the highlights and everything, but a bit taller was our teacher. He told me that he will get me standing in 3 lessons. And i'll tell you at Middles, that was a real challenge for this guy and my GF she was like killing everyone from the first to the last wave. First they told s a little about the beach, currents and waves. The went through the entrance and exit spots and some safety if you got tired. Johnny told us to keep a lookout for him in the water since hes got this Xray surfers eyes and spot all the waves heading our way. So I keept paddling back to him every time I feel for some feedback. He kept coaching even though I looked like a hopeless, he's humble and in some way understands what you are going through. So eventually after first day I caught 2 waves in the 2 hours we were in the water. We got a ride back to the hotel after this and Mike was telling us all about food places along the road. The second lesson was also at Middles and basically went the same, I manage to catch two waves in the 2 hours and also learnt how to place my selfband even sit on the longboard without falling over in the water. Also didn't swallow as much water as the first lesson. Last lesson with Johnny was today and we went to an awesome place called Surfers Spot, where we saw this old guy with a helmet hehe. Today there were lots of surfer in the water and we shared the waves. Today Johnny told me to try to grab the sides while trying to stand up, and to my surprice i caught all waves except two, just as Johnny had promised in the beginning. We had an amazing three lessons and would recommend this school to anyone coming to Puerto Rico for some surfing no matter what your level is. These guys are amazing and I really like Mike and Johnny so I you can choose take any of these two teachers and you will end up happy and safe. :) On our way back we got to talk to Travis, the owner of Rincon Surf School. He's really cool, a bitnolder that the others and all blond, laidback and cool. He knew everything about our 3 days and what waves we've caught. We got a really good price for our 3 lessons and apparently they can even help with cheap lodging for those who only want to surf. Grwat place and we leave happy heading back for Sweden with some new experience. Don't wait, book now!!!

This is a great surf school. They easily communicated over…read moretext, and they worked with my schedule to arrange the lesson. I'm in my late 50's and out of shape. The instructor did everything he could to help me catch waves, including towing me around (I held his board's leash), positioning me, pushing my board to get it started. He went over and above!!! I will arrange another lesson with Puntas Surf School the next time I'm in Rincon.

Multiple emails confirming and I confirming instructors left me with a real sour taste.read more

Family of 4 from Florida. Ages 9 to 52 with varying experience. Ramse and his son were a pleasure…read more Friendly, knowledgeable & professional. I would recommend him for all ages and experience levels. We liked him so much last year, we came back this year. I'm sure we'll be back next summer as well. Highest recommendations!

His attention to detail and extra effort had me standing up on my first wave and all subsequent 5…read more Good dude. Fun dude. Highly recommended.

Love this small secluded beach. It is very rustic, not too many people here but we were able to…read morerent two chairs and umbrella and we are enjoying some cold adult refreshments by the water as we see surfers catch a wave. You can rent chairs and umbrella and enjoy the rest of the day. Beach life is the best!

While visiting Puerto Rico, I decided to check this beach out after I googled nice beaches near me…read more The best part of this beach was the journey getting there. We drove through winding roads, some very narrow and steep. We passed by hundreds of mango trees that were all ripe and falling of the trees right in front of us (month of May) so we pulled over and grabbed a bunch. We saw beautiful homes on the edge of mountains and wonderful views. This drive was an adventure. Once we arrived to the actual beach, I was surprised that it was small, and not as pretty as some other beaches, nearby and around the island. The actual area surrounding the beach was pretty cool with several bars, restaurants, and pretty things to see. So, I wouldn't recommend this beach over any others on the island of Puerto Rico, but I loved my drive getting there. Fun.

Good boards... terrible people....stay away from this place. There are better places to rent from…read morewho deserve your hard earned money and actually appreciate their customers.

Returned rental board. Claimed that I damaged it and was responsible to pay "ding repair" because I…read morehad signed a "contract." Untrue. In fact, i noted no damage at all to the board and was extremely careful with it throughout my time renting. To be honest, the board was a piece of crapola to begin with, with multiple sub par repairs already made. The owner pointed out a small ding in the nose after I had already gone into the office, completed my "contract", signed, and paid. For all I know, he could have created the ding himself, but obviously it was my word against theirs. The "ding repair" fee is also to be required to be paid in cash even though they already have your credit card information and charge your rental fee through your card. They explained that the ding repair shop only takes cash and they cannot handle the accounting to have the "ding repair" fee on their books... shady and unprofessional business. Find a better bookkeeper/accountant if you can't handle a transaction like that. I had no cash on hand, nor debit card to visit a supposedly nearby atm. I also had my 6 year old daughter with me at the time who had just purchased 8 dollars worth of stickers from them and I explained that leaving to get cash to pay their fee to would create a hardship for me as we were trying to head of of town for the next part of our trip... they couldn't care less and basically didn't inspire any stoke in a young girl looking to get into surfing who is inspired by her dads hobbies. Also the owner acts super chill and cool surfer expat bullshit type, but, in reality, gives off very disingenuous vibes. In our argument about the ding repair he questioned whether I am a truly a "surfer" and made a couple other condescending macho comments. Anyways, long story short... Bullshit tactics to wring a few extra bucks off of you. Bad vibes, no tranquilo.

This place is the best! Tucked away on Black Eagle Beach, it was an awesome find...Chikako and her…read morestaff are amazing and from start to finish their goal is to make sure we had a great experience. We first signed up for the 2 hour kayaking/snorkeling excursion. Got to the beach 15 minutes early as requested and were introduced to our guide Seth, given a bin to stow our backpacks, then given a long sleeve SPF 50 shirt and bottles of cold water. Seth took a little time explaining where we'd be headed and what to expect then we were off! The water was calm and clear and Seth guided us over to Steps beach which is a primo snorkeling site. Hanging with Seth for a couple hours was like having a friend take you along on what he loves to do best - explore the incredible underwater world. He pointed out various species of fish and took really cool videos which he later shared with us. His priority at all times was that we were safe in and on the water and that we were having fun! We were so happily impressed we came back to give paddle boarding a try...once again Seth gave us a helpful tutorial and kept an eye on us while we paddled about. Do yourself a favor and check this place out - you'll be so glad you did!

We always make sure to spend a morning paddle boarding and snorkeling with these fine folks. Seth…read morewas an awesome guide - very knowledgeable, clearly having a lot of fun himself and very easy to talk with. This experience is well worth your time!

Loved the small group atmosphere in a pristine location close to Rincon! Where we had our lesson…read morewas great because we didn't have to worry about competing for waves with other large groups. I could tell Nico has plenty of experience locally and understands the best places to surf for all different levels.

I am a mother of two special needs children who has wintered in Rincon for almost 20 years…read more The owner of this surf school notoriously threatens kids at a popular swimming area to get out of his way. Today, he ran over my autistic/non verbal child while trying to handle four students and two dogs in a swimming zone. we were in 2 feet of water with babies and toddlers. She suffered significant injuries. it was clear he couldn't surf himself, and definitely should not be instructing anyone. I was also informed by other reputable surf companies that he does not have permits to operate. DO NOT HIRE.

We did almost all of our activities during our vacation with Verdeazul because we knew these guys…read morewere the best. We did the river and ocean paddleboarding tours, and two surfing tours. We had Adrian and Giovanni for the tours and just had a blast! They really treat you well and accommodate the tours to your style. It's like your just hanging out with some old friends. Your not just doing these awesome adventures - we also learned about the Puerto Rican culture, ancestry history, and they gave great restaurant recommendations. We rented a car but some other people on our tour group were picked up by Verdeazul for the adventures. Adrian even helped us get connected to a vet when we found a sato (Puerto Rican slang for a street mutt)! We have the most memorable memories from this trip thanks to the guys at Verdeazul! We strongly suggest booking something through them and would recommend it to all our friends and family. They take all the photos for you and email them to you so you don't have to worry about trying to capture the moment and enjoy it at the same time. Not to be missed!

Website didn't have pricing info so I reached out via email. The owner was quick to respond to my…read moreinquiries. We decided to book a kayaking tour, but I wish we would have paddle boarded but kiddos didn't want. Anyway, as I mentioned the owner was awesome when we arrived. Brian our guide on the tour was super laidback. Was trying to find things to point out during our tour and wasn't invasive at all. Allowed us space to enjoy the beautiful scenery as a family. We stopped for a bit at a swing and the kids had a blast. Some dude told confronted Brian about some permit, which brian told me later they of course had, but Brian played it cool and let the man say his piece and he went on his way. Really a memorable experience. Amazing views of cliffs on the way back. Thanks to Scott and Brian for the experience. We will see y'all next time for sure

These guys are really cool, really laid back. They opened up the shop off hours so…read moreI could get a board and get ready to hit it the next morning. They've got a good selection of boards and good advice about where to surf and eat. Prices are below most other shops. Grab some pinchos from Nelson and his brother at the top of the hill on your way out--they're really good.

Had a great time at the Chica Yoga Surf camp. You must... MUST.... come on this trip with an open…read moremind. It really was more like adult summer camp. We got up, surfed all morning and then in the afternoon and evenings there were plenty of activities planned for us. We had a hula hoop class, fire dancing class, aerial yoga, a yoga hike, and much more. Renee is not your conventional trip/tour leader but that's what makes the trip so great (having gone in with no expectations). No one can plan for what the ocean will be like so if surfing is a part of your retreat, keep this in mind. The surf instructors (we had Ben and Christy) Renee hires are extremely concerned with safety first. At no point did I feel unsafe and I knew that the instructors had their eye on me no matter what. This made the experience even better and I felt that I truly was able to learn how to deal with the ocean. My body and mind was pushed very far but at the end of the day that's what made this such a great trip. I came home feeling so relaxed and refreshed. It also helped that there are limited outlets and you should not be concerned with your phone at any point on this trip. Really, you don't need it! Surfing in the morning, all you needed to bring was yourself. And any down time you have, you want to either nap or hydrate! Rincon is a great cute town and the beach and a few bars are about a 10-15 minute walk from where you'll stay. Can't wait to book my next retreat.

I wouldn't go back if you paid me…read more This review has been a long time coming. At first I felt bad leaving a negative review, since I'm almost always leaving good reviews and focusing on the positive, but I felt it necessary to share my experience so others would be forewarned. I stayed at Samatahiti 2 years ago for a yoga/foodie retreat. The accommodations are not as explained. A "proper bed" is a cot in a hut. The hut walls have large gaps (6+ inches) around the bottom for anything to walk in and no doors to the huts. They are hot, moldy and humid. I didn't know where to store my clothes to keep them from being wet or in the tight walk ways between the cots. The space is cramped for 3 people to share. They was no glam in what she calls glamping. I have done tent camping with my family and my tents are nicer than these huts. The photos you see online are a not a true representation on what her backyard (that is where you are staying) really looks like. Renee didn't provide anything as far as coffee or even a continental breakfast. You have to walk to a shop about 3/4 mile away to get something to eat. Its not like you could keep food in your hut. Our planned activities were "flexible" as to when they would occur. It really depended on what craziness was going on in her life. Aka, did she have last minute plans with her boyfriend or a new date. I get it, she is much more of a free spirit than I am, but I expect a certain level of professionalism when I am paying for a retreat. There were a few positives: the outdoor showers were nice, Renee is good at yoga alignment and teaching yoga, plus I made a couple of friends that I have remained in touch with. We still message each other on FB occasionally, especially when we get an email suggesting we do another yoga retreat at Samatahiti. They are in agreement with me, none of us would ever go back.