Each year African American-led surf collective Textured Waves, hosts a beginners retreat called Co-Wash in Waikiki, Hawaii. As the community of black and brown female surfers grows in numbers and develops in skill the collective grows with them. This year’s retreat went international and invited 10 women to level up their skills in the land of lefts, Popoyo, Nicaragua!

The GoPro team put cameras in our hands and allowed us to show a bit of what it’s like to be a part of the Textured Waves Co-Wash retreats. Textured Waves always brings together a special crew of surfers with interesting lives outside of learning to surf. We empower black and brown women to engage in aquatic spaces with joy and freedom.

On day one, we loaded up our group in the Land Cruiser to meet up with our a local Nicaraguan non-profit organization, Las Sirenitas. The organization empowers and educates young girls in Popoyo through surf, swimming lessons, Taekwondo and educational programming. We shared a surf day with the local girls and got a snapshot into their world. Our retreat programming always puts an emphasis on connecting with the local community, creating diverse relationships and educating our attendees along the way.

With this year’s Co-Wash being about elevating your surf game, we spent the rest of the week in search of waves with guided morning and afternoon surf sessions. Many of our participants were returning from last year’s Co-Wash in Waikiki, which was geared towards beginners. With some experience under their belts, coaches pushed our crew to work on positioning, catching green waves on their own, staying in the pocket and board selection. Each day we had video analysis so folks could build and learn from their morning session.

Due to varying skill levels, we broke off into two groups and searched for waves that would both challenge and stimulate our guests, but it was when we would reconvene that the real magic happened. The women were able to witness each other’s improvement and cheer each other on!

On this particular retreat, we asked our guests to dig deep and go a bit beyond their comfort zone in the waves. They stepped up to the challenge beautifully and made long lasting friendships in the process.

We’re grateful to GoPro for helping us capture the magic and progression both in and out of the water throughout the week. These retreats are about empowering our community to travel, explore, hopefully bringing what they’ve learned home and giving them the confidence to take up space in. If you’re interested in joining, visit TexturedWaves.com to learn more.

Story By: Danielle Black Lyons