Solo Surf and Wingfoil Weeks in Cabarete, Dominican Republic

Mornings start early. You are up for a sunrise surf and breakfast at the communal table, then out with your ability group for a couple of hours in the water. Lessons are split by level, so complete beginners learn on soft-top boards in gentle whitewater alongside other first-timers rather than being dropped into bigger surf. Instructors work to your pace and eat breakfast and dinner with guests.

Between 11:00 and 15:00 you are back at camp for lunch and rest. This is the part of the day people tend to remember — food, the pool, stories from the session. From 15:00 to 18:00 it is your call: free time, a second surf, a yoga session or an optional day trip. Yoga here is mostly long holds and stretches, which is what you want after two sessions in the water.

Dinner is at 19:00 and is usually the social high point. The group forms fresh each week, so there is no clique to break into. Guests report hearing five languages around the table.

What separates Swell from a bigger surf hotel is the proportion of solo guests and the fact that the social side is built into the schedule rather than left to you. Manager Haudy runs the place and is named again and again in reviews. The canyoning trip with Helmut is the excursion guests single out.

Cabarete itself is a walkable, friendly town, and the camp is a short ride from Puerto Plata airport. Wi-Fi runs throughout the property — spotty in the upstairs rooms according to one guest, reliable in the downstairs communal room — and the time zone lines up with the US East Coast, so remote workers surf in the morning and log on after lunch.

What's included

- Accommodation in a private or shared room - Daily surf lessons with instructors, grouped by ability - Breakfast and dinner at the communal table - Yoga sessions - Use of the pool, lounge and hammocks - Wi-Fi throughout the camp - Airport pickup from Puerto Plata - Staff on site throughout the day

What's not included

- Flights - Lunch - Travel insurance - Optional day trips such as canyoning - Personal expenses