How does 8 days of perfect waves, expert coaching, and a slice of paradise designed to transform your longboarding skills sound?
This May, Boa Vida Rote is hosting an exclusive surf retreat at their cliff top location, led by Guatemalan Longboard Champion, @ale_oceans!
Here is everything you need to know.
📅 Retreat Dates: May 20th to May 27th
Whether you’re a seasoned surfer or just starting out, this retreat is your chance to elevate your longboarding game in a supportive and inspiring environment with a small group of other longboarders from around the world, in a tropical paradise.
What’s Included In The Longboard Surf Retreat?
💦 Two Daily Surf Sessions
You will have two coached sessions a day to refine your technique on some of the world’s most pristine waves with expert guidance by Ale.
🎥 Six Video Analysis Sessions
Your sessions will be recorded for detailed video analysis and feedback to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement with longboarding technique.
📸 Professional Photos & Videos
You’ll get loads of awesome photos and videos to take home and show to your friends and family.
🧘♀️ Breatwork Classes
Learn how to connect your body and mind to enhance your performance.
💪 Functional Training & Cellular Memory Classes
Boost your strength and improve muscle memory with expert-led sessions.
📚 Surf Theory Classes
Deepen your understanding of surfing and ocean safety with out-of-water lessons and surf theory sessions
🍴 Delicious Meals
You will not go hungry with three healthy, delicious, locally-sourced meals daily, prepared with love by the team at Boa Vida.
⛵Island Boat Trip Adventure
Take a boat trip to a nearby island.
Stay At The Amazing Boa Vida Rote
You will be staying at one of Rote Islands best resorts, Boa Vida. Perched on the clifftop over looking the wave of Boa, Boa Vida is a truly epic place featured in the likes of Conde Nast Traveler and others.
Every room has epic views of the ocean and surf spot and the team are on hand throughout your stay to make sure your every need is met.
Check out Boa Vida Rote for more.
Longboarding in Rote Island
Rote Island is a dream destination for longboard surfers. With its warm waters, uncrowded beaches, and a variety of surf breaks, it offers everything you need to hone your longboarding skills.
Rapidly gaining recognition in the surf scene, Rote Island is one of the farthest-flung Indonesian destinations in East Nusa Tenggara, and can receive some of the longest fetch swells of all the Indonesian islands. Known for its amazing waves and laid-back atmosphere, Rote offers a unique alternative to the more popular surf spots in Indonesia.
But it is not all big waves and barrels. With a relatively narrow swell window and with reefs facing almost every direction, Rote can have some perfect waves for longboarding.
Best Waves for Longboarding in Rote
Bo’a
The wave you will wake up to everyday, Boa is one of the islands best right handers. At low tide it can be a bit of a beast, but as a longboarder, you are going to love the higher tide here.
Unless the swell is massive! The wave becomes a long, peeling, fun, right that breaks directly in front of resort at Boa Vida.
The lagoon is also the most epic spot to float around and relax and get some great pictures.
T-Land
By far the most well known wave in Rote, T-land is what most people come to Rote for. Handling anything from 1 foot to 15, the smaller days at T-land are perfect for longboarding, with perfect peeling, long stretched out walls over crystal clear water and deep reef.
T-land is a very user friendly wave but due to its distance from shore is not suitable for beginners.
Squealers
Squealers is the popular beginner spot in the north side of Nemberala harbour. Here you will find more gentle spilling waves that are perfect for getting your basics sorted. It is a left and a right, that breaks better with the higher tide, but too big a high tide can fill the reef too much and the waves quickly disappear.
Learn more in our Rote Island Surf Guide.
How to Travel to Rote Island with Longboards
Yes you can travel to Rote with longboards. But you can only fly with longboard surfboards to Kupang. From there you must either take the ferry or arrange transport for your longboard on the ferry while you fly.
Lets get into more detail.
Step 1: Fly to Kupang
You will first fly to El Tari Airport in Kupang, West Timor. Most major Indonesian cities, including Bali and Jakarta, offer direct flights to Kupang. There are no international flights to Kupang.
Indonesian airlines all have slightly different policies regards surfboard fees and sizes which we have outlined in detail in our Indonesian Airline Surfboard Baggage Fees guide.
Lion Air, Batik and Garuda allow longboards on flights to Kupang.
Here is where it gets a bit more difficult. You cannot fly from Kupang to Rote due to the airline size restrictions. Plus Wings air charge 1,000,000 IDR per board!
Our recommended option is to take the ferry.
Step 2: Ferry to Rote Island
From Kupang, you can catch the morning fast ferry to Rote. The fast ferry is much cheaper than flying and there are no restrictions on the board sizes. The ferry leaves Kupang at 9am daily and takes about 2 hours to reach Rote.
More about the Express Bahari: Kupang to Rote Fast Ferry here.
Option 2: Arrange Delivery Of Your Longboard From Kupang to Rote Island
If ferries are really not your thing and you want to fly between Kupang and Rote, you can arrange to have your board transported for you while you fly.
If you do this, your board will be collected from you in Kupang and put on the next ferry, which will be either the afternoon slow ferry, or morning fast ferry depending on your arrival time in Kupang.
Your longboard will then be collected and transported to your final destination in Rote, ready for your first surf.
Contact us to help arrange this.
For more information on traveling to Rote, see our How to Get to Rote Island Guide.
Head over to Boa Vida Rote for more information and to book your spot.
