Welcome to a week of surfing, yoga, and community building in beautiful Playa Venao, Panama. This is our second annual Rainbow Surf Retreat at Beach Break Surf Camp. This retreat is for LGBTQ surfers of all skill levels who want to unwind in a beautiful tropical setting and make meaningful connections with other LGBTQ folks doing the sport we all love. The retreat is hosted by Rich Overgaard from Canada (Instagram: @rovergaard) and Steven Redant from Spain (Instagram: @stevenredant) who connected through the @Surfergays Instagram account.
Rich and Steven’s goal is to create an inclusive, fun, chill, and social experience where LGBTQ surfers can turn their digital connections into real friendships and experience solidarity as we paddle out and catch waves together.
Hosted at Beach Break Surf Camp, it’s the perfect place for us to get to know each other and surf as much as we want. Playa Venao is perfectly positioned for the ultimate surf vacation, with year-round swell, waves suitable for all skill levels, and an uncrowded lineup.
The surf camp package includes things like board rentals, daily breakfasts, up to 2 hours of surf instruction per day, plus video analysis, open board rentals, and a photo and video package of your surfing to take home with you. There will also be lots of time to relax in the beachfront pool, go on nature walks, and lounge in the hammocks. For more experienced surfers, there will also be opportunities to catch waves at nearby, more challenging breaks. Read more below to see everything that’s included! There are three price points based on the accommodations you select. If you’re signing up solo and select double occupancy or shared rooms, the hosts will work with you to match you up with another participant from the retreat.
Spend an entire week getting to know Ricardo here at Beach Break Surf Camp. Daily surfing right out our front door at one of Panama’s most renown and consistent beach breaks, plus 2 day trips to other local breaks.
5 nights option:
6 nights option:
7 nights option:
Add-on Non Surfer/ BJJ Guest: $470 per person
(all taxes and fees included)
(all taxes and fees included)
Add-on Non Surfer/ BJJ Guest: $640 per person
(all taxes and fees included)
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Rich Overgaard lives in Vancouver, Canada and first built his skills as a surfer on an LGBTQ-friendly surf safari in Costa Rica back in 2015. Now, he tries to get away once or twice per year to the warm waters of Mexico and Central America to chill on a beach and catch waves.
At 44, Rich loves a longboard and is working on walking up and down his board as he cruises long beach break waves. Rich travelled to Playa Venao and spent a week at Beach Break Surf Camp in 2018, where the idea of a week-long retreat for LGBTQ surfers first began to gain traction.
His experience with the staff, social life, and beautiful setting made it the right place to try this out for the first time. Rich is also the founder of @Surfergays on Instagram, which he created in January 2020 to help connect and show love for all the LGBTQ surfers out there.
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Steven Redant was an international DJ from the gay circuit who lives in the Canary Islands, Spain. He gets to surf most days and started when his midlife crisis hit (it was surfing or a Porsche!). He also organizes surf retreats in Morocco, Sri Lanka, and the Canary Islands.
Surfing has now taken over his life and he’s passionate about sharing that love of the sport with others. He’s now training to be a longboard instructor (at 49 years old!). If Steven is not on his island paradise, you can find him in Costa Rica or Brazil, most of the winter.
He says himself that surfing has saved his life, and is happy to share his joy with the rest of the world. Steven is the founder of @longboardzaddy on Instagram.
It was Rich who reached out to organize a surf retreat for “our” people in Play Venao, and Steven was delighted to work on this project. He loves to share the knowledge he has and see people smile and progress in the water. He’s also a mediation leader.
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5 nights option:
Spaces are limited!
No experience is necessary for this course. Just come with a focused and open mind to learn the techniques that could keep you safe during a big wipeout.
Beach Break Surf Camp is happy to help set you up with round-trip transportation if needed. There are also options to rent a car, shared shuttle rides, or public transportation. Please contact us with any questions about transportation.
Panama is currently not requiring a negative Covid test to enter the country if fully vaccinated (2 shots) and with filling out their Health Affidavit Form. To return to the US, you will need a negative antigen test done within 24 hours of arrival. Beach Break Surf Camp has a private lab they work with that will come to the hotel to do the tests on the day/ time needed to return. There are also approved home tests that can be used for your return that you can bring with you.
If flying from Canada, search first for round trip tickets to major hubs that fly direct to Panama City (Houston, Miami, Newark, Denver). Then search for flights from that major hub, round trip to Panama. You may find that buying two separate round trip tickets will be far cheaper than the airline coordinating your layover flight to Panama!
