Rancho Cecilia (San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua) ★★★

Rancho Cecilia is located 7 kilometers north of San Juan del Sur in Southern Nicaragua We are located off the Chocolata Road which is the Coast Highway of Nicaragua. And are in the Playa Maderas neighborhood.
And we provide daily transportation for our guests to Playa Maderas or Playa Marsella.

Wake to the sounds of the howler monkeys in the trees and enjoy your morning coffee with the birds in the jungle. Then, head on down to the beach at Playa Maderas for a day of surfing, warm water and world class waves!
Surf, Learn to Surf or just Hang at the Beach!

We are Scott Behrens and Elizabeth (Liz) Hart-Behrens. Just a couple of crazy Gringos that set off to find some good surf on our sailboat “Ocean Lady“ in 2004.
We sailed over 15,000 miles up and down the Pacific coast of California, Mexico and Central America with 2 dogs and a cat!
We sailed into Nicaragua in the Spring of 2007 and fell in love with the country, the people and the surf! So, we swallowed the anchor and settled down on our little slice of paradise and built us Rancho Cecilia.

Rancho Cecilia is a Green, Eco-community nestled in the jungle close to Playa Maderas.
Rancho Cecilia is a small rancho, located on three jungle acres with three accommodations between our Casita and Cabanas. These units sleep between 1 to 3 persons.

Casita del Bosque
is a fully furnished, one bedroom, one bath little house with a full kitchen and a wrap around patio with outdoor BBQ; it is perfect for a couple, a nice quiet place for a romantic getaway or a honeymoon vacation.

- 1 bedroom
- 1 bath home
- with full kitchen
- sleeps 1-2 people, perfect for couples

Also it has a music system with a CD player and a CD library with a AM/FM radio.
And WiFi Internet is available

Jungle Cabanas
Large Studio Suites with private baths and kitchenettes, sleeps 1-4 people, perfect for families.
You can also rent BOTH of our Jungle Cabanas: sleeping 6-8 people.
Two large studio units, nestled under the trees, with kitchenettes that have two-burner cook tops, refrigerators and private baths.
The Jungle Cabanas have a nice large patio with views of the surrounding woodland jungle.
Perfect for your vacation stay with family and friends and WiFi Internet is available.

Don`t feel like cooking dinner?
No problem, we cook nightly at our house, aka “The Surf Lodge“. Just ask for our sample menu of our Surfer Cal-Mex cuisine or Nicaraguan cuisine.
Enjoy breakfast or dinner with us at the Surf Lodge or at our local restaurant and sample Nicaraguan cuisine and hospitality.

Rancho Cecilia also uses their acreage for small, low impact farming and we enjoy cooking with our fresh crops!
We grow our own beans, plantains, papayas, bananas, jalapenos, basil, oregano and cilantro (yes, this is in the same family as cilantro) and our rice is locally grown by our friends in our own neighborhood.

We surf at Playa Maderas and the wave is great for beginners, novice, intermediate, and experienced surfers. Getting you into the best waves is our top priority, we will work with you to advance your surfing with tips and feedback after each surf session and if you are willing to think positively and push yourself a little, you will leave the retreat a better surfer!

Our surf instructors, Liz and Scott have “each” been surfing for over 25 years and have been teaching people to surf for a couple of decades! Our goal is to help introduce you to surfing or advance your surfing and to always have fun!

Surf Clinics:
Custom tailored for you and your friends, for a group of 2-8 persons, for beginner, novice and intermediate surfers.
Come on a surf vacation to Rancho Cecilia and we will set up a surf clinic for a combination of surf skills. Whether you are a beginner and will be standing up for your first time on a wave, or a novice surfer that is ready to advance from ridding the white water to getting into the face of a wave for your first time, or an intermediate surfer that is ready for personalize coaching to catch more waves and do more turns, we can provide custom packages that include daily surf instruction,
accommodations and meals and…more.

Surf Trips:
We do surf trips via land and panga to various surf breaks, both north
and south of San Juan del Sur

- Surf day at Playa Maderas $ Free for our guests
(Our local surf break)

- Surf day at Playa Hermosa $17.50 per person
for 2-3 people and $15 per person for 4+ people
(includes entry fee)
(South of San Juan del Sur, has a palapa restaurant on the beach and
horseback ridding)

- Surf day via panga $250.00 ½ day
( Includes picnic lunch)
(Enjoy surfing our surf spots that are accessible by boat.
Go North for Manzanillo, Colorado, Panga Drops, Popoyo
Or South for Tamarido, Hermosa, Yankee)

Don`t want to travel with your surf board? We have surf boards for rent. Short boards, long boards, fun boards and boogie boards.

Surf board rentals $12.50 per day
Boogie board rental $5.50 per day

Head back to the Rancho at the end of the day and enjoy a yoga class before relaxing with sunset cocktails on the deck of the Surf Lodge.

Also enjoy all the other possible activities:
- Want to go sailing?
There are day trips and sunset sails available!

- how about going fishing
- Or whale watching!
- go horseback riding
- Or zip line canopy tour
- take a yoga class on the beach!