As the 52-year old mother of a 28-year old son, we were looking for a holiday adventure, and decided to research surf camps in Latin America. I share our ages, because the camp we chose Baja Surf Adventures in Puetro Sandino, Nicaragua and it was the PERFECT getaway for both of us.

We arrived in Managua, greeted by our surf coach/guide Marcos who drove us 90 minutes to a surf-side house complete w/ a caretaker, Carlos and the best cook/housekeeper EVER - Marajuja.

Our first day in paradise was crazy ....breakfast, 4 hours of surf instruction, lunch, siesta, 3 hours of surfing, dinner and a ping pong tournament. And then there was day 2....and 3....and 4!!!

I shared our ages because Marcos not only personally worked hard to get me standing up on a long board by the afternoon of day 1, but both he and Carlos also pushed my son to take on the even more challenging waves, so that both of us were challenged and satisfied every day of our adventure. Our vacation included some side trips to do volcano surfing, site seeing and New Year's Eve in our little seaside town.

More importantly, the house was right on the beach where we could view the waves breaking and choose whether to take a 5 minute walk to the north or the south.....meaning the waves are w/in walking distance of the house - no cars and no boats to hunt for waves. And every day we had food extraordinaire bc Marajuja cooking is as good as any 4-star restaurant. Dinners were centered aroundf camarones, grilled snapper, carne asada, broiled chicken and lobster for New Year's Eve. Such was our life!!!

In fact, we hated to leave. The house, the location and the staff were so impressive that we are considering another surf vacation New Year's 2012 but at the Baja Surf Adventure's El Salvador location.

For anyone looking for a remote experience w 4-star cooking in a beachside house, check out this location.

NOTE: We went in January because we are not experienced surfers, so the waves broke @ 2-4 feet for most of our vacation, so we were able to combine the pristine, natural experience of Nicaragua w/out crowds. The good news for my son was some of the waves on the last day were up to 6 feet.

Thanks to Marcos, my son was ready to challenge the big ones....admittedly, at 52, I will hold at the 4-footers and enjoy the view.