Brazilian female surfers bask in the beauty of Boston Bay during retreat
BOSTON BAY in Portland is one of Jamaica’s more popular surfing spaces, and there are many local surfers who make use of this opportunity literally in their backyard. It is also a place where some people travelled across the world to experience.
“Surfboards, golden sunsets, perfect waves, colourful bikinis and big smiles are the ingredients of the Brazilian women’s surf retreat that just left Jamaica less than a week ago,” Lorena Montenegro told The
Sunday Gleaner. They were here for the Brazil international surf retreat for BBQ ONLY GIRLS.
“The surf retreat has this name not because we love barbecuing during these trips, because of course, we do. However, BBQ are the initials in Portuguese for Barca da Bruna Queiroz, ‘barca’ is a Brazilian slang that means trip,” Montenegro said. She is an international award-winning journalist/filmmaker who makes short documentaries of the trips that are published online @moanafilmes. She has been a travelling partner of Queiroz for more than eight years.
The trips are organised by Bruna Queiroz, a 42-year-old Brazilian former professional surfer, tourism guide and professional surf coach with more than 20 years of experience. She grew up in Maresias Beach, São Paulo, the same place where Brazil’s first world champion, Gabriel Medina, is from.
Exclusively for ladies of all levels of surfing, including beginners, the surf retreats take groups of a maximum of 10 girls to surf and enjoy some of the best waves around the world in countries like Costa Rica, El Salvador, Indonesia and now, Jamaica, “an uncrowded Caribbean paradise the world of surfing has yet to discover”, she said. The project also intends to support women in the water and bring more gender equality in the surfing world.
“More than just a surf trip, our goal is to help women improve their surfing, learn to respect other surfers and protect the oceans and planet we all love so much. During the week, they learn from mistakes with video coaching and are always assisted by Bruna in the water. Besides that, they also count on the local knowledge of Jamaican instructors like Captain Jake (Keron Williams), an amazing local surfer [who] has been their coach since last year’s trip.”
For the week they stayed at Great Huts Resort, perched on the cliffs overlooking Boston Bay. “This place is a unique, ocean front hotel full of art, history and African roots. Luckily we arrived with a swell and big waves of three to five feet, so our surfers couldn’t have been happier. Boston Beach is a consistent reef break with perfect waves for all levels of surfers located in the most beautiful bay where you can also swim, snorkel or kayak when the waves are small,” Montenegro explained.
Besides surfing, she said, the surfers’ love for nature found them exploring the “unique beauty of Jamaica”. They also visited Somerset Falls, Reach Falls and the Blue Lagoon, all in Portland. “We also learned so much about the culture and fell in love with Jamaica, its people, its food, reggae and of course, the pristine blue waves,” Montenegro shared. A trip to St Andrew’s Bob Marley Museum was also in the mix.
“We think it is very important to support local businesses wherever we go and make it an amazing experience for everyone. So, a huge obrigado (thank you) to all the ones that received us with a big smile, all the Great Huts staff, our driver, Tyron Speid, our local surf instructor Captain Jake, the photographer Kingsley Ellis and all the locals that made us feel so welcome all the time. We left Jamaica … with a warm heart and a desire to go back every year to surf and feel the incredible Caribbean island vibes that blend so well with our Brazilian energy. Jah bless Jamaica,” Montenegro said on behalf of the group. This was her third time here.