Exercise while on a tropical vacation may seem really far from the classic fantasy of laying on the beach after a surf session sipping piña coladas, but fitness in Cabarete is actually really fun, and is a great way to improve your surfing!
This article goes over the variety of activities in Cabarete that are great for surf fitness. All of these options are available to add to our all inclusive Dominican Republic Surf Camp. We are the only camp at Encuentro Beach, just minutes from the surf that offers fully customizable packages with the active traveler in mind. You can add any of these surf fitness add ons to your surf camp and we’ll take care of the rest.
No matter how long your Caribbean surf holiday is, if you’re active at home, you’ll want to train while you’re here. Besides the daily paddling and popping up at Playa Encuentro that is sure to get you tired, you may want to stretch out with some yoga, condition with some strength training, or learn something new like latin dance, circus, or mixed martial arts. Here’s some of your options for fitness in Cabarete:
Gyms in Cabarete
Our favorite place to weight-train on the daily is Zendo Fitness Cabarete. This self-proclaimed “world’s best gym” is pretty unique and is best described as surfer-meets-crossfit-meets-
Surf Conditioning

Surf conditioning class with Coach Heri improves your fitness level for surfing and also improves agility and coordination
During the summer when waves are smaller and surfers like to focus on fitness to prepare for the winter waves, Zendo hosts our Surf Conditioning class taught by our advanced surf coach, Heriberto. Surf conditioning with Coach Heri is fun for all levels of surfers. The main objective of the class is committing high performance maneuvers to muscle memory so that they are easy once in the water. Surf conditioning class is included in our Dominican Republic Surf Camp because you train coordination, flexibility, fluidity, agility, and stamina- all crucial parts of surf fitness.
Yoga
Yoga is offered at many hotels in Cabarete, schedules can be found on individual sites. As part of our Surf/Yoga Camp we bring you to your preferred style of yoga class. In Cabarete yoga styles taught are classical, power yoga, hatha yoga, ashtanga vinyasa yoga, and the previously mentioned yoga from space which is most likely nothing like what you’ve done back home. With so many yoga options it’s best you tell us how you like to practice and we’ll bring you to the best instructor based on your preference.
Latin Dance
More on the fun side and less on the fitness side is dancing in Cabarete. We don’t mean dancing in the nightclubs, we mean international dance instructors teaching you the favorite dance styles of the Caribbean: Bachata, Merengue, Salsa, and now even African dance. If you’re in the Dominican Republic do as the Dominicans do! Learn the rhythms and dances that made us famous and take home multiple hidden talents; surfer, seductive Spanish dancer, who can resist that?
Circus
Photo: Chameleon Creative Arts for Cabarete Circus
Yes, we have a circus. No animals here, just really strong men and women who will teach you gymnastics tricks, flying trapeze, fire dancing, and many other ways to challenge your fears in an outdoor tropical setting. We love the Cabarete Circus because toddlers to 70 year olds all have fun doing things you thought only trained professionals were allowed to do.
Martial Arts
You may have noticed that most of the staff at our surf school also regularly practices martial arts. We can’t help it, we’re dedicated to bringing out the best in others and this attracts people who like martial arts. In a previous post we wrote about Jiu Jitsu in Cabarete, we also have the scoop for those who want to box or kickbox. Our favorite Kickboxing Instructor is Yuri, we book private or semi-private classes with him based on your skill level. Yuri was a professional fighter making him a great instructor while on holiday for pros, beginners, or seasoned practitioners.
We love Cabarete for so many reasons, whatever you like to do, whatever you’re interested in trying, hay coro! (a bunch of other cool people having fun doing that too.) We’ve got oceanfront yoga, surf conditioning, deep in a Dominican neighborhood practicing Jiu Jitsu, Latin dance, circus arts, boxing/kickboxing, and the world’s best gym all in a 10km (6mi) stretch of road!
If you want to surf and sweat, Cabarete is the place to go!