🌊 FULL SOUL SURF

Surf • Stillness • Stoke

A Surf Coaching & Qigong Retreat

Malibu Popoyo • Nicaragua

Full Soul Surf is a surf retreat centered around professional coaching, skill development, and time in the ocean—with the wisdom of Qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine philosophy woven throughout the experience.

Because becoming a better surfer isn't just about learning the mechanics of the sport.

It's about developing awareness.

Understanding your body.

Managing pressure.

Finding balance.

Learning how to move with the energy of the wave instead of against it.

Through expert surf coaching, video analysis, surf theory, movement training, surf skate, and plenty of time in the water, we'll build stronger fundamentals, greater confidence, and a deeper understanding of surfing.

Alongside your surf progression, Qigong practices and nervous system education will support the qualities that help great surfing emerge:

Presence.
Breath.
Balance.
Adaptability.
Recovery.
Flow.

The ocean is our teacher.

Surfing is our practice.

Qigong is the lens that helps us listen more deeply.

The Full Soul Surf Philosophy

🌊 Surf

Surfing is our classroom.

Through expert coaching, video analysis, surf theory, movement training, surf skate, and time in the water, we'll build better technique, ocean awareness, confidence, and style.

We'll learn not just what to do—but why it works.

Because great surfing isn't only about catching waves. It's about understanding the ocean, your body, and how to respond in the moment.

☯️ Stillness

Stillness is where awareness grows.

Through daily Qigong, nervous system practices, restorative yoga, breathwork, and mindful movement, we'll develop the ability to slow down, listen, and respond instead of react.

Surfing and Qigong may look different on the surface, but they share the same principles:

To be present.
To soften when we're gripping.
To find balance between effort and ease.
To move with awareness.

🔥 Stoke

Stoke is why we do it.

It's that feeling when everything clicks.

When you paddle with confidence.

When you commit to the wave.

When you laugh at the wipeouts.

When you celebrate the breakthroughs.

When you remember why you fell in love with surfing in the first place.

Because progression is more powerful when it comes with joy.

This Retreat Is For You If...

✔ You want to improve faster—not just surf more.

✔ You have some surfing experience and are ready to build confidence and skill.

✔ Fear, hesitation, or self-doubt sometimes hold you back.

✔ You want personalized coaching both in and out of the water.

✔ You love learning and understanding why techniques work.

✔ You're excited to combine surf coaching, movement training, surf skate, and nervous system training to accelerate your progression.

✔ You appreciate exceptional food, beautiful accommodations, and a premium retreat experience.

✔ You value a small group where everyone is known by name.

Small by Design

Participation is limited to just 8 surfers.

Keeping the group intentionally small allows for meaningful coaching, individualized feedback, stronger community, and significantly more personal attention throughout the week.

If you're looking for a surf vacation, there are plenty of those.

If you're looking for a week that fundamentally changes the way you surf—and the way you learn—

Welcome to Full Soul Surf.

Giving Back

A portion of your tuition goes directly toward supporting the local people and community of Popoyo.

Keeping this retreat intentionally small helps create a lighter footprint while supporting the place that makes this experience possible.

Cancellation Policy

Please note that all completed payments are non-refundable.

Tuition will be billed in installments as outlined below.

If the retreat is canceled by us due to unforeseen circumstances, you will receive a combination of credit toward a future SSE retreat and/or a cash refund.

We strongly encourage purchasing travel insurance to protect your investment and travel plans.

Please see the full cancellation policy and travel insurance information below.

Nicole Koch 500hr YT, 200hr E-RYT | Nervous System Aficionado | Co-Founder of Two Little Birds Retreats | Founder of the Power Restore Method
www.powerrestoreyoga.com, www.twolittlebirdsretreats.com

Nicole is a lifelong yogi, somatic facilitator, and passionate nervous system educator with 30 years of personal practice and professional experience. A natural extrovert who was always on the move, her life was dramatically redirected by a diagnosis of Lyme disease — a turning point that sparked a deep, years-long journey into true healing and regulation from the inside out.

Throughout her recovery, Nicole became a devoted student and certified teacher of nervous system restoration, studying and integrating a wide range of modalities including restorative and trauma-informed yoga, yin, nidra, breathwork, reiki, brain retraining, and qigong. Her approach is rooted in lived experience, deep study, and the belief that given the proper support and safety, our bodies are designed to heal themselves.

Nicole is also the co-founder of Two Little Birds Retreats, which she created alongside her amazing partner Beverly Jane Peatross — crafting immersive, thoughtfully designed spaces that foster curiosity, connection, and inner clarity. These gatherings are rooted in a grounded, accessible sense of care — blending movement, nature, and somatic practices in a way that invites people to feel more fully human, not just “healed.”

She is also the founder of the Power Restore Method, a holistic approach to nervous system healing that combines science-backed regulation tools with restorative and trauma-informed yoga, qigong, breathwork, somatic inquiry, and subtle body intelligence.

Her mission is to help people become attuned to their inner landscapes, illuminate patterned responses (mental and physical), and guide them into a deeper relationship with the innate intelligence of their own bodies. Again and again, she returns to the question: What helps us feel safe enough to heal?

Nicole’s work honors that healing doesn’t look the same for everyone — and that there are many paths to balance, whether we call it yin and yang, homeostasis, or harmony. All of them, ultimately, lead us back home to ourselves.

AYNI

Native to Peru, Ayni is a holistic wellness practitioner and incredible surf instructor with over 15 years of experience supporting others on their healing journeys. Drawing from yoga, Thai massage, sound therapy, and ancestral rituals, he helps individuals reconnect with balance, inner peace, and physical well-being. His path began through healing his own sports-related injuries, which led him to explore not just the physical body but the energetic one as well. Today, Ayni continues to deepen his practice, offering therapies that restore harmony to both body and spirit. https://linktr.ee/viveyoganaturaleza

ROOM/PAYMENT INFO

We have booked out the entire Malibu Popoyo Resort, so rooms are FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED.  If you feel strongly about your room choice, you will want to sign up right away. 

TRAVELING ALONE or WITH FRIENDS? The Loft Room is our shared room option. Please do not sign up for a LOFT ROOM without a mutually agreed upon roommate. Booking is PER PERSON, and must be done with TWO RETREATERS, meaning one person will do the booking for both people in a shared room.

TUITION SCHEDULE

A NON-REFUNDABLE security deposit of $675 is due upon booking.

The remainder of your tuition is split into 3 equal payments which will be billed on the following dates:

August 15, 2026

October 15, 2026

December 15, 2026

CANCELATION POLICY: DEPOSITS AND POSTED PAYMENTS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.

Please sign up with INTENTION. Payments made cannot be refunded. Travel insurance is required. Should you need to cancel your reservation, please refer to your travel insurance coverage. More info on that below under "TRAVEL."

TRAVEL TO POPOYO

Fly into Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport (MGA) in Managua, Nicaragua. As soon as you’re booked, forward your flight info to ERNESTO (new development!) at hello@malibupopoyo.com AND cc me at Powerrestoreyoga@gmail.com along with any questions, so we can arrange airport transfers to get you to Popoyo. We’ve got you! 

Should you need to spend the night in Managua due to a late flight, there is an old-school Best Western literally across the street from the airport. Not fancy (at all), but very convenient: BEST WESTERN LAS MERCEDES AIRPORT

TRAVEL TIPS

We recommend that you begin tracking flights to Managua now on Google Flights. For the sake of flight planning, our retreat officially begins with 6pm dinner on May 2 and ends May 8 after breakfast; some retreaters might leave earlier in the morning on May 8 for flights. Note, many choose to stay an extra evening or two. This option will be available for our retreaters upon request at the rate of $305 including all meals and surf* Please feel free to reach out with any questions.

SHUTTLES TO/FROM AIRPORT

We will arrange your airport transfers for you between Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport (MGA) and Malibu Popoyo. The shuttles are their own little adventure and can be a fun time to get to know one another, volcano gaze, practice your Spanish with your driver or nap off a red-eye.

MAKE SURE YOUR PASSPORT IS UP TO DATE 

It’s best if it's got at least 6 months beyond our travel date before expiring. Plant it in a safe place, and don't forget where that special place is. You will need your passport to register for the retreat.

TRAVEL INSURANCE IS REQUIRED

Check out insuremytrip.com, select the “Cancel for Any Reason” policy to peruse your options.