Your First Surf Camp: What to Expect, What to Pack and How to Choose One

At your first surf camp, expect a bed in a shared room, breakfast, a coached lesson on most days in a group of up to eight, a board and wetsuit to borrow, and a lot of free time on the beach.

That's the pattern you see when you read what camps publish about themselves. The details vary: one camp's shared room is a dorm with its own bathroom, another's is a tent on a campsite. So this guide sticks to what operators such as Pure Surfcamps, Lapoint, Rapture and Ripstar say on their own pages, plus the rules surf federations set for instructors.

There are no prices here, because they change every season. Haven't picked a destination yet? Start with our best places to learn to surf in Europe, or the wider guide to Europe's surf destinations.

• 1. What is a surf camp, and what does it include?
• 2. What does a typical day at a surf camp look like?
• 3. What are the surf lessons like?
• 4. What are the rooms and showers like?
• 5. What should you pack for a surf camp?
• 6. How do you choose a surf camp?
• 7. Can you go alone, or as a complete beginner?
• 8. Wet kit, washing and the journey home
• 9. At a surf camp: locals and the environment
• 10. Summary
• 11. Frequently asked questions
• 12. Sources

What is a surf camp, and what does it include?

A surf camp is a package of accommodation, surf lessons and equipment, usually with breakfast and often with some dinners and extras such as yoga.

Pure Surfcamps' Peniche camp lists a breakfast buffet, four dinners a week, two yoga sessions and a surf course with board and wetsuit. Lapoint's Ericeira camp includes seven nights, seven breakfasts and five two-hour lessons, with lunch and dinner not included. Ripstar's 18+ camp in Moliets includes four surf lessons, six breakfasts, four dinners and free use of boards and wetsuits.

Not every camp bundles everything: at Rapture's Ericeira camp, lessons are booked on site, day by day. And Lapoint states that flights and transport to the camp aren't included.

Item	What camps usually provide	What you bring or check
Board and wetsuit	Yes, with soft boards for beginners	Swimwear to wear underneath
Lessons	A set number per week, often four or five	The length and the group size
Bed linen and towels	Varies by camp	Your own beach towel
Meals	Breakfast, and dinner on some nights	Lunches and the other dinners
Travel insurance	Sometimes	Your own policy and your EHIC
Sunscreen and toiletries	No	A high SPF and a small wash kit

The version that counts is the one on your own camp's booking page.

What does a typical day at a surf camp look like?

A typical day is breakfast, a lesson timed around the tide, lunch on or near the beach, a free afternoon to practise or nap, and dinner together.

Fixed timetables are rare, because the sea sets the schedule. Rapture says its lesson times vary daily, depending on the swell size and the tides.

For an idea of the rhythm, Girls Surf Maroc, a surf week in Taghazout, Morocco, publishes its typical day: sunrise yoga at 07.00, breakfast at 08.15, off to the waves at 08.45, lessons at 09.30, a picnic on the beach at 12.30, guided free surfing or an excursion from 13.30, sunset yoga at 18.00 and dinner at 20.00. A campsite week in France is looser: Ripstar's Moliets camp serves breakfast between 9 and 11, and dinner is ready around 7pm on the nights it's included.

Nobody minds if your afternoon is a book and a hammock.

What are the surf lessons like?

Beginner lessons are group sessions of about one and a half to two hours with a qualified instructor, on a soft board, starting in the whitewater.

Pure's Peniche course is five days of practical lessons of 1.5 hours each, plus theory, and Lapoint's Ericeira course is five lessons of two hours. A beginner course at Pure runs from a safety intro and theory on conditions, etiquette, tides and hazards, through a warm-up, to paddling and the take-off.

Group size is the number to look for. Pure works with a maximum of eight people per group, and Surfing England describes ratios of up to 1:8 for surf lessons. Picture eight learners spread along the whitewater and one person watching them all, and you'll see why.

Then there's who is teaching. The International Surfing Association requires its accredited instructors to hold a valid water safety accreditation, and Surfing England asks for an up-to-date Beach Lifeguard or Surf Lifesaving award. In France, schools carrying the Fédération Française de Surf's École Française de Surf label commit to employing only state-qualified instructors.

And be kind to yourself about progress. Pure Surfcamps says some beginners stand up within a few hours while others need several days, and that those with good paddling technique can start catching unbroken green waves during a second week. So if your first week ends in the whitewater with a grin, you're on schedule.

What are the rooms and showers like?

Most first-timers sleep in a shared room, and the bathroom is either inside the room or down the corridor, so check which before you book.

Camp pages show how much this varies. Rapture says its dorms are all mixed, and that its booking system shows which rooms have a private bathroom. Pure's Seignosse house has a five-bed dorm with a shared bathroom one floor below, and a six-bed dorm with its own bathroom and two showers. At Ripstar's Moliets camp you sleep in tipis and bell tents, with a large shared sanitary building and an outdoor shower for rinsing off after a session.

Whatever the layout, everyone gets out of the water at the same time, and a shared shower is where a bag of bottles becomes a nuisance. You carry it down the corridor, balance it somewhere wet and carry it back. A single solid bar for hair, body and face is one thing to carry.

Hot water, queues and sand are covered in our guide to surf camp showers.

What should you pack for a surf camp?

Pack light: swimwear, a beach towel, high-SPF sunscreen, a warm layer, flip-flops, your ID and insurance card, and a small wash kit.

Ripstar's minimum list for Moliets is a good base: passport or ID and insurance card, beach towels, warm-weather clothes plus something warm for a windy or rainy day, and high-SPF sunscreen. On linen, Rapture provides towels and bedsheets but asks you to bring your own beach towel. Lapoint's surf trip list adds a surf poncho for changing, a reusable water bottle, a small first aid kit, and a book or cards for flat days.

Leave the board at home, and usually the wetsuit. If you'd rather bring your own, see our wetsuit thickness guide.

The European Commission describes the European Health Insurance Card as a free card for medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in another EU country, and says it "is not an alternative to travel insurance". It doesn't cover private healthcare or a flight home.

If you're flying with hand luggage only, liquids are the squeeze. A solid 3-in-1 bar isn't a liquid at airport security, which leaves the clear bag free for sunscreen.

For the rest of the bag, see our carry-on surf trip wash kit and the full surf trip packing list.

How do you choose a surf camp?

Choose a surf camp by asking plain questions about lessons, instructors, rooms and what's included, and by how plainly they're answered.

These are the ones we'd send before booking:

• How many lessons a week, how long, and how many students per instructor? Eight is the usual maximum.
• Who teaches? Ask for the qualification, such as ISA or a national federation, and a lifesaving award.
• Are the board and wetsuit mine all week or only during lessons? Lapoint's Ericeira package includes six days of free use.
• What exactly is the room? Mixed or not, how many beds, and where the bathroom is.
• How do we get to the beach? At Lapoint you walk or take transport depending on the spot, and Pure's Peniche camp runs a shuttle to Baleal.
• Are arrival days fixed, and is there a minimum age? Lapoint uses fixed arrival dates, Rapture has no minimum stay, and Ripstar's Moliets camp is 18+.
• What happens when the sea is flat or too big? Ask whether the lesson moves to another time or beach.

Can you go alone, or as a complete beginner?

Yes to both: camps are built around beginner courses, and many guests arrive on their own.

Rapture says most of its customers are solo travellers. If that's your plan, our guide to the best solo surf trips has destinations where it's easy. You don't need to be sporty either: Pure Surfcamps calls good fitness a plus. There is one condition, in the camp's words: "Being able to swim is essential."

Wet kit, washing and the journey home

Rinse salt and sand off outside, wash properly in the camp bathroom, and pack the wet things separately for the trip home.

Ripstar describes its outdoor shower as perfect for rinsing off right after a surf session, and rinsing is all it's for. Don't rinse shampoo or soap directly into the ocean or into beach showers that drain to the sea. Lather only where the water goes into a drain, which at a camp means the bathroom.

If you brought your own wetsuit and it has started to smell, here's how to get rid of wetsuit smell.

The last morning is the test. Your towel and swimwear are still damp, and they go into one bag with everything else. That's where a bottle with a loose cap does its damage. A solid bar has nothing in it to leak in a wet bag.

Let the bar dry before you pack it. More in how to travel with a shampoo bar.

At a surf camp: locals and the environment

Respect the locals

A camp group is a lot of boards arriving at once. The RNLI asks every surfer to understand surf etiquette and rights of way and to consider other water users. In practice, stay in the area your instructor gives you and keep hold of your board. See our surf etiquette rules.

Respect the environment

Lapoint's Ericeira camp runs weekly beach cleaning and recycling activities, and Ripstar's Moliets camp has a filtered drinking water point, so one refillable bottle lasts the week. Take your litter back from the beach, and keep soap for the bathroom.

Summary

A first surf camp is a shared room, breakfast, a lesson a day in a group of up to eight, borrowed kit and long afternoons. Ask about group size, instructors and bathrooms, pack light, and bring your own insurance. For somewhere to start, see our guides to Peniche and Baleal and Ericeira.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

The facts in this article are based on the sources below, checked in October 2026.

1. Surf Lessons: Learn to Surf Worldwide with Certified Coaches. Pure Surfcamps, 2026.
2. Learn to Surf: The Best Tips for Beginners. Pure Surfcamps, 2026.
3. Surf camp Peniche. Pure Surfcamps, 2026.
4. Surf camp Seignosse. Pure Surfcamps, 2026.
5. Surf camp Ericeira: what's included?. Lapoint Surf Camps, 2026.
6. 19 things you need to pack for your surf trip. Lapoint Surf Camps, 2026.
7. FAQ: Ericeira Surf Camp, Portugal. Rapture Surfcamps, 2026.
8. International Surf Camp Moliets 18+. Ripstar, 2026.
9. A typical day. Girls Surf Maroc, 2026.
10. Surf coaching: a return to 1:8 ratios for lessons. Surfing England, 2020.
11. Become a surf instructor. Surfing England, 2026.
12. ISA courses. International Surfing Association, 2026.
13. Le label École Française de Surf. Fédération Française de Surf, 2026.
14. Surfing. RNLI, 2026.
15. European Health Insurance Card. European Commission, 2026.