International Junior Surf Camp in Costa da Caparica, Portugal

The heart of the week is the surf course, taught on the long Atlantic beaches of Costa da Caparica by the camp own qualified instructors. The camp publishes a volume of fifteen hours of surf coaching per week, with participants grouped by ability rather than by age, so complete beginners and surfers who already ride waves progress side by side. Surfboards, wetsuits and accident insurance are provided, and bodyboarding sessions run alongside the surfing. Group sizes are kept small, with a maximum of six teenagers per surf instructor in the water.

The residential package covers accommodation at the camp house, full board, the weekly surf course with all surf equipment and a wetsuit, accident insurance covering camp activities, the daily and evening activity programme and round-the-clock supervision by a dedicated team. Flights, transfers and personal spending are not included; an airport shuttle can be added as a paid extra. Staff work in English throughout, and the camp welcomes participants travelling on their own from abroad.

Participants stay in the camp house, roughly an eight minute walk from the beach. Rooms are split between shared dormitories and private rooms, with male dorms, female dorms and mixed dorms available, and the house accommodates around forty two participants in total. Rooms come with bed linen, towels, a closet, a lamp and WiFi, and bathrooms are shared. A private single room or a twin shared room can be requested for a supplement.

Full board is included: breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks through the day. Lunches are served at the operator own beach bar, so the group eats close to the water between surf sessions. Vegan and vegetarian options are available at every meal, and other dietary requirements can be discussed with the team before arrival.

Outside the water the programme is full. Days include skate sessions, climbing, an adventure park, paintball, swimming in the pool and games on the beach, and the group also takes part in beach cleaning workshops. Evenings bring ping pong tournaments, quiz nights, film nights, treasure hunts and talent shows, all run by the camp monitors. Contact with parents is scheduled every evening, and a coordinator is reachable during the day.

The camp house has a swimming pool, an outdoor lounge and garden area, an indoor games room with table tennis and a home cinema corner, and WiFi throughout. Meals are served on site and at the operator beach bar a short walk away. Surf equipment, including boards and wetsuits in the full range of junior sizes, is stored at the house and carried down to the beach with the group.

The camp is built for teenagers travelling internationally, often for the first time without their family. A dedicated team supervises the group around the clock, English is the working language, and participants come from a mix of countries, so the week doubles as a social experience. The setting helps: Costa da Caparica sits across the Tagus river from Lisbon, about a fifteen minute drive from the city centre, with consistent beginner-friendly Atlantic waves and a long stretch of sand for beach games and evening sessions.