CommunitiesLapoint Surf Camp Coliving

Communities > Portugal > Ericeira > Lapoint Surf Camp Coliving

DMITRY OGURTSOV

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It is a surfing camp. Most of the people are 20-25 years old, and stay for 1 week (but you can stay for more). It is a high-end hostel experience. You get a room and a free breakfast every day. For lunch you can buy food at the bar, and the food is actually really good and not expensive (15 euro the most expensive dish, 8 euro for a sandwich which is enough for lunch). All the alcohol is also at the bar and at extra cost. The activities and dinner are at extra cost and are organized on a week by week basis. So every Sunday you have tacos dinner, every Monday is curry dinner, skating and beer pong tournament etc. Also there is yoga every day (at extra cost), sometimes on the same hour as the surfing lesson. There is some variation, and nothing has concrete set hours until one day before the event. So you need to be a bit flexible and go with the flow to enjoy your stay here.

Surfing package includes 2hr lessons for 5 days, and unlimited board+wetsuit rent. Note that you need to walk with the board for 10 or so minutes until you get to the closest beach. There are classes for 3 skill levels. The waves are unpredictable and can be quite large with strong currents. I would say this place is ok for level 1 (complete beginners) and good for level 3 (intermediate surfers, unless it is flat). Level 2 has a lot of variation, and IMO requires more predictable waves. Lower days are good for level 2, but higher days are too much of a challenge to get steady progress.

I would say that the largest disadvantage is that this place is hugely popular and fully booked half a year in advance. So your guest experience is less important. Not that it’s bad, but at no point I felt the staff went out of their way for something that I asked for. I think they rely less on repeat bookings. Also you don’t have the flexibility of checking in a couple of days before or suddenly decide to stay for one more week.