“By far the best holiday experience I’ve EVER had! From the moment you are picked up from the airport and greeted with a friendly hug, to the bleary eyed early morning send off, this is by far one of the most memorable trips I’ve ever experienced.”
Liane, Oct 15
Several times per year we run a Ticket to Ride takeover at one of the best surf camps in Northern Spain and Liane sums up the vibe perfectly. The totally refurbished stereotypically Cantabrian house lies on the path of El Camino de Santiago (holy pilgrimage), is surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful mountains and is 5 minutes away from the 3 mile long beach Playa de Somo, yet still only 20 minutes from Santander city centre, airport and ferry port. It’s a very convenient trip a lot closer to home than you think (it took Sam from North London 4 hours door to door) yet feels Worlds apart.
For those of you who didn’t join us last year, the crew got picked up in a private transfer, one weeks accommodation in comfortable shared rooms, 6 surf lessons, 6 guided surfs, all surf equipment, professional photos (thanks Jessie), amazing yoga classes (thanks Jas), breakfast, lunch and heaps of free stuff from ourselves and JAM Industries.
Day 1; Things weren’t looking too promising as we picked everyone up from the airport in the heart of a storm, we’re talking depressingly dark skies, heavy hail, wild wind, the lot, yet no surf. Literally not a ripple. It was weird, but promising as the forecast looked great with the storm set to pass, the waves arriving and sunshine all week. So the welcome Sangria went down well and the ice was well and truly broken.
Day 2; After a tiring day of socialising, everyone who was up appreciated the sunrise yoga session and positive vibes that were set for the day. Those who weren’t up appreciated the slow Spanish way of life and late breakfast at 9am. The initial surf assessment was at 11am and everyone given their aims for the week. The main beach we surf on is home to incredibly consistent waves, complimented by strangely thin crowds. A 3:2mm wetsuit was fine, actually too hot for Alegra…
Having 60 people in the water may sound hectic but it was great fun and we pretty much had the three mile long beach to ourselves. A stereotypically Spanish lunch followed at a stereotypically Spanish time of 2:30, followed by another surf at 4pm. 7’ish was cervesa time and our guest Andy Jordan gave us an impromptu JAM (excuse the pun) and entertained the fans with some acoustic magic. Dinner at 8:30pm wiped most people out.
Everything is dramatic in this part of Spain; the scenery is theatrical, the waves are powerful, the tapas rich and the wine, well it’s the best in the world. We made sure to lap up all the Spanish treats and following week flew by, lots of surfing, fuelled by good food, daily sunrise or sunset yoga, which helped with the aches and pains, we also threw in a mid week tour to a local brewery up in the Picas De Europa mountains and a full Ibiza style boat party the following evening.
The last full day saw the most solid waves of the week, which meant we did have to cancel the afternoon surf session, yet for those who ventured to the beach was great to watch. We finished the week with a Halloween party and made the most of our last night en Espana. Early farewells were made the following morning and we said goodbye to new found friends for life.
Hasta Luego Amigos!
The trip has become so popular that we now fill Latas Surf House in Somo every May and October. Due to the popularity we were able to offer heaps of cool stuff and we are amped to offer even more this year included a welcome party with DJ Sam Supplier. If you want to join in the fun, join us this October.