When I was told I would be heading on the Surf and Yoga trip for a week in May I was amped for some surfing in the sun with beers and a lot of namaste vibes, what more could a girl want?
The Place
The setup for the week is ideal, being based at the Latas Surf Camp in the small town of Somo. Just a half an hour drive from Santander airport we were greeted with beers and burgers by Max and the friendly staff and relaxed into the Spanish lifestyle very easily.
Our daily routine looked something like this:
9am Breakfast
10:30 Surf lesson
1:30 Lunch
3:00 Surf specific Yoga
4:00 Free surf
6:00 Chill (beer time!)
8:00 Dinner
The Camp itself has a great setup being only 2-minute walk from the beach and a 10-minute walk into Loredo for a few bevys in the evening, everything is very easy and at no point did I feel like I had to make much effort. Equipped with a gym for yoga and an impressive selection of boards, the camp and our team caters to surfers needs for all abilities and allows us to work on our surfing in and out of the water.
The Surf
I thought we were fortunate with the conditions throughout the week, but apparently this was the norm! Being early May the surf on Somo beach was a consistent 5/6 ft on the first few days then calmed to a cruisey 2ft by the end of the week, making it great for both beginners and intermediates. Also, due to the time of year the beach was uncrowded making surfing even more enjoyable not having to worry about dodging other surfers in the water. On the last day when the swell disappeared, we paddled over to the local island just off the mainland on a mini exploration, which was great fun. Everyone in the group saw real progression with their surfing and it is great when you get a group of mixed abilities all making progress and having so much fun in the water (see picture below) which was made even better by 20 degrees heat and being able to wear wetty without boots for the first time this year.
Shout out to Paco and Willie who were are instructors for the week who came to every session with bundles of energy and madness!
The Food
I could probably have written a whole blog on this subject because I think over the week I spoke more about the delicious food than surfing and any of the guys on the trip would probably agree with me. The food is epic on its own giving us hearty meals from all over the world. Cooked by an incredible greek chef who was the spitting image of Bruno Mars, it is definitely one of the highlights of all of our days. One evening we got the boat from Somo to Santander and headed for a night in the big city for Tapas and vino and as you can see from the picture below the Tapas was incredible. On my plate, there is a chicken and bacon burger with spiced bun, curried chicken on bread and the highlight by far……… the black pudding samosa (I thought it was beef). Accompanied by the most delicious glass of red wine I was in bloody heaven. And to top it all off…. My whole meal which was about triple than you can see in the photo came to only £10! That is another plus about this trip, I spent hardly anything.
The Yoga
I have, to be honest, never really got yoga. I have done the odd class here and there but for me, I never really felt what it was doing. Well that all changed when Master of Stoke and Yogi Bear Max Hepworth-Povey became my instructor. We are so lucky at TTR that Max, one of our trip leaders is a yoga instructor and therefore get to use all his skills on the trips. We had an outdoor hour long surf focused yoga class every afternoon between surfs which was very effective over the week. I saw progression in my strength and flexibility and this had such a positive effect on my surfing. My balance was better and I felt my pop up was so much cleaner and stronger by the end of the week. It was also such a great hour to focus on just me and my body and not have to worry about anything else. I think most of us rarely find time to do this so for me was amazing. Especially the final 10 minutes where we had to lay down and basically meditate / be present. The most important yoga pose and we all nailed it!
The People
Saved the best till last. The May 2017 squad…….
Holly – The Blonde bombshell
David- The party animal
Taylor – The frother
Maddie – The Stylish shredder
Alexa – The parisian ripper
Mary – The hard working yogi
Hsien – The alumni
Marco – Indo dreamer
Doug and Emma – The happy couple
The cool thing about our crew was the fact that every single one of us is in full-time work and it only really hit me afterward that this really is the perfect trip for the working surfer.
For a lot of surfers, finding a surf trip that can fit around a busy work life can be hard. Most of the time surf trips are 2 weeks or more making it quite tricky to get the time off from work. Also with just a mere 2-hour flight from the UK and Europe, it is the perfect option for a surfer who is in full-time work and wants a cheap weeks getaway.
If you are a working surfer looking for your next short surfing holiday then an adventure to the Cantabrian countryside could be an awesome option for you.
Check out our trip dates here and if you would like any more information please email us [email protected]
Hasta Luego!
