Solo surf trips and surf camps for solo travellers

You have been saying "this is the year I learn to surf" for three summers. Your friends think it is a great idea and tell you to let them know. You let them know. One has a wedding, one cannot get the time off, and one did a course years ago and has no wish to be a beginner again. So there you are at midnight, scrolling surf camps, half convinced they are all for twenty-year-olds.

They are not, and you do not need anyone to go with. A surf camp puts accommodation, meals and lessons in one package, and lessons are grouped by level, so you end up in the water with strangers whether you arrive alone or not. From the UK, Portugal works for much of the year, while Morocco and the Canary Islands are the usual winter options. What stops most people is not the waves but not having someone to go with, and that is what TravelMatch is for: finding people with the same interest who are heading to the same coast on your dates.

Why a surf camp works when you go alone

A surf camp is as much a social plan as a sporting one. You have breakfast with the people you will be falling off a board next to three hours later. Couples, groups of friends and solo travellers all end up mixed together, because the instructor splits the water by level, not by who you came with.

The alternative is booking lessons with a surf school and staying on your own, in a flat or a hostel. It is more flexible, but you lose the built-in company that makes the first day easier. If you are alone and want to meet people, the camp makes it easy. If there are three or four of you and you want your own pace, a school plus a shared flat usually fits better.

Solo surf trip to Portugal

Portugal is a natural first solo surf trip from the UK: a short flight and a long Atlantic coast. Ericeira, north of Lisbon, was dedicated as a World Surfing Reserve in 2011, the first in Europe according to Save The Waves, the organisation behind the designation. Peniche and the Algarve coast around Sagres are other well-known surf areas you will come across when you look for a solo surf camp in Portugal.

The biggest Atlantic swells arrive in winter, and they are not for your first week. If you are starting out, ask the school directly which beach they use for beginners in the month you are going and what they do on days when the sea is too big. For flights to Lisbon or Faro on your dates, Skyscanner is a quick way to compare UK airports.

Surf in winter: Morocco and the Canary Islands

When the Atlantic is at its wildest, many people look south, and the two usual answers work differently.

The Canary Islands. Hello Canary Islands, the islands' official tourism site, says "you can surf all year round, and although the best time is autumn-winter, there are numerous surfable spots at any given time of year", with "water temperatures of around 20º". It gives 19º in February at El Confital, on Gran Canaria, and recommends "a wetsuit with a minimum thickness of 3/2 mm" there. In winter the right beginner beach can change from day to day, which is exactly what a good school decides for you.

Morocco. Morocco's official tourism office says you can surf all year, with the swell more consistent in winter, roughly October to the end of March, and smaller waves the rest of the year that suit beginners better. The tourism office's guides point to the Taghazout area, north of Agadir, for experienced surfers, and to Imsouane, a fishing village further north, for beginners. GOV.UK's travel advice for Morocco is worth reading before you book: "Many beaches in Morocco have limited or no lifeguard cover", and "strong currents and unexpected waves can occur". In other words, learn with a school and do not go in alone.

A week of surf in January is exactly the kind of plan nobody around you has holidays for, which makes finding company with the same interest even more useful.

Women's surf camps and surf camps for over 40s

People look for women's surf camps in Europe, in Portugal and in the UK for different reasons: a calmer atmosphere, a female instructor, or just not being the only woman in the water. In Morocco specifically, GOV.UK notes that "women may receive unwanted attention in Morocco, especially when travelling alone", which is one reason to consider a camp or a small group there.

Searches for a surf camp for women over 40 or over 50 hide a quiet worry: will I be the oldest? Possibly. It matters far more before you go than once you are there: everyone falls off the same way. What changes after 40 is not whether you can learn but how: you value good technique and a school that explains properly. Surfing is physical, so if you have any doubt about your health, check with your doctor first, as you would before any new sport. If you would rather be around people your own age, solo travel over 50 covers how to find them.

What to share with others (and what not)

The things worth sharing are the ones that cost more for one person: a flat or a room near the beach, a hire car to reach the better beginner spots, and someone to go in with once lessons are over. That last one matters: the day you rent a board on your own, you want someone in the water with you.

What not to share is the pace. If one of you wants to be in the water at eight and the other came for the beach and a beer at sunset, agree on that before you book rather than on the third morning. If you are going to split a flat, agree the figures first; how to split travel costs fairly has the method. If you want company from day one without committing to a camp, a hostel near the beach is the middle ground, and Hostelworld is a quick way to compare them.

Before you book a surf camp: four questions

Ask how many students there are per instructor, how they make the level groups, what qualifications the instructors have, and what happens if the sea is too big or too flat: do they move to another beach, change the day or refund the lesson? The answers tell you more than any photo.

Solo diving holidays: the one sport you cannot do alone

Diving has a rule that settles the "who with" question for you: you never dive alone. PADI's own blog explains that a buddy can "catch potential mishaps before they become a problem", from pre-dive checks to the end of the dive, and the PADI Open Water Diver certification gives you "the freedom to dive with a buddy or with a dive professional", not on your own.

The PADI Open Water course starts at 10 years old, includes four open water dives and lets certified divers go to a maximum of 18 metres. To start, PADI asks you to float or tread water for 10 minutes and swim 200 metres without aids, or 300 metres with mask, fins and snorkel, and you fill in a medical questionnaire, where some answers mean you need a doctor's sign-off first. PADI says you can learn in as little as two to four days, and the theory can be done as eLearning before you fly.

For solo diving holidays and scuba diving holidays for singles, that is good news: on a dive trip the centre usually pairs people up by experience, and on the course your instructor is with you. What you are missing is someone for the rest of the week: the apartment, the dinners, someone to tell about the turtle. One more thing to plan for: the Divers Alert Network recommends a minimum surface interval of 12 hours after a single dive before flying, and 18 hours after multiple dives per day or several days of diving, so keep your last day dry.

Finding someone to go with on TravelMatch

On TravelMatch you add your interests to your profile, surfing, diving and beach among them, plus your pace, budget and the kind of accommodation you like. You can post your trip, say a week in Ericeira in May or ten days in the Canaries in December, or ask to join someone else's.

The person who created the trip decides who joins, after seeing the other person's profile, your compatibility percentage and reviews that only people who have travelled with them can leave. Once accepted, you join the group chat, where you talk about what the profile does not say, like surf level or dive certification. Inside the trip there is an itinerary, polls and shared expenses for the accommodation. TravelMatch is free and does not book anything: the camp, the school, the dive centre and the accommodation are yours to arrange. Underwater, the dive centre or your instructor decides who you dive with.

New to this? How to find travel companions compares the options, and is it safe to travel with strangers covers sensible precautions.

The waves do not know how old you are or who you came with. They only need you to be in the water.

On TravelMatch you can post your surf or dive trip with a coast and dates, and choose who joins. It is free.

→ Create your trip on TravelMatch · Free, in a minute.

Reviewed in October 2026. Canary Islands surf information from hellocanaryislands.com, Ericeira World Surfing Reserve from savethewaves.org, Morocco surf seasons from the Moroccan National Tourist Office (visitmorocco.com), Morocco safety advice from GOV.UK, PADI Open Water requirements from padi.com and blog.padi.com, and flying after diving guidelines from dan.org, checked between 10 and 14 October 2026. Sea conditions change every day: check the forecast and ask your school before going in.

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