Family holidays at the beach are popular for a very good reason: there is generally something for
everyone to do. And with the increase in multi-generational holidays being taken by families in the UK, finding a location which offers activities that appeal to all is even more important. When the kids were small you no doubt built a lot of sandcastles, picked a great deal of sand off melting ice-creams, collected shells and rock-pooled until the incoming tide was washing at your ankles. As the kids get older though, the sea itself, with everything it has to offer a young person full of irrepressible energy and enthusiasm, begins to beckon and
it is time to learn to surf!
Now, surfing
could mean boogie boarding, body boarding or just doing it like my granddad used to – holding yourself rigid in a way that only the army could teach you how to do and throwing yourself headlong into the breaking wave as it descends upon you – or it could be actually learning how to surf…yes, standing up on a board, balancing and,
eventually, looking cool. We could even throw some hair-flicking and a couple of sun-kissed smiles into that mental image, if it helps.
This is why Campsite Chatter has created its
Surfing Camping in the UK specialism – to help you to find a campsite that suits the specific needs of your family, whilst being close to a fabulous surfing beach or two.
Or three…When learning to surf, you’ve basically got two routes. Hire a board and have a go – this is the way that many of the UK’s 250,000 surfers started out. Or, if you want a head start and you’d like to be catching more than the odd wave by the end of your first week’s surfing, you could have some lessons at one of the many reputable surf schools operating along the UK coast.
These UK surfing camping hotspots are ideal for learning to surf and for all round fabulous beach holidays:
Gower Peninsula campsites: Caswell Bay, one of many great beaches along this 19 mile coast of sand and decent swell, is ideal for beginners and for novice surfers. Here you can immerse yourself in an established surfing community set within an area of outstanding natural beauty. Contact our friends at Llangennith Surf School (tel: 07855 420 062) who provide expert surf tuition to beginners and to those who want to hone their skills further.
Campsites near Saunton Sands and Croyde Bay camping: Croyde Bay and Saunton Sands in North Devon are great locations in which to learn to surf and those non-surfers in your party won’t be disappointed either (if you haven’t been to Saunton Sands, you must – the beach is endless). Contact Darren at Surf South West (01271 890400) or Carlo at the Croyd Surf Academy (01271 320218) for details of tuition packages.
Surfing holidays near Bigbury on Sea: Bigbury's and Bantham’s yellow sand and clean sea is a great place to learn to surf and a wonderful venue for a laid back, relaxing all-round beach holiday. Steeped in the South Hams countryside in South Devon, the vast beaches at Bantham and Bigbury will delight.
And, if you want to learn to surf even if the waves aren’t behaving themselves, you could stay at
Golden Coast Holiday Village, at Woolacombe Beach, another of this region's fantastic surfing beaches. Golden Coast has a state of the art £250,000 surfing simulator fitted in its Sports Complex with retractable roof and water heated to 28 degrees (so, a bit like surfing in Hawaii, then!) To book a session on the simulator, or a surf session in the sea call 01271 872 350.
Of course, we’re not just talking about the kids learning here – surfing is
food for the souls of adults too. The power of the sea and the addictive rhythms of the waves refresh us all. Learning something alongside your children, so that you model the struggle, the dedication and the perseverance required, means that you can share the exhilaration of progress – a deeply profound bonding experience. You’ll find yourself saying, “Hadn’t we better have some lunch?” without
really listening to your own advice, returning briefly to that tartan blanket on the shore, the wind break, the sandwiches and hot chocolate, before heading back down to the water’s edge to try again.
Back at your tent or caravan, tousle-haired, ruddy cheeked and with beaming grins, kids will be gloriously muscle-tired at the end of each day and full of stories of their conquests of the waves. Surfing is a great memory maker.
