Spain

Immerse yourself
in nature

Playa de Somo
was the first
surf reserve in
Spain!

Somo sits across the bay from Santander on the green north coast of Spain, with a 7km beach backed by dunes and pine forest and the Picos de Europa behind it. The waves are consistent and gentle in summer, which is what makes it such a good place for a school group to learn to surf, with the surf house ten minutes walk from the beach.

WHY CHOOSE SPAIN

Mountains behind
the beach

Uncrowded waves
on a 7km beach

Trips from
April to October

Under two hours
by plane

Spanish food,
towns and culture

Life at the surf house

A surf house works for a school group because everyone is in one place, with shared rooms, meals round the same tables and the evenings spent together. Between sessions there are beach games, yoga, a surf theory session, table tennis and pool tournaments and film nights in the movie room, so the week is as much about the group as it is about the surf.

Connect with Nature

Cantabria is the green side of Spain, with the Atlantic on one side, the mountains of the Picos de Europa on the other, and very little between them but farmland and small towns. Playa de Somo itself is a long stretch of sand backed by dunes and pines, and an early morning surf there, with the beach almost empty, is the best part of the day.

Consistent waves
all year

Somo was the first surf reserve in Spain and the beach picks up Atlantic swell all year. In summer the waves are small and gentle, right for beginners and improvers; in spring and autumn they have more push for groups who want it. Instructors check the conditions before every session, and with 7km of sand there is always a peak with nobody on it.

SURFING IN CANTABRIA, SPAIN

Waves for all levels

Beginners learn in the whitewater close to the surf school, and improvers move out to the sandbanks with their instructor, working on positioning and reading the ocean, with bigger boards swapped for smaller ones as they progress. With 7km of beach the group always has room, and students who already surf can be stretched without anyone being out of sight of the instructors.

Two beaches, two settings

Somo is the long town beach, backed by dunes and pines with Santander across the water. Oyambre, an hour west, is a smaller bay inside the Oyambre Natural Park with the mountains straight behind it and the camp ten minutes from the sand. Both are quiet by Spanish standards even in August, and both are beaches we have surfed with schools for years.

Local surf culture

Cantabria is where Spanish surfing started, and it still feels like a surf region rather than a resort. The surf schools are run by locals who grew up on these beaches, the instructors walk down to the sand with the group each morning, the line-ups are relaxed, and a group of beginners is treated as part of the scene.

SURF HOUSE ACCOMMODATION

SOMO, SPAIN

Our surf houses in Somo and Loredo are perfect for school groups, with spacious twin, shared and dorm rooms for students, separate rooms for staff and full board cooked in the house. Everyone sleeps, eats and spends the evening under one roof, which makes supervision simple.

There are big communal rooms, a garden, volleyball, table tennis, a pool table and a movie room for the evenings, and the beach is a ten-minute walk away, so boards go down to the water on foot. Yoga happens in the yoga tent or the field by the church.

SURF CAMP ACCOMMODATION

Oyambre, Spain

At Oyambre the group camps inside the Oyambre Natural Park, a ten-minute walk from Playa de Oyambre, in a private surf camp with its own catering. Around the tents are hammocks, shaded places to sit, a football pitch and basketball court and an outdoor cinema for film nights, and the mountains are right there behind the dunes.

Students sleep in furnished tipi and bell tents with electricity, fairy lights, wooden beds and memory foam mattresses with bedding. The camp sits inside Camping Rodero, a managed campsite with shower and toilet blocks by the tents and a restaurant, a shop and a swimming pool.

We couldn’t have asked for a better experience, and we highly recommend Schools So Surfing to any school planning a trip. It was unforgettable, and we’re already looking forward to booking with them again!

Merchant Taylors’ School

WHAT TO EXPECT

Two ways to stay

Choose the surf house in Somo or the surf camp at Oyambre. Both are for your group only, both have been audited for health and safety, and both have the shared spaces that make the evenings work, a garden, big living rooms and a movie room in Somo, hammocks, an outdoor cinema and a football pitch at Oyambre.

EDUCATIONAL EXCURSIONS

Days out take the group to Comillas, 15 minutes from Oyambre, for El Capricho, one of only three Gaudí buildings outside Catalonia, or into Santander for the Magdalena Palace and the old town, with San Sebastián a full day from Somo. From the camp, a guided paddleboard tour glides through the Oyambre nature reserve and, when the sea is calm, along the coast to its caves.

BEYOND THE SURF

Surfing fills the mornings. Around it there is yoga, beach volleyball, rounders and football, a surf theory session, a jewellery workshop and the evenings we run in house, from open mic nights and table tennis tournaments to film nights with hot chocolate. None of it needs a coach, so it all fits around the tides.

FOOD & DRINK

Meals are cooked by the house chefs, a buffet breakfast then a three-course hot lunch and dinner at Somo, and a breakfast buffet, packed lunch on the beach and two-course dinner at Oyambre. The food is a mix of Spanish dishes and the things teenagers will reliably eat, and we cater for dietary requirements once you have sent them to us.

YOGA CLASSES

Yoga is part of the week, in the yoga tent or the field by the church at Somo, or on the yoga deck at Oyambre looking out over the hills. The sessions are built for surfers, stretching out tired shoulders and hips, working on balance, and giving the group a quiet half hour together after a morning in the water. They suit students who have never done yoga before.

What’s Included

Our prices cover the flights, transfers and everything from the moment you land: the accommodation, all meals with soft drinks, surfing and equipment, yoga and the day trips. Free staff places, a dedicated Trip Leader, full financial protection and travel insurance are included as standard.

Find out more

health and safety

We write a risk assessment for every destination and a health and safety audit for everywhere we stay. Before you travel you receive a travel pack with both, so your own paperwork, and the questions from parents, are covered.