Peniche Surf Camp
Peniche Surf Camp
4.5
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Monday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Tuesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Wednesday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Thursday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Friday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Saturday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
Sunday
12:00 AM - 11:59 PM
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About
All year surf camp with surf school on the best and most consistent surf spot in Portugal.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.5
239 reviews
Excellent
181
Very good
37
Average
6
Poor
6
Terrible
9
pietrogrondona
Genoa, Italy12 contributions
Sep 2024 • Family
we spent two lovely days having wonderful experience booking lessons with Kevin.
We would like to write a very good review about your school (and mainly about Kevin).
We are very very beginners and we have founded in Kevin a great instructor!
We strong recommend Kevin and all the Surf Camp!
5 stars!!
We would like to write a very good review about your school (and mainly about Kevin).
We are very very beginners and we have founded in Kevin a great instructor!
We strong recommend Kevin and all the Surf Camp!
5 stars!!
Written September 10, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
BelaN74
Mississauga, Canada5,561 contributions
Jul 2019 • Solo
My daughter wanted to take a last minute surf lesson and we were lucky that they had a spot the next morning. Her instructor was so kind and helpful and knowledgeable. She had a great time and caught some good waves. I highly recommend them.
Written March 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
M_Capitao
London11 contributions
Apr 2012 • Friends
I've been to a few surf camps, and I can say that the Peniche Surf Camp were excellent. Very professional, friendly, and customer-focused. They are also contactable 24 hours if needed which is good for peace of mind.
I booked a room in one of the aparments for a small group. The apartment itself was spacious and clean, with cleaners coming in every day. The main spots were only 4-5 minutes walk away, and les than a minutes walk from the main reception. All of the other guests were very friendly and the overall atmosphere was excellent.
I didn't take lessons myself, but those who did said they were very good, covering all levels. These guys really seem to take lessons seriously and actually want their students to advance during their stay. There is certainly more to their classes than "Here's a board - There's the sea - Paddle" which seems to be common place with some surf schools. Everyone was very Impressed and felt they had made progress.
Overall a very good expreience, and I'm already organising another stay with them.
I booked a room in one of the aparments for a small group. The apartment itself was spacious and clean, with cleaners coming in every day. The main spots were only 4-5 minutes walk away, and les than a minutes walk from the main reception. All of the other guests were very friendly and the overall atmosphere was excellent.
I didn't take lessons myself, but those who did said they were very good, covering all levels. These guys really seem to take lessons seriously and actually want their students to advance during their stay. There is certainly more to their classes than "Here's a board - There's the sea - Paddle" which seems to be common place with some surf schools. Everyone was very Impressed and felt they had made progress.
Overall a very good expreience, and I'm already organising another stay with them.
Written May 4, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jan h
Prague, Czech Republic24 contributions
Aug 2019
We had a terrible experience with one of the instructors of this surf school a few days ago - an extremely aggressive and violent guy who even physically attacked my girlfriend at the parking lot by the surf beach! (I do not know his name, but had longer wanna-blond /bleached/ hair.) I do not know how these guys teach surfing, and it is always wrong to judge a whole company based on one negative experience with one single person, of course. On the other hand, if the company employes such people and tolerates this kind of behavior, it says something about them, as well...
My girlfriend was trying to keep "our" parking space since we needed to repark our camper to turn it 180'. Thus, I left the space (for 2 minutes max), drove around the parking lot and wanted to park the car back. In the meantime, this guy with Peniche Surf Camp branded car came and literally drove into my girlfriend(!) pushing her by his car out from the spot, even though she tried to explain him the situation and showed to him that I was already standing with our car right behind his one and intended to park (in fact, I gave him right of way several second before the incident...). He was immediately aggressive and attacked her verbally in an insulting way. Then he parked at the place ... wait, not at one space only, but he parked over two of them not even caring that this parking lot gets totally packed during a day and every space is precious for other people.
We did not want to escalate the conflict. I parked on another parking space thinking to myself "oh, poor boy, you have serious mental limitations and problems, if you need to prove something to yourself this way..." My girlfriend (indignant and frightened simultaneously) came to our newly parked car, as well. The incident seemed to be over. Also we got over it. But this appeared not to be yet the end! After the camp participants (guests of the surf camp) left the parking lot for the beach to learn surfing, this clown came to our car and attacked both of us again, provoked a fistfight with me, screamed aggressively and repeatedly pushed both of us - anybody who ever met some drunk "wannafight idiot" knows. What is alarming, however, is that he again physically attacked even the girl while threatening that he would "hit her down first"!!! Really?! I have to say that it was extremely challenging not to lose a nerve and not to fight back. Evidently, this blockhead has many personal issues and complexes which he tries to cover by "macho look":-) Although, this fact about "what is behind" does not detract anything from the unacceptability and potential danger of his aggressiveness (on the contrary, maybe ).
During the "discussion" we got extremely close to starting a fight. Well, it has to be said that I have been doing krav maga quite intensively for several years and the first rule learned within this combat system is to prevent violent conflict to the maximum extent possible - not to let emotions prevail. If we started the fight, the boy would probably end up seriously harmed (I would have to "eliminate" him completely since he tended to lose control over himself - in such a case there is no other option), I would end up arrested by the police and, thus, our holiday with my girlfriend would be totally ruined... So, only and only due to our calmness (and also us mentioning our willingness to call the police immediately) the incident vanished after a while. After he satisfied his ego and left, we instead went surfing and enjoying the waves:-)
During the "dialogue" we had (him screaming and me rather calming the situation) Mr. Instructor (working under a motto of the Peniche Surf Camp: "Your smile is our goal") let us know, for example, that he, in fact, hates tourists(!?) since they have more money and therefore behave like they can do anything in his country, and several other "pearls". Interesting approach from someone, whose work relies on tourism. "Funny" is that regardless of his open aggressivity it was me who stayed calm and kind all the time, considering, amongst other things, that we are the guests here and he is at home. Regardless of how idiotically he behaves. At the same time, we did not want to bother ourselves more than necessary with this looser and to spoil our beautiful surf day at a beach.
Although, I think it is important to let other people know. Such aggressive and violent behavior should not be tolerated, even less supported. This is a task for Peniche Surf Camp, should they want to keep any good reputation. Greetings to all other people we met during a perfect stay and surf sessions in Portugal! All, apart from this particular experience, were great, including other local surfers.
My girlfriend was trying to keep "our" parking space since we needed to repark our camper to turn it 180'. Thus, I left the space (for 2 minutes max), drove around the parking lot and wanted to park the car back. In the meantime, this guy with Peniche Surf Camp branded car came and literally drove into my girlfriend(!) pushing her by his car out from the spot, even though she tried to explain him the situation and showed to him that I was already standing with our car right behind his one and intended to park (in fact, I gave him right of way several second before the incident...). He was immediately aggressive and attacked her verbally in an insulting way. Then he parked at the place ... wait, not at one space only, but he parked over two of them not even caring that this parking lot gets totally packed during a day and every space is precious for other people.
We did not want to escalate the conflict. I parked on another parking space thinking to myself "oh, poor boy, you have serious mental limitations and problems, if you need to prove something to yourself this way..." My girlfriend (indignant and frightened simultaneously) came to our newly parked car, as well. The incident seemed to be over. Also we got over it. But this appeared not to be yet the end! After the camp participants (guests of the surf camp) left the parking lot for the beach to learn surfing, this clown came to our car and attacked both of us again, provoked a fistfight with me, screamed aggressively and repeatedly pushed both of us - anybody who ever met some drunk "wannafight idiot" knows. What is alarming, however, is that he again physically attacked even the girl while threatening that he would "hit her down first"!!! Really?! I have to say that it was extremely challenging not to lose a nerve and not to fight back. Evidently, this blockhead has many personal issues and complexes which he tries to cover by "macho look":-) Although, this fact about "what is behind" does not detract anything from the unacceptability and potential danger of his aggressiveness (on the contrary, maybe ).
During the "discussion" we got extremely close to starting a fight. Well, it has to be said that I have been doing krav maga quite intensively for several years and the first rule learned within this combat system is to prevent violent conflict to the maximum extent possible - not to let emotions prevail. If we started the fight, the boy would probably end up seriously harmed (I would have to "eliminate" him completely since he tended to lose control over himself - in such a case there is no other option), I would end up arrested by the police and, thus, our holiday with my girlfriend would be totally ruined... So, only and only due to our calmness (and also us mentioning our willingness to call the police immediately) the incident vanished after a while. After he satisfied his ego and left, we instead went surfing and enjoying the waves:-)
During the "dialogue" we had (him screaming and me rather calming the situation) Mr. Instructor (working under a motto of the Peniche Surf Camp: "Your smile is our goal") let us know, for example, that he, in fact, hates tourists(!?) since they have more money and therefore behave like they can do anything in his country, and several other "pearls". Interesting approach from someone, whose work relies on tourism. "Funny" is that regardless of his open aggressivity it was me who stayed calm and kind all the time, considering, amongst other things, that we are the guests here and he is at home. Regardless of how idiotically he behaves. At the same time, we did not want to bother ourselves more than necessary with this looser and to spoil our beautiful surf day at a beach.
Although, I think it is important to let other people know. Such aggressive and violent behavior should not be tolerated, even less supported. This is a task for Peniche Surf Camp, should they want to keep any good reputation. Greetings to all other people we met during a perfect stay and surf sessions in Portugal! All, apart from this particular experience, were great, including other local surfers.
Written August 24, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Karli85
Wien, Österreich5 contributions
Aug 2013 • Friends
We booked a total of 9 days in the surf school plus shared accomodation. While the accomodation in the surf house was ok, we ended up cancelling 5 days of surf classes. Why? Because the surf school always takes all people to one spot at once, no matter how good you surf. You can imagine it gets a little crowded when ~50 people show up at one spot where total beginners and intermediate surfers would surf the same waves. I asked the manager if they have lots of cars, why can't we go to different spots? His answer was something like it would be too complicated to pack the boards on top of the cars and everyone should feel comfortable in the same spot.. Which is difficult if every day arrive ~10 new people.
Other surf schools I know consider a more individualistic approach, but I guess Peniche Surf Camp is already too big for that (largest surf camp in Peniche/Baleal).
The two stars are for the good organization and the small groups (5-6 per surf instructor), but regarding the surfing, we have to say we and other people as well were disappointed.
Other surf schools I know consider a more individualistic approach, but I guess Peniche Surf Camp is already too big for that (largest surf camp in Peniche/Baleal).
The two stars are for the good organization and the small groups (5-6 per surf instructor), but regarding the surfing, we have to say we and other people as well were disappointed.
Written August 30, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
giselle187309
Munich, Germany2 contributions
Aug 2012 • Friends
I stayed with my friends at Peniche surfcamp this summer and while the people of the surfcamp were nice and friendly, I don't want to return. We were a lot of students doing the beginner course with only one instructor. Unfortunately, I felt I lost my money giving surfing lessons there, because I saw the teacher correcting me from the shore, instead of being close to us.
The location was perfect, there were a lot of surf spots, but I would rather go surfing alone without paying money, because i didn't improve in my surf with the classes.
The location was perfect, there were a lot of surf spots, but I would rather go surfing alone without paying money, because i didn't improve in my surf with the classes.
Written October 10, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GregoLiko
1 contribution
May 2015 • Friends
I stayed there for a week with 4 friends who had very different surfing levels. Here are a few things you should know :
- the lessons are over crowded and useless
- the wifi doesnt work
- the rooms are poor
- if you break an old rental board they make you pay the price of a brand new one
Go somewhere else ;)
- the lessons are over crowded and useless
- the wifi doesnt work
- the rooms are poor
- if you break an old rental board they make you pay the price of a brand new one
Go somewhere else ;)
Written May 12, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jan D
London, UK104 contributions
Nov 2012 • Friends
I believe this surf school may well have been one of the best, earlier on, but now it's just grown to big. Even in November there are too many students for each teacher, so however good the quality of the teachers, the lessons are just not worth the money.
Another drawback of the big groups is the lack of flexibility. Surf sessions are held at the same time every day, with no regard for the surf conditions. Also, because of practical convenience the advanced, intermediate and beginners groups almost always go to the same spot, which means a lot of people in the water and most often, as an intermediate or advanced surfer, you're not surfing in the best spot.
The bottom line is that there are far better surf schools in Peniche, although I haven't tried all of them I can recommend at least one: Alex's
Another drawback of the big groups is the lack of flexibility. Surf sessions are held at the same time every day, with no regard for the surf conditions. Also, because of practical convenience the advanced, intermediate and beginners groups almost always go to the same spot, which means a lot of people in the water and most often, as an intermediate or advanced surfer, you're not surfing in the best spot.
The bottom line is that there are far better surf schools in Peniche, although I haven't tried all of them I can recommend at least one: Alex's
Written November 11, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gbratss
Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria1 contribution
Sep 2014 • Friends
Accommodation: Hostel itself was decent enough; beds were comfortable, room was clean, and our room had access to a patio overlooking the street. Common facilities like the hangout our areas and recreation room were well kept. Best part was the communal atmosphere with the other surfers, which provided plenty of opportunities for interesting conversation and new friends.
Surfing: not a great place to learn how to surf. Good things: It was well organized, easy equipment rentals, and lifts to the beach and back made it all pretty hassle free. They also looked at the surfing conditions each days and made schedules that would best fit the surfing level. Bad things: My group was assigned to a teacher named Alejandro. Right from the beginning it was unpleasant experience. When our group gathered together for the first time, he asked us if we are all beginners, we responded yes, to which he went off without saying anything and seemed to be trying to get one of the other instructors to take his place. From there he tried to explain ‘the secrets of surfing’ but it only seemed to confuse us beginners. When we went in the water for the first session, I could see the other 5 group’s instructors in the water giving hands on tips and support. Our guy was on the beach, shouting instructions no one could understand and generally not caring what we did. The afternoon session wasn’t much better. Instead of helping us learn how to stand up and get the basics down, he surfed on his own and tried to show off his moves instead. Thankfully on the second day we switched to another instructor Miguel, who was much more helpful, attentive, and a better teacher overall.
Another problem was the length of the lessons. On the website it says that the morning and afternoon lessons are both 2 hours. Not one of our 6 sessions hit that mark, and we took 1 1/2 hour breaks in between that were in my opinion, unnecessary. Last day, we did a ‘combined’ lesson where we were supposed to surf for 3 hours at once but ended up surfing a little over 1 ½. Most people, including myself were there to surf and really wanted to progress as quickly as possible. If you really want to throw yourself in to the sport and learn as much as possible, maybe another place would be better.
Surfing: not a great place to learn how to surf. Good things: It was well organized, easy equipment rentals, and lifts to the beach and back made it all pretty hassle free. They also looked at the surfing conditions each days and made schedules that would best fit the surfing level. Bad things: My group was assigned to a teacher named Alejandro. Right from the beginning it was unpleasant experience. When our group gathered together for the first time, he asked us if we are all beginners, we responded yes, to which he went off without saying anything and seemed to be trying to get one of the other instructors to take his place. From there he tried to explain ‘the secrets of surfing’ but it only seemed to confuse us beginners. When we went in the water for the first session, I could see the other 5 group’s instructors in the water giving hands on tips and support. Our guy was on the beach, shouting instructions no one could understand and generally not caring what we did. The afternoon session wasn’t much better. Instead of helping us learn how to stand up and get the basics down, he surfed on his own and tried to show off his moves instead. Thankfully on the second day we switched to another instructor Miguel, who was much more helpful, attentive, and a better teacher overall.
Another problem was the length of the lessons. On the website it says that the morning and afternoon lessons are both 2 hours. Not one of our 6 sessions hit that mark, and we took 1 1/2 hour breaks in between that were in my opinion, unnecessary. Last day, we did a ‘combined’ lesson where we were supposed to surf for 3 hours at once but ended up surfing a little over 1 ½. Most people, including myself were there to surf and really wanted to progress as quickly as possible. If you really want to throw yourself in to the sport and learn as much as possible, maybe another place would be better.
Written September 19, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
surfer_86953
Zurich, Switzerland2 contributions
Mar 2012 • Couples
These guys are super organized and their instructors are some of the best I've seen (having visited 5+ surf camps around the world).
Written April 12, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi everyone
How can i get more info about this specific camp? Thanks
Written June 21, 2018
Hello. you may go to or website for more info or send us an email.
thank you
cheers
Written September 11, 2018
meziani p
Dordogne, France
bonjour, j'aimerais avoir des renseignement sur les clubs de plongée sur la ville de Peniche au Portugal
nous y allons pour le mois de juillet es je souhaiterai offrir une excursion a mon époux .
je ne parle pas le Portugais donc difficile de lire les sites internet , pouvez vous m indiquer les tarifs et les détails des inscriptions cdlt
Written December 6, 2017
Bonjour. S'il vous plaît envoyez ce message à bookings()penichesurfcamp()com, nous serons heureux de répondre
Merci
salutations
Ricardo
Peniche surf camp
Written December 22, 2017
Hi how is it in august ? is it good for surfing ? the waves are small or big ?
Written March 29, 2016
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