Day 1 · Sat
Arrival & settle in
Airport pickup, rooms, a board fitting on the sand, and a welcome dinner on the deck.
Year-round retreats · all levels
Surf twice a day.
The rest of the
Surf twice a day.
The rest of the
week is yours.
Seven nights on the Marola coast — dawn and afternoon sessions in warm water, an optional dive course, and whatever you want to do with the hours in between.
Dawn lineup · Punta Verde · 06:12
- 7 nights Stay
- max 14 guests Group
- all levels Skill
- year-round Season
- from $1,690 Price
486
Retreats run since 2016
6,140
Guests hosted on the coast
9
Surf coaches on the crew
4.9
Average rating · 1,204 reviews
As featured in
Meridian
The Passage
Swell Journal
Off-Season
Wander Quarterly
NORTHBOUND
Saltwater
The Lineup
The retreat
One coast, one crew, one unhurried week.
The Marola coast is a forty-minute drive from the nearest airport and a world away from anything that feels like a schedule. There is one sand road, a scatter of fishing pangas, and a long, forgiving point break called Punta Verde that peels for a good hundred metres on the right swell. It is the rare wave that a total beginner and a twenty-year veteran can both love on the same morning.
Just south, the reef drops into clear, bath-warm water — twenty-six degrees most of the year, ten to eighteen metres of visibility, and turtles that genuinely do not care that you are there. It is where our optional dive course runs, and where half of you will discover that the week had a second sport in it all along.
The house is the third thing. A low, open beach house for fourteen, a few steps above the sand, with hammocks, a long shared table, and a deck that faces directly into the sunset. The rhythm of the week is simple — surf in the cool of the morning, eat well, do as little or as much as you like through the heat of the day, paddle out again or dive, then watch the light go from the deck. We have run it 486 times. It works.
Best time to go
Honestly — any week. The point works year-round. May to September brings a bigger, longer-period winter swell and head-high days for the more confident; November to March is mellow, sunny and chest-high — the friendliest window for a first-timer. The water never gets cold.
Water temperature by month
JAN27°
FEB27°
MAR27°
APR27°
MAY26°
JUN25°
JUL25°
AUG25°
SEP26°
OCT26°
NOV27°
DEC27°
The break at dawn
The house
The reef
Surf spot
Dive site
Marola coast — not to scale
A typical day
Two sessions, three meals, and a wide-open middle.
Nothing on this page is a rule. It is the shape most days take — surf when the wind is gentle, rest when the sun is high, and gather on the deck when it drops.
-
Dawn surf
06:00Out the door with the light. Glassy water, the lightest wind of the day, and the friendliest version of the point. Fruit and coffee on the sand first.
-
Breakfast on the deck
08:30A long, slow table — eggs, fresh fruit, good bread, more coffee. The session gets recounted wave by wave, generously.
-
Free time
10:00The heat of the day is yours. A hammock and a book, a walk to the village, a long lunch, a nap. There is genuinely nothing you have to do.
-
Afternoon session or a dive
15:30When the wind drops, choose your second water of the day — another surf with video analysis after, or a reef dive if you are on the course.
-
Sunset & dinner on the deck
18:15The whole house faces the light. Cold drinks, a home-cooked dinner at the long table, and the sky doing its nightly best. No one rushes off.
Your week
Sat → Sat
Day 2 · Sun
First surf days begin
Dawn and afternoon sessions, levelled by ability. Pop-up basics or coaching for the rest.
Day 3 · Mon
Surf & video analysis
Two sessions, then footage from the water reviewed over dinner. Small fixes, big change.
Day 4 · Tue
Dive day
Course divers head to the reef; everyone else gets a free morning and an extra surf.
Day 5 · Wed
Surf at the next break over
A short drive to Los Perros for a change of wave, then back for sunset on the deck.
Day 6 · Thu
Free / explore day
Dawn surf, then a wide-open day — a boat trip, the market town, or simply the hammock.
Day 7 · Sat
A last dawn surf & departure
One more paddle-out for anyone who wants it, a slow breakfast, and transfers back to the airport. Most people are already plotting a return.
What's included
One price, almost everything.
The week price covers your bed, your board, your coaching, and most of your meals. Here is the honest, complete picture — including the short list of what it does not cover.
Accommodation
Seven nights in the shared beach house — your room type, your choice.
All surf sessions
Twice-daily guided sessions, every day of the week, levelled by ability.
Board & wetsuit use
A full quiver to borrow — softtops to performance shapes — plus rash vests.
Breakfast + dinner daily
Home-cooked meals at the long table, every morning and every evening.
Airport transfers
Round-trip pickup from Marola airport on arrival and departure Saturdays.
Coaching & video analysis
Water filming and a relaxed dinnertime review — see what to change, fast.
Optional add-on
Open-water dive course
+$340A four-day PADI-style open-water certification, run on the reef by our resident instructor. Confined-water skills, four open-water dives at the Coral Shelf and the Pinnacle, all gear and the digital certification card included. No experience needed — just a basic swim.
Add it at checkout · finish certified for life
Not included
- Flights to and from Marola airport
- Lunches (the village is a short, cheap walk)
- Travel insurance (required to join)
- Alcohol & bar tabs
The lagoon at low tide · Marola coast
Where you'll stay
A shared beach house, steps from the sand.
One low, open house for the whole group — shared deck, shared table, shared hammocks. You only choose how private your own bed is. Every room shares the same sunset.
Best value
Shared room
A bunk in a bright, four-bed room with a ceiling fan, shared bathroom, lockable storage, and a window to the garden. The friendliest way to land in a new lineup with new people.
- 1 bunk · 4-bed shared room
- Ceiling fan · shared bath
- Lockable storage for valuables
from $1,690 / week
Most chosen
A door of your own
Private room
A private double or twin with an ensuite bathroom, a fan, and a quiet corner of the house. Sociable when you want it, a closed door when you don't — the balance most guests want.
- Private double or twin beds
- Ensuite bathroom · ceiling fan
- Garden-side, away from the deck
from $2,190 / week
The splurge
Beachfront cabana
A standalone cabana at the edge of the sand — a king bed, an outdoor shower, a private hammock porch, and the sound of the point all night. You will hear the dawn surf before your alarm.
- Standalone · king bed
- Outdoor shower · private porch
- Steps from the water's edge
from $2,840 / week
The crew
Local, patient, in the water with you.
A small permanent crew who know every shifting sandbar on this point and have taught more first waves than they can count. You will know them all by name within a day.
Camila Reyes
Grew up two coves north of the point and could read this swell before she could drive. Endlessly calm with nervous first-timers.
- Coaching
- 14 years
- Languages
- ES · EN · PT
- Home break
- Punta Verde
Theo Lindqvist
Came for one week eleven years ago and never quite left. Runs the video sessions and a very dry, very patient line in encouragement.
- Coaching
- 11 years
- Languages
- EN · SV · ES
- Home break
- The Inside
Marcus Adeyemi
A PADI-style master instructor who knows every crack of the Coral Shelf. Has certified well over four hundred first-time divers on this reef.
- Instructing
- 16 years
- Languages
- EN · FR · ES
- Home reef
- Coral Shelf
Departures & pricing
A new week starts every Saturday.
Retreats run year-round — every week is Saturday to Saturday. Prices are per person for the shared room; private rooms and the cabana add to the rate. Here are the next weeks open.
Week starts
From
Availability
Sat · Jun 072026 · winter swell
$1,690
2 beds left
Sat · Jun 142026 · winter swell
$1,690
5 beds left
Sat · Jun 212026 · winter swell
$1,790
Open
Sat · Jun 282026 · winter swell
$1,790
3 beds left
Sat · Jul 052026 · winter swell
$1,890
Open
Sat · Jul 122026 · winter swell
$1,890
Waitlist
Sat · Jul 192026 · winter swell
$1,890
Open
The week price covers
- 7 nights in the beach house
- All twice-daily surf sessions
- Board, wetsuit & coaching
- Breakfast + dinner daily
- Round-trip airport transfers
The dive course is a separate +$340 add-on. Private rooms and the cabana add to the per-person rate above.
Deposit
A $300 deposit holds your bed. The balance is due eight weeks before your Saturday — we will send one friendly reminder, never a chase.
Reviews
Most people book the next one before they fly home.
4.9
Average across 1,204 reviews
- Coaching quality4.9
- The beach house4.8
- Food4.9
- Welcoming to beginners5.0
A genuine 61% of guests have done the retreat more than once. We are quietly very proud of that number.
"I had never stood on a board in my life. By Thursday I rode an open face all the way to the inside and the whole deck cheered. Camila never once made me feel slow."
HM
Hannah Mercer
Beginner week · Mar 2026
"Came as a confident surfer, left also a certified diver. The afternoon swap between a session and the reef is the smartest thing this retreat does. Marcus is a brilliant teacher."
DK
Daniel Okafor
Surf & dive week · Jan 2026
"I came alone and a little nervous about that. By the second dinner it felt like a house of old friends. The free afternoons meant I never felt over-scheduled or stuck in a group."
ST
Sofia Tanaka
Solo traveller · Nov 2025
"We came as four friends, two of whom don't surf at all. They hiked, read, and dove while we paddled out — and we all met for sunset every night. A rare trip that genuinely suits everyone."
LB
Liam Brennan
Friends' week · Sep 2025
Good to know
The questions everyone asks first.
I've never surfed — is that okay?
More than okay — beginners are our favourite people to host. Roughly half of every week has never stood on a board before, and the point at Punta Verde is a slow, soft, forgiving wave built for exactly that. You will start in the whitewater on a soft-top with a coach beside you, and we promise an honest ride down a real wave by mid-week.
Do I need to be a strong swimmer?
You need to be comfortable and unpanicked in water over your head — not a competitive swimmer. For surfing you are leashed to a buoyant board the whole time, and beginner sessions stay in chest-deep water. The dive course does ask for a basic open-water swim and a short float, both assessed gently on day one. If you are unsure, email us and we will talk it through honestly.
Can non-surfers come along?
Absolutely, and many do — partners, friends, and people who simply want a quiet week by warm water. Non-surfers pay the same room rate and get the house, the meals, the transfers, and the deck; they just skip the sessions. There are reef snorkels, coast walks, hammocks, the village, and the dive course to fill the days. The week is built so a mixed group never has to split up.
What's the dive-certification add-on?
It is an optional +$340 open-water diver certification — a full PADI-style course run over four afternoons of your week by our resident instructor, Marcus. It covers theory, confined-water skills, and four open-water dives on the Coral Shelf and the Pinnacle, with all gear included. You finish with a certification valid for life, worldwide. Add it when you book, or decide once you arrive if there is space.
Is it social, or can I keep to myself?
Both, by design. The shared meals and the surf sessions give the week an easy, built-in social rhythm, and most people leave with a group chat that long outlives the trip. But the long free afternoons are genuinely free — and a private room or the cabana gives you a door to close. Plenty of guests come solo specifically for that balance. No forced fun, ever.
What's the cancellation policy?
Cancel more than eight weeks before your Saturday and you get a full refund minus the $300 deposit. Between eight and two weeks out, the deposit and half the balance are refundable. Inside two weeks the booking is non-refundable, though you may transfer your place to another person or another week at no cost. Travel insurance is required to join — it covers the rest, and we are glad to point you to a good policy.
Find your week
Warm water, a good board, and a deck full of new friends.
Hold a bed with a $300 deposit. Beginners genuinely welcome — half the house has never surfed before.
Next week starts Sat · Jun 07, 2026 — 2 beds left