4-Daagse Weekend Uitje met Surfkamp in Matosinhos, Portugal

Escape the chaos of everyday life, come, and experience a weekend at Caruma Surf Hostel, Casa Riestch Guest House, or Hotel Porto Mar. Onda Pura will pick you up at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) in Porto and take you to the surf school on the beach in Matosinhos. They can also leave you directly in the accommodation, five minutes away from the beach. During the day, you will learn how to surf like a pro on one of the best and safest beaches in Portugal or have fun in the historic city center of Porto.

The surf camp includes a teacher in charge of the surf and standup paddleboard (SUP) classes that will show you the best spots, teach you the technique, and give you tips that everyone would like to know. The program is indicated both for practitioners of the modality and for those who want to have first contact with it. A perfect symbiosis between nature, sports, and gastronomy.

Onda Pura Surf School now presents an innovative program for your holidays that features beginner, intermediate, and advanced surf classes at the best beaches of northern Portugal, combined with unforgettable entertainment in Oporto, a city whose beautiful downtown is part of the World’s Historical Patrimony. The main goal of Onda Pura is to give you the fantastic and exciting experience of surfing.

Initially, this involves giving you the basics of the technique, sea conditions, safety, and surrounding materials. Moreover, Onda Pura will guide you in the initiation and enhancement - following techniques and methods adapted pedagogical-didactic. In a later phase, the monitoring focuses on a more refined analysis of the issues of technical, tactical, and physical preparation for competition.

Beginner

1. Level 1

• Get to know the environment and equipment
• Learn paddling control, catch the wave, and slide with your body (bodysurfing)
• Grasp paddling technique, seating, and turning
• Catch the wave with the surfboard and ride it all the way to the beach lying on the surfboard
• Get to know your stance
• Assume the basic surf posture
• Learn the balanced distribution of your weight on the board
• Learn the safely stand up on the foam and get the basic surf posture on waves with a maximum of eight of half a meter
• Catch the foams without any help
• Ride in a straight line all the way to shore
• Learn grasping techniques of a jump off the surfboard in a motion
• Learn to grasp and use basic safety techniques at all different stages
• Be autonomous on waves up to a 0.5-meter high

Theory

• Identify the location and adequate conditions for the practice of surfing while ensuring the safety of other surfers
• Get to know the equipment and its function (surfboard, leash, wax, and wetsuits)
• Get to know safety rules in and outside of the water
• Identify the various types of waves and their related dangers
• Identify the tides plus breaking area and how to exit safely with or without the surfboard

2. Level 2

• Grasp and use all the knowledge of the previous level
• Be autonomous on the water with or without the surfboard
• Know how to use various techniques how to pass the breaking point
• Stand up on the wall of the wave, frontside drop turn, and backside on the foam
• Grasp paddling technique, laying down posture, and know how to apply more or less speed according to each situation
• Turn the board while seating
• Learn the controlled falls and efficient wave exiting of the board at the end of each wave
• Demonstrate an efficient stance and adequate weight distribution
• Guarantee the safety of others during the paddling to the waves, take-off, and ride
• Manage to fully surf one wave without any help

Theory

• Identify the best place to pass through the breaking point
• Identify the various types of surfable waves
• Practice and learn equipment knowledge

Intermediate

1. Level 1

• Grasp all the knowledge of the previous levels
• Take off on the lip of the wave
• Front and back sides turn one wall of the wave
• Learn controlling techniques for passing through the breakpoint
• Know how to pick the right waves to surf
• Know how to exit the wave after the ride
• Be autonomous paddle on the sea with waves superior to half a meter high
• Catch the waves by breaks with and without help
• Execute the take-off and drop the wave in a safe way
• Know how to apply the safety rules in and outside the water
• Know how to stay outside and manage to pick the best quality waves to surf

Theory

• Analyze the sea and wind conditions
• Read the weather conditions, swell, tides, as well as wind direction and intensity
• Know how to use tides to your advantage
• Placement on the peak using reference points

2. Level 2

• Grasp all the knowledge of the previous levels
• Manage to execute a take-off from the lip of the wave in a smooth and safe way
• Learn to drop
• Learn how to change the direction of the wave (bottom)
• Learn the front side and backside turn on the wall of the wave
• Explore the face of the wave to execute an efficient trimming
• Be autonomous inside, outside, and under the water on the inside and outside of waves up to one meter
• Be autonomous to pick waves

Theory

• Identify the various parts of the board and know their function
• Know the various types of fins and how to use them
• Identify the damage to the equipment
• Identify the sea conditions and choose the best place to practice - taking into consideration your own skill level
• Adapt to the picking of a surfboard in consideration of the type of surf, level, and personal physiognomies

Advanced

1. Level 1

• Grasp all the knowledge of the previous levels
• Do the angle, take-off, and drop
• Do the bottom turn, as well as a frontside and backside, trimming
• Do the cutback
• Know the rules and the priorities of snaking

2. Level 2

• Grasp all the knowledge of the previous levels
• Do the angle take-off
• Do the frontside and backside trimming as well as frontside and backside bottom turn with a spray
• Do the frontside pocket top turn
• Do the frontside and backside roundhouse cutback
• Predict the best conditions for surfing on the various types of beach breaks while considering the tides, wave direction, and weather conditions
• Control the kick-out in closeouts or in the end of the ride

Principles

Onda Pura is governed by well-defined principles. Teachers are specialized and trained in physical education with extensive experience in surfing. The ratio of teachers or students is one-seventh in practical classes. Materials are suitable for all levels of learning. Onda Pura provides uniform programs and advanced teaching techniques. Video recording is in the classroom and later in the theoretical analysis. There is a choice regarding the best times of the tides and surf zones in order to facilitate learning - a group division by levels.

Material and equipment

The surf material and equipment include wetsuits isothermal mid-range high with different thicknesses depending on the season and the student’s needs, Lycra T-shirt for signaling and differentiation of levels of students, a support framework that accompanies the course, covering all aspects from surfing beginners to competitive surfing, weather, and materials, plus hardboards (resin and epoxy) and soft boards (essential for your first contact in total security and control) of different sizes to monitor your progress.

The team

The team that embodies this surf camp has an extensive practical and teaching experience that contributes to that - a medium and long-term - and arises a new generation of promising surfers. The classes are taught by physical education professionals accredited by the Portuguese Surfing Federation.

Schedules

April - September

• 09:00 - 20:00 Weekdays
• 09:00 - 18:00 Weekends and holidays

October - March

• 09:00 - 18:00 Weekdays, weekends, and holidays