Baleal Surf Camp

Baleal Surf Camp opened in 1993 on Baleal beach and was the first surf camp in Portugal. It is a family business with a school, accommodation on the sand and a beach bar.

Who they are

It was founded by a local surfer who caught his first wave in 1980, aged eleven, at Prainha. In 1993 he began teaching the children of Baleal island from a wooden hut on the beach, where he kept his equipment, hired out boards and wetsuits and sold the basics; for more than four years he taught alone. In 1997 he obtained a beach concession at Cantinho da Baía, where he built Bar do Bruno and the surf centre. From 2007 his brother Marcos Bairros handled bookings and online promotion for about ten years. The registered office is in Ferrel, in the municipality of Peniche.

Licences and certifications

The school is certified by the Portuguese Surfing Federation, by Turismo de Portugal, with registration no. 369/2010, and by the Peniche Harbour Master's Office, and is a member of the International Surfing Association (ISA), renewed annually. According to the school itself, its instructors' qualifications are accredited by the bodies that regulate surfing in Portugal.

What it offers

The surf centre, with the school and the surf station, is on the Cantinho da Baía beach, in the north of the Peniche peninsula, next to Baleal. Lessons are in groups of five surfers at most, of the same level, with instructor, board, wetsuit and insurance, and there are lessons for children and teenagers. The peninsula has waves on one coast or the other almost every day, and the school chooses each morning where to give the lesson. It also hires boards, including Firewire competition boards, and wetsuits.

For staying several days there are two types of accommodation: hostel-style shared rooms and private apartments. With them it builds one-week surf camp packages, a lighter one with five lessons in seven nights that is only offered in low and mid season, and a programme for families. Bar do Bruno, on the same sand, is the house bar.

Season and bookings

It is open all year, with lessons every day. Single lessons and the vouchers of 5, 10 and 15 lessons are Monday to Friday and personal. You book on its website, by phone or by WhatsApp; the payment and cancellation terms are in its general terms. It has a webcam of the beach to check the state of the sea.

How to get there and languages

The nearest airport is Lisbon, about 90 km away, and the bus from Lisbon to Peniche takes around an hour and a half. The school does not advertise airport pick-up. Its website is in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian and Chinese, although it does not say in which languages the lessons are given.