SURFCOACHING WEEK TO PORTUGAL
“I just got back home from an amazing coaching surf trip from Pepijn .We stayed in 'Surfinn' and had the luxury to have delicious and healthy food cooked for us every evening.
For me, this trip was truly amazing!
Pepijn took his time to film us every morning for up to two hours. In the evening we all sat together analyzing and discussing these clips. Pepijn is not the kind of coach that simply says do this or do that but he asks open questions making you really think about how you can make progress.
Over the course of a week, every participant booked progression in their surfing. The stokedness of the group was very contagious and there wasn't a single day I didn't want to wake up early to catch some waves. This trip made me a better surfer and I would recommend this coach to every surfer who is trying to progress!”
- Sean, May 2022
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Hi, i am pepijn. your surfcoach for this week:
I can almost call Portugal my second home. I’ve probably been here every year for the past few years. It’s home to an endless opportunity of waves due to it’s rugged coastline and many different beaches. In comparison to the popular areas like Peniche, Sagres and Ericeria. The region that we’ll be going to is not so busy, especially when you know which beaches to go to.
This 7-days coaching week to Portugal has two main goals: fun and progression. Days full of surfcoaching, free surfing, pastel de nata, beautiful Portugese waves and like-minded surfers.
This trip is a beautiful environment to work on your surfing together with the surfcoach Pepijn. With options for easy and rippable waves or bigger and stronger waves, there’s always a challenge to be found.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION:
Dates:
13-20 April (Level 2 & 3) (SOLD OUT)
20-27 April (Level 2 & 3) (SOLD OUT)
Surf Levels:
Level 1: Whitewater surfing
Level 2: Greenwave surfing
(down the line, trimming)
Level 3: Horizontal maneuvers
(making speed, carving, surfing in the pocket)
Level 4: Vertical maneuvers
(learning projecting/cutback maneuvers, connecting maneuvers)
Trip type: Surfcoaching
Wave type: Huge variety of beach breaks typically in the chest high range.
Prices: €915,- per person
Language: These weeks English will be the main language
Group size: Max 8
(We keep the group sizes small to guarantee personal attention and high-quality coaching. There will be plenty of time for 1-on-1 video analysis with surfcoach Pepijn in between the group coaching sessions.)
What DOES THE STAY LOOK LIKE?
Location:
Our stay is in a luxury surf style B&B in the North of Portugal, 400m from the beach. The beautiful villa is located in the middle between Porto and Lisbon.
Breakfast & lunch:
An extensive breakfast buffet is available every day. You can choose from different types of bread and toppings. But also muesli and often the hosts provide an extra surprise at breakfast. You can ofcourse have unlimited coffee, fruit juices, water and tea.
If a very early morning session is planned, we will provide a pre-breakfast snack, so that you do not go into the water with an empty stomach. After this session you can still expect a delicious breakfast.
Lunch can be made as a take-away from the breakfast buffet.
Dinner:
The hosts creates a 'Special Dinner' five times during this coachingweek. And in addition to the delicious food, this also ensures pleasant evenings in the garden of the house. Playing games, listening or making music, playing ping-pong or talking about the lessons you’ve learned that day. Below you can read what you can expect:
All the dinners can be either vegetarian or vegan.
On the two nights without dinner you have the chance to try one restaurants with typical Portugese cuisines in the neighbourhood or the amazing international restaurants close by.
Room layout:
A standard room is a three-person room shared with other guests of the week. It’s important to me to have the option of going to your own quiet and semi-private space to rest and digest from the liveliness of the week.
Would you rather have your own room for yourself or, for example, with your surf buddy, we can of course arrange that for you. Write this request down in the notes during your booking and we will get back to you with the options. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach me via whatsapp on +316-45778753.
What’s included?
- Meet and greet on arrival at the house
- Advanced surf coaching with Pepijn Tigges including:
- Daily two hour surfsession filmed
- Daily group video analysis
- 1-on-1 video analysis
- In water coaching and guidance
- Surf theory and technique
- Exercises to improve your surfing
- Equipment advice
- Lots more!
- Use of rental/test boards & wetsuits during the week (but bring your own)
- Board storage at night
- Breakfast and lunch everyday
- 5 very delicious dinners
- Unlimited filtered water and hot drinks
- Use of pool, ping-pong and other games around the villa
- Expert advice and support from your surfcoach
- All photos and high quality videos from your trip
What’s not included?
- Flights or travel by car
- Travels during the trip
- Travel Insurance
- Drinks / snacks from the bar
- Two nights dinner
(Once your coaching week fills up with surfers we’ll make a groupchat and carpool to the location. This way we all have a cheap/easy/fun travel and a way to get around to other spots if we want/need to.)
WHAT DO OTHERs SAY ABOUT THE COACHING TRIPS?
Went on a surf coaching trip with Pepijn. I myself have been surfing for about 13 years. The steps I took this week is more than I have done in the past 6 years combined. To be honest, I soon found out that I mainly ‘just’surfed down the line. Caught nice waves, but not really any true control.
Made some serious progress this week due to the way Pepijn coaches. I’m now have much more control and finally made serious progress in my top and bottom turns. A few things I that I can say about this Pepijn’s coaching:
1. The basics: Pepijn is just a really beautiful person. Super positive, interested and curious. He is also a really good surfer (yes, we saw him score barrels 😊).
2. Deep knowledge: You can see from everything that he does, he is a surf professional, who fully understands the fundamentals of surfing for himself. Because of this deep knowledge, he is able to explain complicated topics in very simple way in the theoretical lessons. This is very unique in the world of coaching. His approach is also aimed at gaining self-understanding. So he, instead of 'telling', asks questions to make you think for yourself and supplement that with his knowledge. He is always looking for where your knowledge ends and how you can expand it
3. Less is more: Pepijn helps you focus. With very extensive video analysis of your own surfing (every day!), he indicates where your most important development points are at the moment. Every morning he asks you the question: ‘what are you going to focus on in this session?’
4. Spot choice: with a lot of knowledge of the local conditions, he makes the best spot choice based on wave height, wind & tides. So not (as I have experienced before) the 'easy-for-the-door spot' choice.
5. Also attention to: reading the sea, board choice and other subjects like duck diving for example (which was very handy for me).
The location of SURFinn house in Vieux Boucau is a party. Besides being beautifully situated and looking very good, the location is really made by the people who run it. Everything (breakfast, lunch, dinner) in abundance and they are very welcoming. To be honest, as the week progressed, I got the feeling that we were kind of like a big group of friends having a great week. The owners, for example, occasionally joined us in the line up during the second sessions of the days.
All in all, a very strong recommendation. You should be aware of one disadvantage if you go for this coaching: it will be difficult to top this coaching experience elsewhere. That is why I have decided to stay on the periphery of Pepijn for the next few years. I look forward to the next coaching trip, Pepijn!
- Christian, May 2022
TRANSPORT:
During the week there will also be carpooling option to go to spots other than our home spots. Before every trip we’ll inventorize who needs to carpool. This is good for mother nature and for our wallet. We then count on the fact that the costs will be neatly split among the passengers themselves.
Are you not coming with by car? Then we strongly recommend a rental car. This is the fastest and often the cheapest way to travel to and from the airport or from home. Moreover, it gives you complete freedom to go wherever you want during your stay and you can really discover everything this fantastic region has to offer. All major car rental companies are represented, look for an overview on one of the comparison websites such as https://www.autoeurope.com/
Frequently asked questions:
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A cliché in the surfing world is the often-heard 'the best surfer is the one with the most fun' and that is certainly the case during the coaching week. Nevertheless, it is good to point out that absolute beginners are not recommended to participate in this. Not only is it much better to take a beginner's course, but you also ensure that the group cannot do everything that is planned. For these reasons, we would like to set a few minimum requirements to participate in the intensive surf coaching week
You have followed at least a beginner surfing course (e.g. during a week of surf camp)
You can paddle out independently in the most common conditions
You can do a take-off independently and surf left and right
You often surf 'green waves', so look out for the broken part of the waves
It is also important to know that the coaching week is certainly not for the pros. The level between the participants can and will always make a difference, but because of the small groups and personal approach, the surfcoach can help each participant to improve their specific surfing skills.
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When your chosen week is fully booked we’ll make a little whatsapp group and organise carpooling in Portugal. This way we are all assured to have the cheapest and least polluting transportation to Portugal and on location (sometimes needed when we go to other spots).
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Yes, just go through the booking process and you can pay 30% of the trip now to reserve your spot and pay the rest a few weeks before we leave to the trip.
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Taking your own board(s) is recommended. I recommend a small and a big-wave board so that most ranges of waves are covered.
Going by car is the easiest to take boards, you can strap them on the roof of the car (with softracks).
Airlines can take your board for (sometimes) an extra fee and this is definitely not a luxury.
Do you need a travel boardbag for your boards? Rent one with 10% discount via boardbagger.nl if you use the code “Pepijn” at check-out. (Available in NL/BE)
If you have any questions about the trip or your level of surfing. You can always send me your questions via the info below.
OR GET IN TOUCH WITH ME:
If you have any questions, fill in the form below or:
Email me iampepijnsocial@gmail.com
Whatsapp me on +31645778753
Or message me on Instagram @pepijntigges.
I will get back to you a.s.a.p. with the booking information or an answer to your question(s).
