How Many Days Do You Need for a Surf Camp?

A Quick Guide

So it’s time to book your first stay at a surf camp, but you just don’t know how long to book for?

Five days? One week? Two weeks? A month?

Every surfer's journey is different, there is no set in stone answer. It comes down to your current surfing level, what you want to achieve during your stay and how much time you have got. As a general rule of thumb, one week is the minimum time to learn the basics if you have never surfed before. But of course the longer you have the better!

Not sure what works best for you? Hopefully this helps.

How Many Days Do You Need at a Surf Camp?

Here is how long we think you should stay based on your surfing level:

Your surfing level	How long should you stay?
Complete beginner (Never surfed before or surfed once or twice)	5 days is a great starting point. If you are a complete beginner we recommend you join our 5-day Learn to Surf course (LTS), this will help teach you the fundamentals, from paddling and popping up to catching your first waves. If you have more time, you can extend your stay after the course to practise your new skills and build confidence. Once you're ready, you can progress into Kima's surf guiding programme. Short on time? The LTS course is flexible, and you can book individual lesson days to fit your schedule.
Beginner looking to build confidence (1 star)	10–14 days is ideal. This gives you time to complete the 5-day LTS course, put your new skills into practice and build consistency in the water. After completing the course, you can progress into Kima's Star Level 1 guiding programme when you're ready, giving you more time to develop your confidence, improve your wave selection and catch more waves.
Upper beginner (2 stars)	7 days is a great option to build consistency, work on your technique and get regular coaching feedback. As a 2-star surfer you’ll be focussing on turning on waves in both directions, riding the wave for longer and turtle rolls. A week is a great time to work on these techniques.
Intermediate surfer (3 stars)	7–14 days is a good amount of time to focus on specific goals, like duck diving, performing cutbacks and more. More time means you can tackle more variety of waves which is what an intermediate surfer should be doing, learning to ride any type of wave with greater confidence.
Advanced surfer (4 stars + )	Two weeks, a month or longer if time allows. Whether you're refining manoeuvres, exploring different breaks or hunting barrels, repetition is key to progression.

*This is merely a guideline, there is not a magic number of days that will guarantee you will reach the level you have in mind.

*Throughout this guide, the recommended stay refers to full days of surfing at camp, not accommodation nights. We recommend arriving the day before your first surf day and checking out the day after your last, so allow for one extra night on either side (e.g. 5 full surf days = 6 nights' accommodation).

The more time you spend in the water, the more opportunities you have to improve. But don't worry if you can't take weeks off. A shorter stay is still well worth it!

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Why Stay Longer at a Surf Camp?

If you have a lot of time we always recommend staying longer. In surfing repetition is key. Here is why a longer stay is a better one:

More time, more waves: The more time you spend in the water the more comfortable you start to feel and the more waves you start to catch, and the more time you spend riding the wave the more time you have to practice your pop-ups, positioning and wave selection.
More feedback: The longer you stay, the more opportunity you have to join video sessions and video analysis and then you get more feedback on your waves from Kima’s experienced surf guides.
Get to know your guide: The more familiar you become with your guide, the more individualised feedback you will begin to receive as they can watch your surfing progress from day one.
Discover more surf spots: Staying longer means trying more surf spots, and practicing on different types of waves helps improve your surfing abilities.
Truly experience the Eat, Sleep, Surf Lifestyle: A longer stay means you do not need to cram everything the islands have to offer into just a few days and you do not need to feel the pressure to surf every day. You can fit in yoga, ice baths, surfskate sessions and social activities, while still having time to rest and recharge between surfs.

And perhaps best of all, the longer you stay, the bigger the discount with our loyalty program. With our duration discount, you'll receive 1% off your stay for each day you're with us. For instance, if you stay with us for 30 consecutive days, you'll receive a fantastic 30% discount. For our Surf Camp in Hiriketiya and Uluwatu the maximum duration discount is 30%.

Why One Week Should Be the Minimum

A week at Kima Surf Camps gives you enough time to get into the swing of things. You're not packing up just as you've figured out where you like to surf, who's heading out for a surf or what everyone's doing that evening. There's time to settle in, meet people and enjoy the place beyond the beach.

You sync with the camp rhythm: After a few days you find your feet, you know the staff by name, the guides are familiar with you, you know the routine and you have made some buddies to share breakfast with.
There is time to do things outside of surfing: Our surf camps are not all about surfing. Depending on which Kima camp you're staying at, the weekly schedule might include yoga, ice baths, surfskate sessions, movie nights, BBQs, games or even rock climbing in Canggu. If you stay for a week you can get the full rotation of social activities.
There is time for you to explore the destination: Bali and Sri Lanka are two beautiful islands, with amazing landscapes, unique culture and great local food. All of which should be explored during your surf trip.

Ultimately, seven days gives you a bit of everything: good waves, new people, time to explore and enough downtime to enjoy it all.

That said, there's no perfect number. Five days, two weeks or a whole month — it all depends on your plans, your surfing and how much time you've got.

Come join us in Bali or Sri Lanka and we'll help you make the most of your stay. All you need to do is show up, grab your board and we will sort out the rest.

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