We made this trip in collaboration with Travelbase. As always, this blog describes our own, honest experience.
They always say you get eighteen summers with your child.
Which, of course, sounds rather dramatic (if you're not a mum). As if on the morning of their eighteenth birthday your child pulls the front door shut behind them, slings a rucksack over their shoulder and never wants to go on holiday with you again.
Still, the thought kept haunting me. Aurélie would turn eighteen exactly one month after we arrived in Biscarrosse. So this was officially our eighteenth summer together.
And I put absolutely no pressure on that whatsoever, obviously…
Apart from saying roughly a hundred times:
“This might well be our last holiday together.”
“Who says you'll still want to come along next year?”
“Who knows how different our lives will look by then?”
All very relaxed.
But of course there was some truth in it somewhere. Circumstances change quickly. Children grow up, make their own plans and build a life in which their parents play the leading role less and less. Which only makes the moments when you're all still together more precious.
So I wanted to find a holiday that genuinely suited our whole family.
Linus loves camps with other children around. Ellis was desperate to surf. Aurélie is mainly a beach girl who's happy with sun, sand and a nice drink within arm's reach. And me? I mostly love holidays where everyone is happy and we also get to experience something along the way.
Which is how we ended up with the Surf Tribe Family by Travelbase in Biscarrosse.
A week of surfing, camping, beach, forest, kids' club and good company. It sounded like everything we needed.
First, a city break in Bordeaux
Most families drive to Biscarrosse, but we decided to do things differently. We found cheap flights to Bordeaux and turned the journey into a little city break while we were at it.
We'd read beforehand that half a day would be plenty to see Bordeaux.
We could not disagree more.
Bordeaux surprised us enormously. The city is cosy, lively and far more affordable than we'd expected. Everywhere we found little cafés, quirky shops and bookshops where a bookworm like me could happily disappear for half a day.
It was one of those cities where you keep thinking: let's just pop down that little street. Three hours later you find yourself on the other side of the centre, with a bag full of books and not the faintest idea where you are.
Naturally, we tasted canelés too. Not just once, because that would have been scientifically irresponsible. There are cafés offering all sorts of unusual flavours, so we were obliged to investigate thoroughly which version was truly the best.
After a day of good food, walking and shopping, we spent one more night in Bordeaux. The next morning we picked up our rental car and set course for Biscarrosse.
That stretch turned out to be busier than expected. The drive took us a bit longer, but we still arrived at the campsite at a perfectly reasonable hour.
Oops, that's a big campsite
My first thought on arrival?
Wow. This is a big campsite.
My second thought?
Oops. This is a really, REALLY big campsite.
The campsite is beautifully set among the trees, but for a moment I was afraid we'd spend a week in the middle of the holiday crowds. Luckily, the Travelbase team were already waiting at the entrance. They cycled ahead of us on a bike and showed us the way to the camp.
As soon as we reached the Travelbase area, that doubt vanished.
There stood that familiar big stretch tent, cosy and decorated in a slightly boho style. There were different types of tents, and although some stood a little closer together, every family had its own little terrace and plenty of space.
Between the tents there was lots of white sand, too, and loads of room for the children to play.
It actually felt a bit like coming home straight away.
At first, Linus mainly sat back and watched. Or rather: he conducted a thorough study of which children seemed interesting enough to become friends with. But that didn't last long. He soon found his crowd, and we're still in touch with some of the kids even today.
That's what I find so typical of Travelbase's family trips. It's first and foremost a holiday with your own family, but with the luxury that there's always someone around for a good natter. The kids have friends to play with, and as a parent you can actually talk to other adults without having to hold a conversation about Pokémon or the exact reason why someone is absolutely not tired yet.
Our first evening on the Atlantic Ocean
The first day was mainly about arriving and getting to know each other. We were told all about the camp, the programme and the surf lessons. We were free to use the surfboards all week, outside the lessons too.
Then we took our first walk to the beach.
On the map the sea looked really close, but the route to the beach means you're walking for a while. Fortunately, it's a lovely walk. First you go through the forest, then through the dunes, and finally the Atlantic Ocean appears in front of you.
And that first time was pretty impressive.
A huge beach, the waves, the fresh sea air and that typical feeling you get when a holiday has well and truly begun.
Once back, we did the shopping. The tent had a compact little kitchen with a hob, kettle, plates and pans. Not a kitchen in which you'd voluntarily whip up a five-course dinner, but more than enough to make something tasty.
Although cooking turned out not to be necessary that first evening.
The nearest supermarket was gigantic and felt more like a French delicatessen that happened to sell washing powder too. We came back with oysters, sushi, cheese, bread and far too many other delicious things.
Culinarily it made no sense whatsoever, but with a bottle of wine on the side it became the perfect French holiday feast.
And there we sat. On our little terrace among the trees, looking out over the dunes. Everyone ate whatever they fancied, and suddenly we were fully in holiday mode.
A surf lesson that was really a lesson about the sea
We'd all surfed before. That doesn't mean we were great surfers (far from it), but a surfboard and the sea weren't completely new to us.
Even so, the week started with a basic introduction.
And I'd have booked the trip for that alone.
Because we didn't just learn how to stand on a board, but also how to read the sea. For the first time, I got a clear explanation of a rip current: a deeper channel between sandbanks where a strong current can form.
What I found most confronting was that, seen from the beach, a rip current can actually look calmer because fewer waves break there. In the past, my maternal instinct would probably have told me: look, the sea's calm there, off you go and play.
Turns out my maternal instinct could do with a little refresher course on this one.
As a home-schooling mum, I honestly sat there thinking: this is information children need to know. This can literally save lives.
The instructors were real professionals, too. I was amazed at how well they could keep an eye on everyone at once. They didn't just watch over everyone's safety, they also saw exactly who needed which tip.
One person got pointers on their position on the board, another on the right moment to stand up. And in my case, presumably mostly on how to climb onto a surfboard without looking like a seal that had accidentally ended up on a picnic table.
Do you have to be sporty to surf?
I am not a sporty person.
I am, however, part of a very sporty family, which is sometimes even worse. People like Daniel, Aurélie and Ellis usually pick this kind of thing up straight away. They understand what their body needs to do and then simply go ahead and do it.
On a surfboard, I looked more like a manatee that had unexpectedly been returned to the sea.
But you know what's lovely about surfing? It's also enormous fun when you're not remotely good at it.
If you like being in the water, you'll have a great time regardless. Even when you fall off your board for the umpteenth time, go under, or end up beneath your board in a way that didn't seem anatomically possible.
Of course you look more like a beached manatee* than someone gliding elegantly over the waves. But strangely enough, in that moment you couldn't care less.
Because then it happens.
You stand up.
Maybe only for two seconds. Maybe only halfway, arms flailing wildly and your face in an expression somewhere between mortal terror and pure euphoria.
But you stood. And everyone cheers for you!
And that feeling of triumph is truly fantastic. In that moment it doesn't matter one bit that you spent the other ninety per cent of the time mostly next to, under or behind your surfboard.
You surfed.
Technically speaking.
*The manatee (or sea cow, as we say in Dutch) will keep coming back forever, ever since my bestie saw me as a teenager rolled up in a sleeping bag. It's simply an accurate comparison ;)
How did the surfboards get to the beach?
Thankfully, for the surf lessons we didn't have to do the whole walk from the camp with a surfboard tucked under our arm.
Every morning a cart full of surfboards was set out at the top of the dunes. From there, the boards only needed carrying the last little stretch to the beach.
So we didn't have to trek from the campsite through the forest and over the dunes every morning like some sort of exhausted surf caravan. A detail my arms were particularly grateful for.
We could also leave our things at the beach area. There was always someone from the team nearby, there were games and beach gear ready to use, and beach volleyball and beach football matches were organised regularly.
As a result, our days were mostly spent between the forest and the sea.
Yoga, baguettes and the kids' club
Besides the surf lessons there were various other activities, including yoga. The classes took place among the pine trees, right by the dunes.
I joined in a few times, and the location alone made it special. Yoga in a forest on the Atlantic coast obviously sounds a lot more impressive than doing it on a mat between the coffee table and a basket of unfolded laundry.
Mornings at the camp started with fresh baguettes and croissants. A French breakfast doesn't need to be complicated, of course. Give me good bread, a croissant and coffee and I won't complain for quite some time.
The lovely thing about this trip was that nobody was forced to follow the same programme. Ellis was keen to surf and could go all out. Aurélie picked her moments and otherwise enjoyed the beach. I joined in when I felt like it and could just as easily stay sitting quietly in the sand.
And Linus?
He was completely sold on the kids' club.
He genuinely thought it was a shame it was only open during the surf lessons. If it had been up to him, we wouldn't have had a family holiday at all, but a holiday with our teenage daughters while our youngest lived somewhere on the camp.
The week we were there was incredibly hot, but the team kept those little ones busy like absolute heroes! There were water games, creative activities and painting. Time and again they managed to organise something that got the kids all excited.
That also gave us the freedom to go surfing ourselves without worrying whether Linus was having a good time.
Spoiler: I reckon Linus had a better time than we did.
Surfing at sunrise
Every week there's a sunset surf and a sunrise surf.
Conditions during our sunset surf weren't ideal. The sea simply refuses to be fully planned (terribly inconvenient of her), so it wasn't our best surf session. Although the photos and the sea were just as beautiful.
The sunrise surf more than made up for it.
We got up ridiculously early and trudged bleary-eyed towards the beach. It was cloudy, so the sun kept us waiting a little longer. But when she finally appeared between the clouds, the sky turned pink, purple, yellow and orange.
Surfing while the sun rises over the ocean is pure magic.
Aurélie didn't take part in every surf lesson during the week, but she often came along to watch and hopped on a board herself a few times. That morning, she surfed with us.
At one point she flopped down next to me in the sand.
“But Mum,” she said, “this really isn't going to be the last time we go on holiday together.”
And well, yes.
There you are with your whole story about eighteen summers and your emotional mother's heart. Turns out your child has no intention whatsoever of trading you in for a life you're no longer part of.
Without a doubt, that became one of the most beautiful moments of the trip.
Just like those sleepy looks on other mornings, when everyone realised we had to get up early again to go surfing. Because that's part of it too.
Silent disco, eating together and singing along to songs nobody knew
There was plenty organised in the evenings, too.
There was a silent disco where, in the end, pretty much everyone was dancing. Always a fascinating sight, by the way: a group of people in complete silence, belting out three different songs at the same time.
There were also shared evening meals. We had tapas, pasta and a barbecue. I kept being impressed by how the team managed to get tasty food on the table for such a big group. As we've come to expect from Travelbase, vegetarians were well catered for, too.
It felt well looked after, but never patronising.
And that's exactly what you need on a trip like this.
You can join the group whenever you feel like it, but nobody bats an eyelid if you'd rather spend an evening at the tent with just your own family.
There were games at the camp and a little café. One evening an artist none of us had ever heard of performed. Somehow he managed to get us all singing along to a song we'd never heard five minutes earlier.
It became one of those evenings you simply can't plan. Everyone was tired, a bit sticky from the heat and probably in urgent need of a shower. And yet nobody wanted it to end.
Is Surf Tribe camping, sport or relaxing?
On our last day, we sat together after the sunrise surf.
We were all dead tired, a tiny bit sunburnt and thoroughly cooked by the heat. But we were also incredibly happy.
A surf camp is hard to put under one label.
It isn't a classic camping holiday, because it's too comfortable for that and too much is organised for you. It isn't a hotel holiday. It isn't a pure sports trip, but it isn't a holiday where you just lie on the beach either.
It sits somewhere perfectly in between all of them.
You're active, but have plenty of time to relax. You learn something new, without the whole week revolving around performance. You spend time with your own family, while having a group of people around you.
Personally, I don't believe you necessarily get happier from lying motionless in the sun all day. Give me a holiday where we try something new together. Where we're sometimes tired, find something a bit scary, fail, laugh and in the end can do just a tiny bit more than at the start of the week.
Those are the experiences that bring you closer together as a family.
So was this our last summer together?
Maybe this was officially the last of our eighteen summers.
But it didn't feel like an ending.
It felt more like the start of a new chapter. One in which our children grow up and increasingly find their own way, but in which we hopefully still set off on many more trips together.
This holiday will always be special to me. Not because everything was perfect. We were tired, it was sometimes boiling hot, and on certain mornings nobody wanted to get out of bed voluntarily.
But we learned to surf together. We learned to look at the sea in a different way. We watched the sun rise from our surfboards, made new friends and sang songs we didn't know.
And somewhere on that beach, my almost-eighteen-year-old daughter told me she still wants to go on holiday with us next year.
I couldn't have asked for much more from our eighteenth summer.
More shots from our surf week
Scroll or swipe, click to enlarge.
Not quite sure yet which Travelbase trip would suit your family best? Then be sure to read about our other experiences too:
- Our hut-to-hut hike in the Dolomites with Hike Tribe
- 35 kilometres through the Mullerthal with a toddler
- Our experience with the Canoe Tribe Family on the Swedish lakes
Surfing, hiking or canoeing: they're completely different, but they have one thing in common. You come home tired, grubby and with far too many photos, and usually with the feeling that you've experienced something truly special as a family.
Any questions about the surf camp, travelling with kids of different ages or combining it with Bordeaux? Feel free to send me a message on WhatsApp.
