A Typical Day: Bodhi Family Surf Camp

If you’re looking for a truly special bonding and connecting experience for your family, our Bodhi Family Surf Camp is the perfect vacation package for you! 

We’ll be using this blog to outline why this is, and to give you a taster of what you can expect from this camp option with us. Here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga we’ve spent the last 15 years bringing people together, giving friends and families the space to really connect on a deeper level – not just with each other, but with everything around them, too.

We’ve created the Bodhi Family Surf Camp to be perfect for ALL families! All we require of you is that you show up ready to learn, connect, and have some good ol’ fashion fun.

We’ve welcomed all members of the family here over the years – from grandparents to grandkids.

If you’re reading this blog because you’re considering whether this is the right vacation for you and your family – don’t think about it too hard, as spaces are limited and fill up quickly!

And if you’re reading this because you and your family have already booked an upcoming trip with us – you’re in for an unforgettable experience.

Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camp – What to Expect

The Bodhi Family Surf Camp is a week-long surf camp designed to give you and your family an experience that’s both fun and educational.

This surf camp invites families to learn to surf, experience the local culture and Costa Rican cuisine, and connect with the local community. Here, you’ll create life-long family memories that you and your family will talk about for years to come!

You’ll experience this through daily surf lessons, plenty of opportunities for cultural immersion, time outside and in nature, and so much more.

Our surf lessons follow our philosophy of not only teaching you how to stand up on a surfboard, but how to stand up for the ocean. It’s extremely important to us that we educate our guests on why the ocean is so important for us and that we can (and MUST) empower ourselves to stand up for it.

The first step in doing this is through education. We don’t want to give away too much just yet (we don’t want to spoil it!), but we weave in many educational elements into our surf lessons that often leave families – both adults and kids, inspired to take action to protect the ocean.

Your kids will be in what we call our “outdoor classroom” without even realizing that they’re being educated. It’s a win for parents and a win for the kiddos!

Outside of the surf lessons, we always encourage our guests – and especially families, to take the time to explore our local community and the natural environment that surrounds it. This is a great way of exposing ourselves to the truly wide world that we live in – something that we believe transforms us.

What Past Guests Are Saying

Over the years, we’ve welcomed more families here than we can count, and MANY of them have come back to visit us a number of times!

Why is this? Well, it’s largely due to the fact that we treat our guests like they’re family of our own. Many of our team have kids – we’re a family business. We know how sacred family vacations are and how important that time together is. So we take YOUR family vacation just as serious as you do.

When we have guests come back and visit us for the second, third, and even fourth time, it really does feel to us like welcoming back family of our own here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga.

Let’s take a look at what some of our past Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camp guests have said about their experiences with us:

“It’s hard to write a review for a family vacation that fundamentally rewrote how I define family vacations. We came to Bodhi with high expectations based on reviews and glowing testimonials from friends who’d gone to Bodhi. Even with those high expectations, we were blown away… If you’re looking for an experience that elevates, transports, and transforms you, visit Bodhi. You won’t be the same, in the best kind of way.” – Adrian G, 2025

“We love Bodhi Surf and Yoga! This was our family’s 3rd year going back. It’s really a magical place. They have taught my 6-year-old and 3-year-old and my husband and I to surf. We brought our baby, too, and the staff is super helpful and awesome. We love the Bodhi family and plan on coming back every year to make more memories with our growing family!” – Elizabeth B, 2024

“Amazing experience for our family at Bodhi! We all learned the surf, the food was amazing, the staff was helpful and friendly, the town and community were lovely, the rooms were clean and comfortable, and daily yoga was refreshing. Could not recommend Bodhi more!” – Ashley L, 2024

So, What is Included in the Bodhi Family: 7 Day Family Surf Camp?

Bodhi Family Surf camps run from Saturday to Saturday, and each week includes the following:

• 4 nights at the Bodhi Lodge
• 1 night in a San Jose hotel
• 5 surf lessons
• 5 breakfasts
• 1 dinner
• 3 lunches
• Snacks at surf lessons
• Walking tour of Bahia Ballena
• Waterfall visit
• Round-trip transportation between San Jose and Bodhi Lodge
• Shuttle service from San Jose airport to San Jose hotel
• National Park entrance fees for surf lessons
• Travelers’ Philanthropy donation

Also, your family will be staying at our quaint lodge with a group of passionate, family-friendly individuals (some of whom are kids!).

Collectively, we have lived in the community of Bahia Ballena for decades, and we have a ton of local knowledge to share.

We are here (and excited) to help with logistical details, to offer local knowledge and suggestions — and honestly, just to chat!

A Typical Week of Our Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camp

Follow along to this section of the blog for a more in depth look at what a day looks like here during our Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camps.

Saturday – Welcome to Costa Rica!

Your flight to Costa Rica can arrive at any time on Saturday, as you don’t depart for Uvita until Sunday at 9 am.

You will have let us know in your participant information form what time your flight is due to land, and we’ll have taxis/shuttles coordinated for you to get you and your family from the airport to the hotel that we have you staying in as part of your package.

Our go-to hotel is the Adventure Inn. This is where we have the majority of our guests stay on their arrival night.

We coordinate that for you, so no need to worry about it! If the Adventure Inn is full, we work with a number of other hotels nearby that are of the same quality and price range as the Adventure Inn.

When you exit the doors to the airport, you’ll see someone holding a sign with your name on it to take you to your hotel. Once you’re there, we recommend resting up, having a bite to eat, and chillaxing before the adventure REALLY gets going on Sunday!

Sunday – Travel to Bodhi Surf + Yoga

On Sunday morning, our driver, Wali, will pick you up with the rest of the group at 9am, and you will start your journey down here to Bahia Ballena. The drive is about 4 and a half hours, with a bathroom/smoothie break included.

You arrive here at Bodhi Surf + Yoga at around 1:30pm, where you’re greeted by our head of Guest Support, George (me!), with some fresh cold coconuts to rehydrate you after your long journey.

George gives you a quick introductory talk before showing you into your rooms and giving you the “Bodhi Tour” – a walk-about of the property pointing out some points of interest, wildlife, and telling a bit about the history of Bodhi Surf + Yoga.

After this, guests have about an hour or so to grab some lunch nearby before heading off for the community tour at 3:30pm. This is one of our favorite and most important parts of the entire schedule!

It’s a great way of getting your bearings, learning about our community, and spotting some wildlife ahead of your week (or two weeks) with us here.

Sunday ends with the “Bodhi Welcome Dinner,” where George takes the group to dinner and we’re able to get to know each other better and ask any questions about the schedule, classes, meals, activities, etc.

Typical Schedule

• 1:30 pm – Arrival and welcome
• 2:00 pm – Bodhi Tour
• 2:30 pm – Lunch (not included)
• 3:30 pm – Community walking tour
• 6:00 pm – Welcome dinner

Monday

Welcome to Monday – your and your family’s first full day with us at Bodhi Surf + Yoga!

As you’re taking part in our family package, you don’t take part in the yoga classes that other guests will be doing.

Your day typically starts with a delicious and nutritious group breakfast that will be waiting for you in Area Alegria. There, we offer tea, coffee, and orange juice with breakfast.

At breakfast, you’ll be joined by some members of the Bodhi Surf + Yoga team, who will happily answer any questions that you may have and tell you everything you need to know to prepare you for your first family surf lesson.

This information includes things like: what to take, what not to take, what to expect, etc. Shortly after breakfast, you’ll head off with the surf team down to the incredible Marino Ballena National Park for the surf lesson.

The surf instructors use this first session to learn about everyone’s surf experience, goals for the week, fears, and expectations. This lesson is also usually a bit heavier on the theory side of things, whereby before getting into the water, guests learn about:

• The national park and its importance to our community
• The ocean
• Surfboard anatomy
• How to conduct a surf report

We also start the lesson off with some bodysurfing!

Following the surf lesson, you’ll return to the lodge and get ready for a trip to the Uvita Waterfall, a great place to chill out nestled in the jungle. This is an absolute family favorite!

We give you two hours there, which is plenty of time to go for a swim in the natural (and cold!) pool that the waterfall pours into, as well as to grab some lunch from the restaurant there.

Day one ends here, with guests having the opportunity to head out into our local community for dinner. Don’t worry – we send you all of our favorite places!

Typical schedule

• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 10:15am – Surf lesson
• 1:30pm – Uvita Waterfall

Tuesday

Tuesday typically looks quite similar to Monday – whereby the day usually starts with breakfast, followed by the surf lesson.

You might feel a little achy this morning – that’s completely normal. Surfing engages muscles throughout our entire bodies that we don’t normally use or even know we have!

In Tuesday’s surf lesson, we spend a bit more time in the water than on Monday. It’s crucially important to us that we set our students up with a strong foundation before rushing into the water.

Our whole ideology behind teaching you to surf is that you can leave us and continue your surfing journey anywhere you go, rather than having to start again every time.

What’s different about Tuesday is that we enjoy our first of three on-site group lunches together! Our chef, Luci spoils us with a freshly made, typical Costa Rican dish that’s accommodating for all of the week’s dietary restrictions.

The lunch is also accompanied by a fresh homemade fruit juice, which is always a hit amongst the kids.

Typical schedule

• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 10:15am – Surf lesson
• 1:00pm – Lunch
• 6:30pm – Dinner

Wednesday

Wednesday’s schedule is the least crowded of all the days, making it a great day to head out as a family to do a tour, get a massage, or just chill out and catch up on some relaxation.

In terms of activities, some of our favorites that we always recommend to families are the coconut tour, a visit to Costa Rica’s one and only coral reef restoration lab, and walking our park’s famous ‘Whale’s Tail”.

If a relaxing massage is more your cup of tea, we’ve got you covered. We work with a local massage company that comes here to conduct on-site massages on our yoga platform.

They’re super easy to book – you just let a member of our team know when and for how long you’d like to have your massage, and we’ll take care of it!

Speaking of relaxation, we have many spaces here on our property designed to allow you and your family to kick back, relax, and recharge – all while feeling connected to nature.

Our newest addition to our lodge includes our meditation garden, which we’ve just opened VERY recently. Come and be amongst the first to enjoy this new natural and relaxing space!

Typical Schedule

• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 10:15am – Surf lesson

Thursday

It’s at this point in the week that the surf lesson may be at a different time than the three previous days due to the tides that day.

Sometimes, the surf lesson on Thursday stays at 10:15am, but more often than not, we have Thursday’s class in the afternoon.

In this case, the day still starts with breakfast – but instead of surf being right after breakfast, you have a bit more free time before the afternoon surf lesson.

Again, this time can be used to squeeze in a last-minute tour, a massage, or to simply relax.

The afternoon surf lesson starts at 3:15pm and goes pretty much until sunset. The second of our on-site lunches is also on Thursday.

Typical schedule

• 9:00am – Breakfast
• 1:00pm – Lunch
• 3:15pm – Surf lesson

Friday

A typical Friday at our Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camp usually starts with surf! Again, we can’t promise that every Friday will start like this because of the tides.

But more often than not, the tides work in our favor when we finish the week with an early-bird surf lesson.

This class starts bright and early at 6:45am. That may sound really early, but after a week of being on Costa Rica time you and the fam are already accustomed to waking up early with the sounds of the exotic birds and howler monkeys.

This really is a beautiful time to be down there at the national park – there’s usually no one else there!

You’ll come back from your final surf lesson to find breakfast and coffee waiting for you. But there’s no rush, you have plenty of time to shower off and freshen up before sitting down for breakfast.

At this last breakfast of the week, George will make some final housekeeping announcements regarding:

• Departure
• Our Traveler’s Philanthropy donation
• Tipping at Bodhi Surf + Yoga
• Online reviews – check out our hundreds of 5 star reviews!

At 1pm we share our final (so sad!) on-site lunch for the week, followed by the last activity on the schedule – Bodhi Grad. This is a sort of play on words, meaning both grad-uation and also grad-itude (gratitude circle).

Here, we sit around the breakfast tables one last time and share something that we’re grateful for. We think that by practicing gratitude, we’re putting positive energy out there into the universe that has positive impacts on our mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Once we finish up with Bodhi Grad, it’s time to say our goodbyes to our new friends from the week, and wish them a happy and safe journey.

Typical Schedule

• 6:45am – Surf
• 9:30am – Breakfast
• 3:00pm – Bodhi Grad
• 3:30pm – Departure

What to Pack for Your Family Adventure

Here, we’ll leave you a high-level packing list for things that we recommend that you and your family bring with you for your trip.

For a much more detailed explanation of what we recommend you bring, head over to our blog!

We recommend you bring:

• Passport (valid for the entirety of your stay in Costa Rica)
• Proof of Exit from Costa Rica (within 180 days)
• A couple of swimsuits (check out our blog on picking the right swimsuit for surfing)
• A rashguard for surfing
• A light rain jacket
• A pair of closed shoes/ sneakers
• A pair of sandals/flip-flops
• A hat and sunglasses (we love Sunski sunglasses)
• Clothing essentials — shirts, shorts, socks, underwear
• Light sweatshirt / long sleeve (mostly for air-conditioned buildings or transportation) 
• Sunscreen
• Insect repellent
• Reusable water bottle 
• $300 – $500 cash USD per week
• $100 worth of local currency (Colones)
• Debit and credit card
• Tylenol / Advil (just in case)
• Electrolytes (optional, but good for transitioning to warm/sunny climate) 
• Snacks!

It Seems to Us that You’re Ready to Go!

If you and your family are feeling ready to pull the trigger and make your booking with us, let us help you make the first step.

Head over to our Bodhi Family 7 Day Surf Camp page to select this package, the dates you’d like to come, and your accommodation.

Our most popular accommodation amongst families is Bungalow Gratitud. This bungalow has a master bedroom with a queen bed and a separate bedroom with two single beds. It also comes equipped with a kitchenette, a sitting area with a sofa, and a private porch.

We also have families book neighboring rooms, Amistad and Armonia, whereby parents share room Armonia and the kids next door in room Amistad.

Once you’ve made your reservation with us (woohoo!), make sure to look out for some upcoming emails regarding arrival details.

The Bodhi Surf + Yoga family eagerly looks forward to welcoming you and your family down here for the best family vacation ever!