Salty hair, sun-kissed skin and a killer body. Gosh, how we envy those amazing surfer girls. So when O’Neill Europe invited us to go on a 3 day surftrip in the South of France, you can imagine the smiles on our faces. With little time to prepare ourselves for a bikini fit body, we jumped on an airplane to Bordeaux. From there we drove about 2 hours south before arriving in a surfer town called Labenne.
Board ’n Breakfast
We stayed in a bed & breakfast called Board ’n Breakfast (hence the name). If you’re planning a surftrip of your own, this might be the perfect place for you to stay.
Board ’n Breakfast started 6 years ago and is run by a Belgium couple, Anton and Ine. They discovered Labenne in their quest for the best surf spots around the world and decided this would be the best place to settle down. You can book a room for as little as 27 euro’s per night including breakfast with croissants, baguettes and homemade jam. During high season you can only book a minimum stay of 7 days but trust us, you will like it. There are several houses you can choose from depending on how many people.
All the houses include a kitchen and bathroom. The super friendly Anton and Ine cook dinner twice a week that includes an amazing BBQ with various salads, homemade veggie burgers, marinated beef and an Indonesian meal with an impressive story. For the Indonesian dinner you pay €2,50 extra per person and this goes to a good cause which stimulates education in India. The B&B includes a swimming pool, tiki bar, garden and plenty of stuff to play with (which includes their friendly dog mawi). But it’s the personal touch of Anton and Ine that really made us fall in love with this place.
Enjoying BBQ’s and Yoga at Board ’n Breakfast.
Surfing
O’Neill had something good in store for us, they got 2 of the best Dutch female surfers to teach us how to surf! Dominga Valdes (3 times national champion) and Julia van Rooij (Pro Surfer) had 3 days to make us look good at sea which wasn’t an easy task! On day 1 we drove to the nearest beach with our boards and wetsuits which you can rent at BnB. (Labenne Océan is only a 2 min drive) After a short introduction and the history of O’Neill, we walked towards the waves.
Ok, we’ve both surfed once or twice before but this looked anything but charming. (The salty hair-do looked a bit different than we expected!) After drinking about 3 liters of seawater we finally managed to stand on our boards for more than 5 seconds. Surfing is exhausting but once you manage to stand up, you get a feeling of satisfaction we can only recommend. Yes, a new addiction was born that day.
Dominga and Julia teaching us the basics Photo by Jelle Mul
Low tide. Photo by @JelleMul
Cycling to the beach
Wearing O’Neill Active Wear and Sweaters
Things to do
Not far from Labenne there are other nearby beaches where you can surf. You have Capbreton, Seignosse, and surfers town Hossegor is only 30 minutes away. Labenne is easy accessible and a nice drive if you’re heading over by car. No matter if you are a beginner, pro or just want some fun on a board, this surftrip is perfect for everyone.
Other nearby attractions are:
- A large water park (only open during summer)
- A cosy, pretty zoo / farmhouse
- Wine tastings
- A monkey park
- Tree top adventure courses
- Horseback riding through the woods and on the beaches
- Biking and mountainbiking
- Relaxing (we also count this as an extremely important activity!)
Plenty of stuff to do but let’s be honest, once go surfing you probably won’t do anything else! 😉
Sarah getting her surf on
Check out our aftermovie and subscribe to our travel channel on YOUTUBE!
Love,
Wander-Lust