Vibes Surfhouse

The camp

Vibes Surfhouse is a house, not a hostel. A villa in the Alondras complex on the hill above Fañabé, with three dorms, a big living room, a kitchen and a rooftop that looks out over the sea and the sunset. Mateo, an instructor, runs the house and teaches; Jade, his co-host, teaches yoga. Until recently the place was called Endless Summer Vibes, with the same team at the same address. The week is lived eight at most, with a guide who organises everything from the beach to the evenings: you arrive alone and leave with a group. Mixed or women-only dorms, curtained bunks, each with its own socket and locker. No private rooms.

Lessons happen at Playa de las Américas, a fifteen-minute van ride down the hill, in English or Spanish. The sand there is ringed by reef and the wave breaks over rock, which is why the schools of the south bring their beginners on the small days, on foam boards. On the day everything lines up, in winter, the trade wind crosses the island and reaches this coast off the land: in January the beach is clean three days in a week, and La Izquierda, the reef left next door, four. If you already stand up, two packages change the week: three private lessons, or a fixed-date week on a hard board with eight lessons and video analysis. One thing to know: the boards only go out during lessons. No free session at the end of the day unless you bring your own.

The house closes from mid-June to mid-August, when La Izquierda is mostly flat, and reopens with the water at its warmest, 23°C until October. In February it drops to 18°C. The day has its rhythm: breakfast, the beach in the morning, a free afternoon or one taken up by yoga and surfskate, then sunset on the roof. Surfskates, yoga mats and snorkelling gear are yours to use, and a boat dive can be added on request, no certificate needed.

Breakfast is served every day, group dinners punctuate the week, and the rest of the time the kitchen is shared, with a supermarket two minutes' walk away. Now and then the roof hosts a barbecue or a party. The neighbourhood is quiet and residential; for a night out, the Las Américas seafront is down the hill, and Tenerife South airport under twenty kilometres away. Right for going alone and being looked after in a small group; if you want to come and go as you please among a lot of travellers, or surf on your own in the afternoon, a hostel will suit you better.