A woman in a Kuma rash vest standing on the sand, surfboards and palm trees behind her

Experiences

Group & Studio Retreats

Small groups, two sessions a day, breakfast and dinner on the rooftop at Edava beach, Varkala. December and January fill fastest, so ask early.

Retreats combine surf, yoga, recovery and the backwaters into a single multi-day package, with accommodation, breakfast and dinner included. Lunch is extra.

A woman eating breakfast at a wooden table with others under a thatched roof

A woman practising a pop-up on a soft-top board on the sand

Two women stretching on the beach with their arms out, the sea behind

How it runs

What a Kuma retreat week looks like

Season: Between October and April. Kerala Tourism calls the June to September monsoon a high-risk period for surfing.
Month by month: October is quiet and green, but wetter than its reputation, so pack a rain jacket. November to February has the easiest weather and the most people. March and April are quieter again, with hotter afternoons.
Booking ahead: December and January go first, so start several months out for those. October, November, February and March usually need only a couple of months. Get the house confirmed, then the flights.
A sample week: After the arrival evening: surf at 7am each morning, three ice baths at 11am, three yoga sessions at 5pm, theory and video feedback in the afternoons, and dinner at 7:30. Every retreat is then reshaped around its group. Training groups add a second session.
Non-surfers: Partners or friends who would rather not surf are welcome. Their mornings can go on yoga, a walk or the beach, and the rest of the day is shared. Give us both headcounts, so the coaching is sized to the surfers.
Agree early: Dietary needs, who shares with whom, and how everyone is arriving. Most groups fly into Trivandrum, and airport transfers can be arranged.
Pack: Leave your own board at home: boards and rash vests come with the lessons. Pack light clothes, a hat, swimwear and reef-safe sunscreen, plus an outfit that covers up for temples.
Fewer than four?: A fixed-date camp could be the better fit: five days and four nights, with the group already formed.

A retreat group heading down the beach with their boards. Filmed at Kuma Surf. Watch: Kuma Surf's December surf retreat in Varkala

A smiling man and woman in rash guards hold white surfboards on wet sand, with a thatched multi-storey building behind — Out of the water and still grinning.

Studios, friends, clubs

A group surf retreat in Varkala, with your own people

A surf retreat here is built for groups that already exist. A yoga studio, a club, a set of friends who keep promising each other a surf trip.

Small works best. The house sleeps fourteen, and a group that takes every bed gets the rooftop and the kitchen as well.

The retreats we have run before, and the form to plan yours, are on the main Retreats page.

Where everyone sleeps

Beds for the whole group, already included

The rooms come with the retreat, along with breakfast and dinner. Five private rooms and a four-bed dorm let a group sort itself out by who snores.

Private rooms have teak-framed beds, white cotton and air-conditioning you control yourself. The dorm is for the ones who like company.

A double bed with a wooden plank headboard, white pillows, two rolled grey-blue towels and a wooden side table — Towels rolled neatly, until the first session.

Two white pillows by a wooden headboard, next to an octagonal wooden side table holding a glass bottle and a glass — Filtered water and a glass at the bedside.

Close-up of white bedding folded over the edge of a bed, with wooden stool legs and a marble-effect floor behind — Marble floor, cool underfoot after hot sand.

The water part

Once or twice a day, with room in between

Training groups go out twice a day. Groups that want to switch off go out once. Yoga, recovery and a trip out to the backwaters fill the gaps.

Surf coaching comes from Kuma's own surf school. The water is new to you, not to them.

A woman in a floral-sleeved wetsuit stands up on a white board in the whitewater, a man waist-deep in the water behind her — Up and riding, with someone in the water behind her.

A man in a black rash guard stands shin-deep holding a white board, watching a surfer ride whitewater ahead — Watching from the shallows. It counts as practice.

A smiling man in a teal rash guard, black shorts and neoprene booties holds a turquoise soft-top at his side on dark sand — Booties on, sandals left on the sand.