Surf & Culture: A Week on Ireland's Causeway Coast

The camp runs on the North Coast of Northern Ireland, based in Portstewart with surfing out of Portrush. It's a six-day program, though shorter two-day and five-day packages are also available on set dates. The core of every day is a three-hour deluxe surf lesson with Alive Adventures, who have been running lessons here long enough to win TripAdvisor's Hall of Fame Award. You start at their surf centre, where you get a conditions briefing, instruction and your board for the day, then head to whichever beach is working — Castlerock, Portstewart, West Strand, Whiterocks or Portballintrae.

Between sessions you're on e-bikes. The fleet has more than 20, including Riese & Müller Nevo 3 and Load 75 models, and you use them to get to Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery, the Giant's Causeway and Ballintoy Harbour. Some of these stretches aren't reachable on a normal bike in the time you have, which is the point of the e-bikes.

Food is a real part of the week rather than an afterthought. Breakfast is a buffet at Port56, the family-run B&B where you stay, with coffee and tea. Dinner is at Quays Bar & Gastropub in Portrush, which serves pub classics, locally sourced seafood, seasonal specials, and a long list of beers, wines and cocktails. There's a covered outdoor atrium if the weather's decent. One night is given over to a traditional Irish music session — flute, fiddle, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, accordion, concertina, bodhrán and harp — usually with a pint of Guinness in hand.

The Bushmills tour covers the oldest licensed distillery in the world, more than 400 years old, including the copper pot stills and the triple distillation process, and finishes with a tasting. The Giant's Causeway visit is a private walking tour across the 40,000 basalt columns, the only natural UNESCO World Heritage site on the island. Both are included in the standard six-day itinerary.

The instructors are from Alive Adventures in Portrush. The school's setup includes a private lounge, changing rooms and hot showers, and the team handles everything from board selection to session reviews. Your accommodation, Port56, is a tourist-board-certified B&B with eight rooms, king and queen beds, en-suites with power rain showers, adjustable heating and airflow in each room, smart TVs and free high-speed Wi-Fi throughout.

What's included

- Accommodation at Port56 B&B - Buffet breakfast daily at Port56 - Dinner at Quays Bar & Gastropub - Daily 3-hour deluxe surf lessons - Surfboard and wetsuit rental - E-bike use including Riese & Müller Nevo 3 and Load 75 - Bushmills whiskey tour and tasting - Giant's Causeway walking tour - Dunluce Castle e-bike excursion - Traditional Irish music night - Surf centre access with private lounge, changing rooms and hot showers - Pre- and post-surf coffee, tea, beer and prosecco - Free high-speed Wi-Fi at the accommodation

What's not included

- International flights - Travel insurance - Lunches - Personal expenses - Alcohol beyond what is provided at the surf centre - Transport to and from Northern Ireland