A typical day runs on sets. A set is a single coached pull behind the boat, built around your level. On the Wakeboard and Wakesurf packages you get four sets a day for five days. The Ski package gives you three a day. Sets are spread through the day, so you ride, come off the water, get feedback, rest, and go again. The Wakeboard package also has a lighter midweek day with two sets and a free afternoon, so your arms and legs can recover before the second half of the week.

Coaching really does cover all levels. If you've never stood on a wakeboard, you start with deep-water starts and getting up behind the boat. If you're training for competition, Matt and Toby Roberts work on short-line slalom and trick skiing in the ski boats, and Ollie and Brodie take wakeboarders and wakesurfers through new tricks. The fleet includes the latest ski boats plus a brand-new Nautique S23 for wakesurfing, which throws a big, clean wave you can surf without a rope.

What sets this camp apart from a typical watersports holiday is the coaching depth and the lake. Most camps share a busy stretch of water. Here the reservoir is calm, wide and set up for long uninterrupted runs, which suits slalom courses, wakesurfing and foiling. The coaches are still competing or have competed recently at national and European level, and Matt has built the place into one of Europe's best-known waterski and wake camps.

The team is small and personal. Debbie runs the guest side. Ellie handles reservations and helps in the kitchen. Inma cooks home-made meals and keeps the cabins clean. Guti services the boats and looks after the site. There are also several resident dogs (Rupert, Bowie, Boots, Bear, Milo, Lambsey and Ziggy). It feels more like staying with a family than at a resort.

Almodóvar del Río sits below a hilltop castle in the Guadalquivir valley, about 25 minutes from Córdoba. The town has plenty of bars, coffee shops and ice cream places for the evenings. Córdoba itself, with the Mezquita and the old Jewish quarter, is an easy trip if you want a day off the water.

For something less serious, there's donuting: you hang on to a giant inflatable towed across the lake. It's popular with families and groups, and with anyone whose legs are done for the day.

What's included

- 6 nights in an on-site log cabin - Daily breakfast - 15, 18 or 20 coached sets depending on package - Coaching tailored to your level - Use of ski boats and the Nautique S23 (per package terms) - Lighter midweek day with afternoon rest (Wakeboard package)

What's not included

- Flights and transfers to Almodóvar del Río - Lunch and dinner - €7 excess per set on the large surf boat (Ski package) - Upgrades to villas, apartment or house - Travel insurance - Personal expenses and bar tab