Photography by @hollietate
This season in Sri Lanka we’re going to be offering something a little bit special alongside our regular Surf & Yoga retreats. Last year at the Cove we held our first Cove Surf Jam - a weekend filled with celebrating the alternative edge of surfing. This year we’ve decided to expand on that by having two surf specific retreats either side of the weekend hosted by one of the standout performers from 2024’s Jam, Vasco Monica.
Fish, Singles & Mids
1st Feb — 8th Feb 2025
Our second Surf Jam week-retreat will be based on alternative boards, or - as we like to call it - anything but a shortboard.
We’re going to dive into the playful, creative approaches to surfing with boards such as mid-lengths, fishes and asyms (anything but a shortboard really). In this week we’ll learn techniques that will help us adapt our surfing to all the different waves we’re going to face. We've put together the perfect mix of peeling waves, yoga, and delicious, soulful food—all set at our cosy, almost private waterfront cove in Ahangama, Southern Sri Lanka.
This retreat is aimed at intermediates and above with a love for riding alternative surf craft and a desire to progress. And, please make sure to stay in the area the day before the retreat to enjoy the Cove Surf Jam Anything but a Shortboard event.
Hit the Read More button to find out what a typical day here might look like, plus what's included in the retreat >>
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| A TYPICAL DAY | |
|---|---|
| 6.30am | Meet for coffee, tea & fruit, yawn, stretch, wake up |
| 7.00am | Leave for your surf lesson. |
| 9.30 - 11am | Ice-cold, fresh coconut & a hearty, healthy communal breakfast in our cafe, Canteen |
| 11.00am | Video Analysis |
| 11.45am | Soul Surfing workshop |
| 1.00pm | A healthy, hearty lunch from Soul & Surf's cafe, Canteen |
| 2.00pm | Massage, swim, chat or snooze |
| 3.00pm | Yoga |
| 4.30pm | Sunset guided surf session |
| 6.30pm | Watch the sunset with a cocktail then meet for dinner, a drink and a good yarn. |
What’s Included
- Accommodation, bed linen and towels
- Sunshine Food - tropical breakfasts, 5 x light healthy lunches & 4 x hearty evening meals
- Hosted, guided and taught by sponsored surfer and ultimate steez-master Vasco Mónica
- 5 x Surf lessons across the week (Sun-Fri, with a rest day on Weds) - including transportation to and from the beach, snack and water on the beach
- 5 x Guided ‘free-surf sessions’
- 5 x Theory Workshops
- 5 x Surf Video Analysis Sessions
- 7 x Yoga classes (a mix of Vinyasa, Slow Flow, Pranayama, Meditation & Yin
- Front row seats for the Cove Surf Jam - please stay to hang out
- Filtered Drinking water
- Wi-fi
- Welcome cocktail & cocktail on Friday BBQ Night
- A beer, a glass of house wine or soft-drink with evening meals
- Unlimited fresh coconuts
- A bunch of great people on hand to make sure you have a good time
- Two trees planted per person (via Mossy Earth)
And What’s Not?
- Surfboard - but you can rent one, give us advance notice
- One-to-one yoga sessions
- Therapies
- Photography packages
- Snacks & drinks beyond what’s mentioned above
- Pick up and drop-off, but we can help you organise it
- Massage in collaboration with You Are The Sea
- YAS Classic Session: 1x 75 min — $90
- YAS Ocean Session: 1x 90 min — $135
- YAS 3 Pack: 3x 75 min — $255
- YAS 3 Pack with Ocean Therapy: 2x 75 min
- Classic Session and 1x Ocean Session — $ 290
- Please note that you will pay for your sessions directly to YAS through bank transfer or cash.
Vasco Monica
Our Cove Surf Jam retreats are going to be hosted and overseen by Portuguese steeze master - Vasco Monica alongside our in-house surf team. When Vasco’s not riding weird and wonderful boards you’ll find him flying a plane or shaping his next asym somewhere in the south of Portugal.
From national champ at 16 to now being sponsored as a free surfer by Deeply, Vasco’s ocean knowledge, love for alternative surfing and infectious sense of play creates the perfect mix of inspiration & coaching.
See Vasco surf here…
Cove Surf Jam
This retreat week is designed to overlap with our annual Community Surf Jam so that you can attend and be inspired by some seriously hot surfing, and seriously un-serious events.
Over the weekend of the 1st & 2nd of February, we’ll be hosting our second Cove Surf Jam event - A raw, low-key, celebration of the creative, soulful, less commercial edge of surfing in Sri Lanka. All hosted at the Cove out front of Soul & Surf.
The Jam is much more than a competition - but rather a sociable setting for the community of alternative surfers - local & foreign alike. We host logging and alt craft surf jams mixed with our wild team expression sessions to keep things stoopid.
With live music, beach BBQ’s and pop-up shops, the cove will come to life. The retreat space will be reserved for guests to enjoy the event but expect a lot of hustle and bustle. We’ll be closing the weekend with our Sunday Sunset Sessions, from late afternoon until an early bedtime. With our unique, eclectic live & DJ selections our sessions have become an Ahangama institution for guests, expats, tourists and locals.
Vasco’s ocean knowledge, love for alternative surfing and infectious sense of play creates the perfect mix of inspiration & coaching.
Book Now
Surf
Sri Lanka - home of peeling waves and turquoise line-ups. It’s consistent, the water’s warm, and the wind allows you at least two sessions a day, most days. Here at the Cove, Soul & Surf, we have access to a gorgeous left-hander and A-Frame that you can paddle out to – straight from your room..
Or… if the conditions are more suitable for you longboarders somewhere else, Vasco will make the call and we’ll take you there instead.
We are surrounded by waves suitable for all levels and types of surfers.
Surf Lessons
Your week will be a deep-dive into alt-surfcraft riding. As an intermediate and above surfer most of the coaching will be in water and through video analysis. Think, wide carving turns, fades, cutbacks, top-to-bottom speed generation.In general, our surfers will work on style, flow and technique through the week presented with stoke from our dedicated team.
Note: You must already be surfing down the line, turning, and have surfed before etc. This is not a beginners week.
Equipment
As a surfers passionate about riding alternative surf craft we would expect you to bring your favourite board, leash and fin set up with you. However, we know some of you prefer not to travel with boards, so give us plenty of notice and the board you are after and you can rent one of our boards (while stocks last) or we can rent one from one of our friends rental stores… but note, there is limited rental stock on the island.
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Photography by @ria.the.wildchild
Soul
It’s no surprise that we are kind of stoked on serving up food and drinks which inspire you and make you feel good, whether you’re in the water, in the yoga studio or just chilling in the sun.
Sunshine Food
Our Soul & Surf Sri Lanka Retreat menu is all about wild health; using nature in our dishes but not making it just about #cleaneating – it’s more down to earth than that. Many meals are plant-based but we balance that with some fish, seafood and a little meat. And of course vegans and vegetarians are always catered for. On some evenings you can even go and explore the ever increasing range of restaurants our locality has to offer.
Sunshine food, as we like to call it.
Yoga & Meditation
Included in the retreat are seven yoga classes at 3pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday while Wednesday yoga is at 6pm and Saturday is at 5pm – these are a mix of Vinyasa, Slow Flow, Pranayama, Meditation & Yin.
Plus, if you really want to go deep into a practice you can pay extra and attend our extra studio classes too, as well as private one-to-one sessions – perfect if you’re a total newbie and want to nail the basics, or for yogis who need a bit of extra help to master a specific pose. The main challenge is trying to tear your gaze away from the ocean view.
Getting Here
Getting to us: Most international flights land at Bandaranaike in Columbo. We are a two and half (ish) hour drive from there depending on the time of day and the amount of traffic. We can help arrange a taxi to us from there or from wherever in Sri Lanka you may be joining us from.
If you’d like to make your own way to us, just call us on +94 (0)760306945 to enquire about directions.
Please note, you will not be able to make booking enquiries or check availability on this number.
Address: Soul & Surf, Matara Rd, Ahangama, 80650, Sri Lanka