If you're looking for a place to spend you surf holidays, or you're looking for a surf school in Portugal, the country with the best waves in Europe, bringing your surfboard will cost you absolutely nothing, for as long as you travel KLM or Air France.
Your surf gear carried for free
It's all on KLM's surf-friendly site at surf.klm.com. Under this initiative, KLM and Air France will offer free transport of surf gear on all of their intercontinental flights, in addition to one piece of free hand baggage. The surf gear will be carried instead of a suitcase, on these flights.
On the European flights, you can also take your surf equipment instead of an extra suitcase for the fee you would ordinarily pay for it, instead of the special fee asked for sports equipment. That means an online advanced payment will cost you 40 Euros for a return flight, while at the airport it would cost you 60 Euros, so make sure you book your flight early and pay online.
The only downside is you must make sure you book the space for your surfboard no later than 48H before the flight.
It's not only surfers who benefit from this offer, as kite surfers and windsurfers are also included. The company notes the following information:
- Surf equipment may contain a surf board and must be packed in a surf board bag.
- Windsurf equipment may consist of a board, mast, sail and boom and must be packed in 1 package, preferably in a "quiver bag".
- Kite surf equipment may consist of a board and a kite bag and must be packed in 1 package, preferably in a kite bag.
All things accounted for, your gear should have a maximum length of 300cm and weight 23Kg top, for an economy class ticket, or 32Kg for a business class ticket.
Take the chance, come to a surf school in Portugal
So where should you go to take advantage of this great offer by KLM and Air France?
The company itself offers three suggestions: Portugal, Indonesia and Norway.
Unless you want to indulge in full body wetsuit surfing in Norway's magnificent landscape, Portugal is certainly the European place to go to. Starting from the region around Lisbon, including Costa da Caparica, Cascais and Sintra, and heading north to Lourinhã and Ericeira, you'll find several hundreds of kilometres of surfing paradise. Not to mention, of course, the national - and European - surf capital at Peniche. As we write, we're waiting for the final heats of the Moche Rip Curl Pro event, part of the WSL championship tour, and it's quite unthinkable that the WSL would ever skip Portugal.
Around Peniche and Lourinhã, it's probably the place you would want to bring your family to a surf school in Portugal to evolve their skills in safety and with access to some of the best swells in the continent. This privileged area is only a few hours out of Lisbon, one of the oldest and most poetic cities in Europe, and the shoreline is perfect for all skill levels.
It's no wonder Portugal has some of the best shapers in the world, people like Nuno Matta, and has become a beacon for renowned surfers to settle or practice, while surf schools in Portugal have been creating better and better surfers, while attracting foreign surfers looking to improve their skills.
Portugal is certainly the place to where pros come to better themselves, so it's certainly the place where you will find a surf school to suit your needs.
