If you are looking for a summer camp in Cantabria, on the north coast of Spain, you will find plenty of websites with photos of the sea and surfboards, and from the outside they are hard to compare. These are the questions we would ask if we were in your shoes, and after each one we tell you how we do it at our Santander camp.
1. Is the camp designed for your child's age?
A beach camp for eight-year-olds and one for teenagers are not run the same way: the independence children are given changes, and so does how demanding the sport can be. Look at the program's age range and ask whether your child will be with children their own age or with much younger ones.
In Santander the program is only for boys and girls aged 12 to 16, so everyone there is a teenager.
2. Who teaches in the water?
In Cantabria the sea is usually the reason for choosing a camp, and surfing is almost never taught by the group's counsellor. Ask which school runs the lessons, whether there is a signed agreement with it, what qualifications the instructors hold and whether equipment is included or has to be hired. If they cannot tell you, take that as a bad sign.
In Santander the surf lessons are daily and are taught by professionals from a school we have a signed agreement with; equipment is included. Our general terms and conditions list which company runs each activity.
3. What is there apart from the water?
A fortnight leaves time for much more than the main sport. Ask what else they do, whether there are trips away from the camp and what an ordinary day looks like.
Besides surfing, in Santander there is bodyboarding, paddleboarding, beach volleyball, football, team games and music. There are excursions around Cantabria and walks along the coast, and group challenges we use to work on teamwork and perseverance.
4. Where do they sleep, and who do they share the house with?
Ask where your child will sleep: whether the accommodation is reserved for the camp alone or shared with other guests, what the rooms are like and how far it is to the beach.
In Santander we stay at Plea Beach House in Loredo, which we book exclusively for LayosCamp for the session, so there are no other guests. Everyone sleeps in an individual pod, and the beach is 200 metres away.
5. How does your child get there if you live far away?
Cantabria is a long way from home for many families, so ask whether travel is included, where it leaves from, whether counsellors travel with the children and whether there is an airport pick-up for those coming from further afield.
The return coach between Madrid and Santander is included. It leaves from the Hipercor car park in Pozuelo, and the children always travel with their counsellors. For families flying in there is a pick-up at Santander or Bilbao airport, which is charged on top of the session price.
6. What if they fall ill or have an allergy?
Ask how far away the nearest medical centre is and when it is open, what insurance the campers have and how the kitchen handles allergies. Ask, too, who gives out medication, and whether you will be told before your child is given any medicine by the camp.
In Santander there is a medical centre five minutes away that is available to us 24 hours a day, and every camper is covered by the camp's insurance. The kitchen has options for allergies and intolerances, and if your child needs a medicine from the camp, we phone you first. For that to work, we need you to tell us everything when you register.
7. When will you be able to talk to your child?
Every camp has its own phone rule, and most of them are defensible. Ask for it to be explained before you book, and check that it is the same for everyone.
Ours is the same in Santander as at our other locations: their counsellor keeps the phone from the first day, and from the fourth day there is one hour of calls a day. You can speak to their counsellor from the start.
8. What is included in the price, and what is extra?
Two camps with similar prices may not include the same things. Ask for a breakdown: travel, accommodation and meals, lessons and equipment, insurance, laundry, uniform and airport transfers.
The Santander session includes travel from Madrid, full-board accommodation, surf lessons with equipment, the rest of the program's activities, insurance and daily laundry. The uniform, which is compulsory, is extra, as is the airport transfer if you need it.
9. Who is behind it?
Ask who organises the camp, how long they have been doing it, where the counsellors come from and who is in charge during the session: a person with a name and a phone number, or "the organisers".
LayosCamp has been a family business since 1985, and a member of the family is always in charge of each program. Since 1999 we have trained our counsellors at our own official counsellor school, where many former campers now train. In summer we do not hire anyone who has not worked with us before.
Dates and ages for 2027
The Santander camp is for boys and girls aged 12 to 16 and has a single session, from 1 to 15 July 2027, 200 metres from Loredo beach. Registration for summer 2027 opens on 20 October 2026.
The Santander camp page has the full program and details of the accommodation, and on our summer camps page you can compare it with our other locations. If you would rather ask us these questions over the phone, call +34 91 357 25 64 or email info@layoscamp.com. And if you end up choosing another camp, make sure you have the answers first.