If you like the sound of spending a portion of your gap year riding the waves and chilling on the beach,surfing adventure holidays will be high up your agenda. Whether you’re a complete novice (like me!) or something of an experienced surfer, you’ll enjoy the same benefits.

These include relaxing on stretches of sand when you’re not hitting the waves, eating lots of barbecued food and experiencing new people, places and cultures.

Below are the top two destinations I think would be fantastic for learning how to stay upright on a surfboard!

Costa Rica

Costa Rica might not immediately spring to mind when you start to research adventure getaways, but this is exactly why I love the sound of it. It’s something different and most definitely off the beaten tourist track. The Central American country boasts stunning beaches lined with palm trees and the perfect conditions for surfing.

Most beaches here have warm water, which certainly softens the blow when you tumble off your board. In fact, with 762 miles of coastline along both the Pacific and Caribbean waters that surround the country, you’ll be spoilt for choice. If you need help narrowing it down, Playa Matapalo and Buena Vista are perhaps the two best places in Costa Rica to try your hand at surfing.

This is because at both these destinations you can also get stuck into turtle conservation projects. After all, the ecological systems of the nation are both fragile and wonderful at the same time, so it’s always nice to give something back as a thank you for your amazing getaway. You can fit surf lessons and practice around your volunteering schedule, giving you the best of both worlds. Some of the tasks you’ll be given include helping to build a hatchery, patrolling the beach at night to look out for turtle nests, releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean and collecting eggs from the beach and placing them in the hatchery.

Australia

Of course, Australia is perhaps the most obvious location when you think about surfing and barbecues! The east coast of down under is your best bet for great surf conditions, with this stretch of the country including destinations such as Cairns, Airlie Beach, Sydney, Melbourne, Byron Bay and Brisbane. You might be lucky enough to have the time to travel along the entire coast in your search of some of the best surfs, in which case a good place to start is the national park Seven Mile Beach.

It really sounds amazing to spend days learning to surf – or refining your skills if you’re already a pro – before chilling on the beach in the afternoons and partying into the night. As the name of the beach suggests, it’s 7 miles long. This means you can work your way along the coast, enjoying a new spot to surf at each time you stop. Once you’re confident enough that you know how to stay safe on the waves, you have the freedom to go wherever you want in Oz and simply hire a board at whichever beach you land on. It’s the lifestyle most of us dream about when stuck in the office or the daily 9-5 grind, so if you have the time and money to jet off on an adventure, I recommend you do so!

After reading about these surfing adventures, what do you make of them?