How to find the perfect SUP holiday abroad

Ever wanted to travel with your SUP to another country? (In Australia this means getting on a plane!)  Me too!  This post is primarily aimed at flying with your inflatable SUP. First thing you need to do is outline what you want from your holiday.  Check our post What Type of SUP Chick/Bloke Are You? for a fun way to see your SUP style preferance. OK now you know what type of SUPing you like to do let’s see what to look for in an ideal SUP trip abroad. I’ll outline what I look for in a trip; Cost – Package versus Self Managed I like finding a package deal that will cover accomodation and flights with checked baggage (for the transportation of my board) – the last thing I want is to find a magical location with the right date availability and good flights only to have a huge surprise add on for check baggage.  Alternately you might be happy to add the cost on if you get really great flights and find accomodation independently.

Accomodation I want a location where the accommodation is on or close to the waters edge, as I like to be able to get to the water quickly and easily.  I feel this gives better flexibility to work with the weather and conditions and you get more SUPing in!!

Accommodation with a lift to help transport my board to and from my room or a ground floor room is also a great option.  The last thing you want is to have to carry your 10+kg bag up and down numerous flights of stairs every time you want to go out.  When we stayed in Croatia (photo above) we were able to leave the boards inflated the whole time as we were on the ground floor and were able to bring them into our room, which was awesome!  You might be happy to have a hire car for the whole trip which will enable you to get to more places. Location I like somewhere that has other things going for it as diversity is important to me if the conditions aren’t ideal for SUPing I would like restaurants and cafes, shops/markets, local attractions, transportation throughout the local area, history and culture.  Ideally not a really big town/city – I’m a bit Goldilocks on this – not too big, not too small.  You may be happy with a nice quiet remote location without these things however. From the launch spot I like a couple of options as to where I can SUP so that I am not SUPing the same route each time as my preference is to explore interesting coastlines.

  Surrounding area Being able to take my SUP with me either on public transport or within a hire car is also important.  In the past we have rented a car for a day to get to the more difficult to reach SUP locations once we have checked out the area around where we are staying.

Conditions My favourite SUP conditions are flat glass like water as I love the meditative feeling of gliding quietly upon the waters surface.  I also like the water to be clear, it’s amazing how much sea life you can see through the water from a standing perspective.  I really love SUPing in the Mediterranean and Fraser Island Lakes (Australia) which have been two of the clearest water locations to date.  You might be a surf rider and will be interested in the nearest surf break.  Alternatively river rapids might be more your thing. I also like to SUP in warmer water during the summer months, I’ve not yet got the gear for serious cold water (and coming from Queensland I’m used to being warm in the water!). You might like the challenge of SUPing amongst icy waters.

So with these values in mind I look at how long I want to go for, what my budget is and then search for locations within a couple of hours flight from where I am.  What I find is really helpful is to use Google Maps on satellite to find the exact location of the hotel and get a good insight into the coastline and water.  I love looking for areas with big sandy bays, with an undulating coastline which is just asking to be explored, nearby islands to paddle to, and anything else which looks interesting from the satellite image. These are the things I look for in an ideal SUP getaway that requires flying. Have you travelled abroad with your SUP?  What are some of your favourite destinations? Check out some of the blogs where we’ve flown to with our SUPs in Croatia and stay tuned for more on Majorca and beyond. FIND BEAUTIFUL PLACES TO SUP LEARN MORE ABOUT EQUIPMENT WATCH THE LATEST SUP ADVENTURE VIDEO