Faq

Questions? We got you.

Everything you need to know before you paddle out. From what to pack and where you’ll stay to surf levels, inclusivity, and booking — find the answers to the questions you might be wondering about.

Is this for me?

  • Agrado started as a surf retreat and became something bigger. A small group of people, usually strangers at the start, who spend a week surfing, eating well, exploring somewhere beautiful, and building the kind of closeness that normally takes years, not days. Surf gets everyone in the water together. What happens after that is the actual point. We're queer-led and born from queer community, and every detail is built with that in mind. But "is this for me" is about more than identity. It's about whether you'd rather have honest connection than small talk, and whether a week away from your normal life sounds like relief rather than pressure. If that's you, keep reading.

  • Agrado is led by a queer person and built from queer community. That's where the values come from: openness, low ego, no judgment, room to be whoever you are that week. Most people who join are LGBTQ+, and the space is designed with that experience specifically in mind, not as an afterthought. But we're not a members-only club. If you share the values, a partner, an ally, a friend tagging along, you're welcome. What we ask in return is that you understand whose space this is, and show up with the same respect everyone else does.

  • All of it. Lesbians, gay men, bi and pan people, trans and nonbinary people, and plenty of people who just don't love labels for themselves. We're not running a "gay guys' trip" with everyone else along for the ride. If one retreat ends up leaning a certain way because of who booked first, that's chance, not design.

  • Yes, and we don't want you to have to take that on faith. Use whatever name and pronouns you want from the moment you land, no explaining required. If rooming is shared, we ask before we match anyone. We never assume from a form. And if something ever feels off, there's a real person on the trip you can go to directly, not a suggestion box you shout into. This is built for you, not retrofitted afterwards.

  • Yes. More people arrive at Agrado somewhere in the middle of figuring things out than you'd think. Not everyone shows up with a tidy label ready to hand over, and nobody's going to ask you to explain yourself, introduce yourself by orientation, or perform anything. You can just be a person who surfs, eats too much at dinner, and talks to whoever's around. For a lot of people, that ends up being the easiest place they've ever done that.

The Surf

  • No. Most people who come have never stood on a board before, and that's exactly who the surf program is built for. You'll be grouped with people at a similar level, coached by people who are genuinely good at teaching beginners (a different skill from being good at surfing), and by the end of the week you'll have caught real waves, not just stood up in whitewash for a photo.

  • Tell us when you book. If there's a solid group of intermediate or advanced surfers that week, you'll get real coaching toward your level: harder breaks, video review, the parts that actually improve a surfer rather than just make for a nice photo. If you'd be the only strong surfer that week, we'll tell you before you pay a deposit, not after.

  • Nobody's counting. Some people surf every session, some skip a morning to sleep in, some decide by day four that they'd rather read on the beach than paddle out again. Surf is the anchor of the week because it's what brings everyone together, but skipping a session doesn't mean skipping the trip.

The Group

  • Mostly people who wouldn't otherwise sit at the same table: different countries, usually somewhere between mid-20s and mid-50s, different relationships to surfing and to being queer. What tends to connect them is less about identity and more about temperament: curious, easy to be around, up for something real rather than a five-star bubble. A few come already close, a couple, a pair of friends. Most come alone.

    Q

  • Almost nobody arrives knowing anyone. That's actually how most Agrado friendships start: two strangers on the same flight delay, or paddling out next to each other on day one. By day three, the "who knows who" question stops mattering, because it's just one group. If you're someone who needs a minute before jumping into a crowd, that's fine too. There's enough unstructured time in the week that you're never pushed into anything before you're ready.

  • You don't need to be the loud one at dinner for this to work. A lot of people who come to Agrado describe themselves as introverts, quietly surprised by how easy the week felt. Nothing is compulsory, nobody's tracking who joined every activity, and there's real time built in to just sit with a book, go for a walk, or nap through the hottest part of the day.

Booking & Payment

  • Accommodation, surf coaching and equipment, most meals, and the parts of the week that make it feel like Agrado rather than a hostel with a surfboard rack. What it doesn't include is usually flights, travel insurance, and a few optional extras, which we'll list clearly on the specific retreat page, because those vary by destination and we'd rather be precise than vague.

  • A deposit holds your spot, the rest is due closer to the date. If money is the thing making you hesitate rather than the decision itself, ask us. We've made this work for people before.

  • There's a full policy with dates and numbers, and it lives on the booking page so you can read it before you commit, not discover it later. The short version: the earlier you let us know, the more flexibility you have. Life happens, we'd rather you tell us than disappear.