More than 60% of our guests come to Kalon Surf alone. That surprises people when they hear it. A luxury all-inclusive resort where most people arrive solo? But once you understand how the week works, it makes perfect sense.
People come to Kalon at all kinds of moments in their lives. Some are celebrating — a birthday, a promotion, selling a business. Others are resetting — they’ve left a job, ended a relationship, or just hit a wall and need to clear their head. Some are looking for adventure. Others just want to stop being the person who takes care of everyone else for one week.
Whatever the reason, the question solo travelers always have is the same: Will I feel awkward? Will I be on my own the whole time? Will there be cliques I can’t break into?
The honest answer is: it just works. And here’s why.
Surfing is inherently a solo activity — even when you’re not alone
This is the part people don’t realize until they’re in the water. Surfing, by nature, is something you do alone. Only one person can ride a wave at a time. When you’re paddling, when you pop up, when you’re riding — it’s just you. Whether you came with a partner, a friend, or by yourself, that moment on the wave is yours.
But between waves? You’re sitting in the lineup together. You’re watching each other try. You’re cheering when someone nails it and laughing together when someone doesn’t. There’s a natural rhythm of solitude and connection that happens in the water, and it doesn’t matter at all whether you arrived with someone or not.
You paddle back out, and the person next to you says “that was a great one” — and suddenly you have a connection that required zero effort to manufacture. By the end of the first session, people who were strangers two hours ago are high-fiving in the whitewater.
The conversation flows naturally
Here’s what actually happens over the course of a week at Kalon.
Day one, the conversations are easy and surface-level. “Where are you from?” “Have you surfed before?” That’s it. Everyone’s a little nervous, a little excited, and that shared energy makes it simple to talk.
Day two and three, the conversations shift to surfing. “Did you catch that wave?” “Did you get up?” “I finally got a bottom turn.” There’s an endless supply of things to talk about because everyone just had the same experience, at their own level. You don’t need to search for things to say — the ocean gives them to you.
By mid-week, something shifts. The conversations stop being about surfing and start being about life. Careers. Relationships. What people are wrestling with back home. What they’re excited about. Trips they’ve taken. Things they’ve been thinking about but haven’t said out loud. The guard comes down because by now everyone has seen each other wipe out, struggle, laugh at themselves, and get back up. There’s a level of vulnerability that’s been built without anyone trying to build it.
By Friday dinner, people who arrived as strangers are exchanging numbers and making plans. We hear it almost every week: “How lucky were we — we had the most wonderful group.” And of course there’s an element of luck. But there’s also a lot of intention behind it.
We protect the experience
This is something we don’t talk about publicly very often, but it matters enormously — especially for solo travelers who are worried about group dynamics.
We don’t sell to sell. If someone reaches out and we sense through the emails and conversations that Kalon might not be the right fit for them — maybe they’re looking for something we’re not, maybe the vibe just doesn’t align — we’ll gently direct them toward something that might suit them better. We’re not going to bring someone in who could change the dynamic of the week for everyone else who booked because they wanted exactly what we offer.
This isn’t about being exclusive for the sake of it. It’s about protecting the experience for the people who chose Kalon because it’s what they genuinely wanted. One person who doesn’t fit can shift the energy of an entire week for the other guests, and that’s not fair to anyone — including the person who would have been happier somewhere else.
The result is that our guests tend to be a certain kind of person. Not a certain profession — we’ve had doctors, founders, teachers, lawyers, creatives, retirees, people just starting their careers. But they tend to be hardworking, curious, kind, and comfortable with themselves. They want luxury, but they want comfortable luxury — barefoot luxury, not stiff and formal. They like meeting new people. They like good food and good conversation. And they like the idea of trying something new without having to perform.
The social and the private, whenever you want
Kalon was built by two very different people. Silene, my wife and co-founder, is social. She’s Latina — she loves dinner parties, big conversations, meeting new people, having everyone around the table talking and laughing. I’m Dutch. I like a good glass of wine and a good conversation, but I also need my space. I need to think. I need to sometimes just be in my own head.
We didn’t build Kalon for ourselves. But we both — despite being very different in this way — would absolutely love staying here. And that’s the point. The resort is designed so that both sides coexist naturally.
The communal parts are genuine: the big dinner table where everyone eats together, the pool, the surf sessions, the yoga deck, the video analysis sessions where you’re all watching each other’s footage. These create connection without forcing it.
The private parts are equally accessible: the property is 6.4 acres with different spaces to disappear into. You can read a book in a hammock with an ocean view. You can sit by the pool alone. You can skip yoga and just sleep. Nothing is mandatory. If you want to be social, the structure makes it effortless. If you want to be alone, the space allows it completely.
It works for everyone — not just solo travelers
The reason the social dynamic flows so well is that it’s not designed exclusively for any one type of guest. Solo travelers, couples, families — they all experience the same week, and somehow it works for all of them.
The couples who come aren’t looking to be isolated. They chose Kalon specifically because they want the dinner party atmosphere, the chance to meet other people, and the shared experience of learning something new — on top of having their romantic moments and private time.
The families who come typically have teenagers who are into surfing. Everyone can do something together that’s genuinely fun at every level, and then the parents can have wine at dinner while the teenagers play pool or trade surf stories. It just blends.
And the solo travelers — who are the majority — find that by day two, the distinction between “I came alone” and “I came with someone” has completely dissolved. It just doesn’t matter anymore. You’re all in the water together. You’re all at the table together. You’re all learning together.
What solo guests actually worry about (and what happens)
“Will it be awkward at meals?” No. There’s one big table. Everyone sits together. There’s no seating chart, no reserved couple’s corner. The chefs serve three courses, the wine flows, and the conversation takes care of itself. By the second dinner, it feels like you’ve known these people for weeks.
“Will I hold the group back in the water?” The coaching is personalized at a 3:1 ratio. You’re matched with a coach and fellow guests at your level. The 82-year-old first-timer and the experienced intermediate are both having the best time — just on different waves.
“Will I have enough alone time?” Yes. The property has more quiet corners than a boutique hotel. And no one will ever question you for skipping an activity. This isn’t summer camp.
“Is it safe for a woman traveling alone?” Yes. We handle everything from the moment you land — private SUV transfer, gated property, on-site security, all meals and activities on-property or with our coaches. Over 65% of our guests are women, many traveling solo. For the full picture of how we think about safety and what that looks like in practice, we’ve written about it in detail in our guide for women traveling to Kalon.
The friendships that last
We’ve seen solo guests meet at Kalon and become genuine friends. Not just Instagram connections — real friendships. People meeting up back home in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston. Going skiing together. Traveling to new places together. Coming back to Kalon the following year as a group, bringing new friends who heard about it secondhand.
We’ve had guests who met during one week and then both independently came back the next year — ending up at Kalon together again by coincidence. We’ve had people who told a friend about their experience at a dinner party, and the friend booked without ever having met the person who originally went. The word-of-mouth cycle is real, and it starts at that dinner table.
Not every week produces lifelong friendships. But almost every week, people leave saying they didn’t expect the social side to be the highlight. For solo travelers especially, that’s the thing they come back for.
You don’t need to be brave. You just need to book.
Solo travel to a surf retreat sounds like it requires a certain kind of person — adventurous, fearless, outgoing. It doesn’t. It requires someone who’s willing to say yes to something for themselves. The rest takes care of itself.
You’ll arrive feeling a little uncertain. By the second day, you’ll wonder why you were nervous. By the end of the week, you’ll be thinking about when you can come back — and who you’re going to tell about it.
