Moka Surf House & Yoga Retreat — Hotel in Mafra

I booked a 6days/5nights Yoga and surf package at Moka, beginning of April 2024. I went there from Lisbon airport by Uber (35€) I was traveling solo, for the first time and I was a little worried both traveling alone and at Moka but I wasn't disappointed one bit! It was amazing!

The place/room : The place and the people were simple and nice. The room was clean, equipped with safe locker (bring your own padlock!) and curtains on each bed for privacy. The mattress was ok. There is shared bathrooms, but I never had to queue to access it. I was there during low season and out of 5 nights, my room was full (4 beds) only 1 night. The rest of the time, we were either 2 or 3 max to share. The diner were varied, vegetarian, healthy and always good. People were coming and going every day, so you get to meet new people daily, which is nice. People from all age, nationality, style, solo but also duo travellers, a good mix. Only nice people :) And you don't feel any pressure to socialise if you want to stay on your own. Also, big crush for the "garden" with the hammocks, that is so nice, peaceful and great to chill and take the sun during the day.

-The location : I hesitated a long time before Moka and another surfhouse located in the center of Ericeira, but I don't regret my choice. Being a bit far away from the crowd feels very nice and more relaxing. You are also surrounded by nature, and trails that are nice to take to discover the nature around. The shuttle is also helpful if you need to go to/get picked up from Ericeira or the beach. There is also the local buses and Uber/bolt (very cheap). So you never feel stuck over there, which I was a bit scared of while booking. Also, because you are high on the hill, you get nice viewpoint and can get a nice spot to look at the sunset from the surfhouse.

Surf : Even if I said I was pre-intermediate/intermediate, I was together with beginners (probably because it was low season and there was not enough people to split per group of level). But anyways, all 3 classes were great. We were very small groups each time. You get picked up at Moka, they provide everything you need (wetsuit, shoes, board) and the teacher are very nice and passionated -most of them are born here-).

Yoga : I'm pretty beginner at Yoga, but I loved every single class I've been too. The teacher are very nice, gentle, they adapt to the class and to the people. I discovered new type of yoga I never tried before. Have the class in the yurt is also amazing, especially the evening classes, when the sun has warmed up the room during the day.

Staff : The staff is very nice, always helpful, with great (whatsapp) communication. I forgot some belongings in my room on my last day, and they offered to post it for me, which I really appreciate.

All and all I had the best time at Moka, with a good mix of wandering, activities, chill, social but also alone time, nature and city. It was great and I would recommend it...

Its very clean and the yoga classes where awesome and the whole House has a good Atmosphere. But its in a little village called baleia 6km away from ericeira and they said in their page they offer free shuttles. Well Yes but just twice a day and NO shuttles back. So i would recommend to rent a car. The next beach is 3 km away (40min walk) so be prepared for this. And you cant go by Bike to ericeira. The mainroad is to dangerous. You dont have much contact with the owners they only cared about me when it was something about paying. I was a bit sad. There is Beautiful Landscape you can Discover around baleia... Another Girl discovered a Mountainbike Track and they didnt even know or recommend Activities around that are free. The only staff you met all the time was the volunteers. The American and the Dutch where really nice and communicating but the other two where unfriendly and i had the feeling they let the other girls do all the housekeeping Work. When we went surfing there was only one surfschool (us) and they were right next to us ... One of them barely surfed into me. Well everything is good nothing happend but Common. Arent they the staff? At least they could say Hello and tell us why they been so close to us. All of this had a bit of a bitter Taste and. I would still recommend if you like being outside... But if you are an active person and dont want to spend money on tours...

I spent 5 nights on October in Moka and I really enjoyed that time. I chose yoga package. There were two yoga classes daily. The teachers were really engaged. The yoga class at the morning was intensive and the evening class was more relaxing. Practising yoga in the yurt was an interesting experiance. I didn’t have any surfing lesson so I can not tell anything about it. Moka serves breakfasts and dinners which are included in price. It is Italian cusine. There was even a cake for the breakfast everyday. There was also a massage included in the package. The dorms were clean and the staff was really friendly and helpful. The nearest beach and the center of Ericiera are not so close if you want to go there walking. But Moka also offers a shuttle bus to Ericeria and to the beach at scheduled time. I really recommend Moka especially for people who travel alone. It is a good place to meet nice people and have some...