Private Fishing & Golf in the Basque Country
A case from our Desk in Northern Spain
This experience was part of a 12-day bespoke journey for 2 couples that took the clients from Madrid through Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, and the Basque Country, before finishing in Bordeaux, France. Working together with a travel advisor in New Jersey, we designed the itinerary around the interests of all four travellers, allowing enough flexibility to create different experiences when needed.
One of the requests was for a private sea-fishing experience with local experts. There was one important detail: The fishing experience was for the men only. Both were passionate anglers, while the women did not want to go out to sea and preferred to enjoy an alternative experience on land.
The Brief
This is a common type of brief when we design private journeys for couples or groups of friends or family. The travellers share the main journey, but their individual interests are not always the same. The challenge is not simply finding two good experiences; it is finding two experiences that work perfectly together. The individual activities need to fit naturally into the wider itinerary, without creating unnecessary detours or disrupting the shared parts of the journey.
Sometimes this is straightforward. Sometimes it requires considerably more creativity.
Location
At first moment we thought of Galicia as a good place for the private fishing day, but then disregarded and looked further east for the fishing. The coast around Bilbao gave us a much better fit with the rest of the itinerary, and our local partner there could provide exactly the kind of private charter we were looking for. One of our trusted local partners operates private sea-fishing charters in the area, allowing us to create the fishing experience without taking the group away from the main route of their journey.
"Our first thought was to base the fishing experience around the Cíes Islands, with the men heading out on the water while the women enjoyed the park on land. But as we looked at the itinerary more closely, we realised that separating them there would actually take away from the experience — all four of them wanted to enjoy the national park together. So we changed the approach. We kept the Cíes Islands as a shared experience and arranged a private lunch on board, using local produce. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip."
Images are illustrative and have been curated to preserve the privacy and discretion of our guests.
Combining the activities
The clients were spending 2 days in Bilbao. They wanted to explore the city, visit the Guggenheim Museum and enjoy a Michelin-starred meal. While working through the options for the fishing day, we discovered that all four travellers were passionate golfers.
That changed the possibilities. Rather than simply finding an activity for the women while the men went fishing, we could create two experiences that were equally relevant to the group — and still bring everyone together during the day. We proposed a round of golf for the women while the men headed out on their private fishing charter. We selected a golf course with views towards the sea from the greens and, importantly, located close enough to the port for the logistics to work smoothly.
Lunch by the sea
We chose a restaurant on a spectacular beach close to the golf course, creating the perfect meeting point for the group.
After their separate morning experiences, they all came back together for lunch, enjoying local cuisine with views across the same stretch of sea where the men had spent the morning fishing.
We also offered the men the option of having their catch prepared for lunch. However, due to food safety regulations, this would have meant choosing a more practical setting rather than the beautiful beachfront restaurant we had selected.
The rest of the day
The men had the private fishing experience they had been looking forward to, with local experts and the Basque coast as their backdrop. The women enjoyed an experience built around their own interests, rather than simply being given a substitute activity.
After lunch, the men went back to rest after the early start. Meanwhile, the women continued into Bilbao to enjoy the city at a more leisurely pace. Neither experience disrupted the wider journey.
Sometimes the best journeys are those where shared experiences form the backbone of the trip, while individual interests are woven into the programme at exactly the right moments.
